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Brave New World

GlobalPost.com, an ambitious new project claiming 60-odd correspondents in 45 countries, promises:

… a bold journey to redefine international news for the digital age. To get there, we are relying on the enduring values of great journalism: integrity, accuracy, independence and powerful storytelling.

GlobalPost follows no political line. We encourage our correspondents to write with a strong voice and to work hard to unearth facts. But we leave opinion on the opinion pages.

We are proud to be an American news organization with a decidedly American voice. We also intend to seek out and tell the truth as we find it. To quote the great American newsman and foreign correspondent Edward R. Murrow, we aspire always to report the news “without fear or favor.”

And seeks:

We attract an educated, affluent sector of the U.S. population that, research shows, are drawn to international news and are frustrated by the failure of mainstream media outlets to provide coverage.

Meaningful coverage informed by actual events/reality and not catering to jihadis has been my own semi-educated, not-exactly affluent complaint. Worth watching as an alternative business venture and as a source of information. Though noticing a lot of ex-Globies, including co-founder Charlie Sennott, plus some CNN and AP refugees, I remain to be convinced this site will live up to its promise not to follow a political line. As a model, this site may carve out some new territory in alternative foreign correspondence and have lessons to offer for others seeking to do the same. Totten, Yon, you paying attention? I dunno, WarcorrespondentsRus.com? 

A couple of problems. Unclear what kind of quality, volume or consistency of news you get for $1,000 a month.  That’s already $65,000 a month plus whatever the head office costs. Growth relies on customers. Which basically means a reliance on newspapers. Maybe some room to evolve and grow while feeding on the big old dinosaur’s corpse. Otherwise, you have to be recognized as so amazing that you outdraw Drudge. 

Looking around to see where the money came from, not seeing it yet. Here’s AP reporting on the upstart competiton, with a little plug for itself slipped in at the end.. All those correspondents are $1000-a-month part-timers.

Topics: Internet, media

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:21 pm Comments (2) on Monday, January 12, 2009

2 Responses to “Brave New World”

1. RebeccaH Says:
   January 12th, 2009 at 2:51 pm

   As a uselessly over-educated, but definitely not affluent, complainer, I think I’ll just wait and see.

2. vermontaigne Says:
   January 12th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

   Do they all have to be odd? I’m not saying it’s not an advantage, but, y’know, from a diversity POV.

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