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GlobalPost

Posted by Brian Reich on Jan 12, 2009 in Business Models, Journalism, People, Social Media | 0 comments

There is a new player in the online news space. Welcome www.globalpost.com.

Their mission: “GlobalPost intends to build a community of top correspondents as well as a community of users of the site who share the need and the desire for quality news about the world.” More here.

Their business model: “GlobalPost seeks to exploit powerful global demographic, political and economic trends by being the only Internet journalism site devoted exclusively to international news and related content. 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.” More here.

Their leadership: The site was founded by Philip Balboni Balboni is the Founder and for the past 16 years was the President of New England Cable News (NECN), the nation’s largest and most honored regional news network. The Executive Editor and Vice President of GlobalPost is Charles Sennott, an award winning journalist and author with a distinguished career in international reporting for both print and broadcast news organizations. More here.

I talked to Philip Balboni last year, when he first announced he would launch GlobalPost. At the time GlobalPost was just a concept — in fact, I think the plans were still just on paper. But as of today, the site is very much live, and alive. It is rich and well organized, brimming with the contributions from more than 50 correspondents around the globe. On top of all that, they boast an educated, affluent audience – an advertisers’ dream.

It is an open question whether a US audience really cares enough about international news to read, let alone pay for it. And with so many newspapers, blogs, and other sites offering coverage of international affairs, can GlobalPost really stand out, get the attention it needs to build a following?

I knew when we talked that Balboni understood the way communications, and especially media, were changing and what the opportunities existed for using technology to connect people from around the Globe. This is his vision of how the news industry should be heading into the future. I don’t know for sure, but if you want to be the best source in the nation for international news, this seems like a good place to start.

Let’s see how it goes.

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Brian Reich

Brian is Managing Director of little m media which provides strategic guidance and support to organizations around the use of the internet and technology to facilitate communications, engagement, education, and mobilization. He is well known for his expertise in new media, web 2.0, social networks, mobile, community, ecommerce, brand marketing, cause branding, and more. Reich, the author of Media Rules!: Mastering Today’s Technology to Connect With and Keep Your Audience (Wiley 2007). He blogs at Thinking About Media and contributes as a Fast Company Expert. Previously, Reich was a principal of EchoDitto, one of the most successful online communications agencies in the nation, Director of New Media for Cone Inc, a brand strategy and communications agency in Boston and a Senior Strategic Consultant and Director of Boston Operations for Mindshare Interactive Campaigns, an interactive public affairs agency. From 2000 – 2004, Brian ran how own strategic communications firm, Mouse Communications. Reich has worked in and around politics, including helping to direct dozens of campaigns across the country. He spent two years as Vice President Gore’s Briefing Director in the White House, handling both official activities and activities during his 2000 presidential campaign. Brian serves on the board of Investigate West, independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of investigative and narrative journalism. Brian served as an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University in Washington, DC and is currently teaching a course on consumer behavior and marketing at Columbia University in New York. Brian attended the University of Michigan and is a graduate of Columbia University. He and his wife, Karen Dahl, live in New York City with their son, Henry.

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