Mission GlobalPost: To 'fill the enormous void' in foreign reporting

Launched today and with more than 65 correspondents in 45 countries, GlobalPost, the online-only news agency, has a clear mission: to 'fill the enormous void' in foreign news reporting for an American audience.

With plans for three distinct revenue streams and a bid to rework the model for freelance correspondents, the new news organisation is seeking to forge a new kind of journalism business for the internet age.

"We need to use the incredible distribution power of the internet to find loyalists. It gives us the opportunity to build a news organisation at a cost that is reasonable - that is achievable," Philip Balboni, CEO and co-founder of GlobalPost.com tells Journalism.co.uk.

"Financial resources are not easy to come by these days so we needed to build a model - a new journalism model - that could give us the hope of building a fully sustainable enterprise and a profitable enterprise, and we think we've done that."

Freelance 'country correspondents'
The enterprise will be built on quality, 'highly differentiated content' provided by a network of freelance correspondents based in the countries they are reporting on.

Since plans to launch the site were first announced, the response from freelancers has been strong with more than 1,000 CVs submitted to the organisation, adds Balboni.

Balboni and co-founder Charles Sennott recruited in person in Asia, signing up journalists who know their countries and can provide 'on-the-ground, informed opinion'.

Correspondents are guaranteed $1,000 a month and shares in the company in return for a specified number of stories - a payment scheme aimed at safeguarding freelancers' interests, says Balboni.

"We've tried to take the classic freelance model to a higher level. We're trying to build a correspondent core: while not full-time employees of GlobalPost [they will] have a vested interest in our success, in philosophy, editorially, and in our mission," he explains.

"We are dedicated in trying to develop their well-being, financial well-being and displaying their work in important ways."

It is not just about addressing a lack of foreign news coverage, but also the treatment of stringers and freelancers, according to Balboni.

"If you are full-time employee of a news organisation, obviously you are within an organisation that provides all of the customary support, you have colleagues, but if you are a freelancer you are not part of any organisation," he says.

"In creating GP it will be a wonderful thing to give them a place to develop a fellowship."

Part of this will involve individual country-by-country websites featuring dispatches from Global Post correspondents, 'reporter's notebook' style blogs and archives of their work.

An intranet, where the journalists can share information and experiences, is also planned as part of the second phase of development and Balboni hopes to expand the correspondent core to 100 over the next five years.

Making money
Despite having secured initial funding to set up the agency, finding the money to pay its international staff is another challenge.

Balboni is optimistic that the site's three plans for revenue have the potential to both raise the funds and develop a successful online business model for journalism.

Promotional partnerships have already been established with the Huffington Post and Vietnamnet, but a paid-for syndication deal with a major US newspaper has also been inked, Balboni confirms.

Syndication partners will also be able to commission individual stories or investigations from correspondents as part of this arrangement, says Balboni, who is confident that more newspapers and magazines will get involved.

"Wire copy is in the high percentage breaking news. It's the story of the day from a place. It's not the great storytelling that we are seeking. We are not trying to replicate what the AP, Reuters or AFP are doing - what they do is very important and very needed. What we’re doing is a supplement not a replacement," he says.

The main site, freely available, has also attracted some high-profile display advertising from The Week, PBS and dispatches magazine.

The third revenue channel is still under-development, indicating Balboni's faith in paid-for access online journalism.

The soon-to-be launched 'Passport' section of the site will offer different levels of content for subscribers, including an online conference with country correspondents and opportunities to participate in crowdsourcing assignments.

"You have to develop consumer driven revenue to support your site," says Balboni, praising the Wall Street Journal's experimentation with different levels of paid-for online access.

"It's axiomatic that you cannot have a magazine or newspaper for free. Things need to be supported by an individual or patronism, but the web has developed an expectation that is simply perverse for journalism, which is that everything is free - that isn't going to work forever.

"As a new enterprise we couldn't arrive on the scene and put up a subscription wall on the front page. We tried to develop something that was another level of content so it's not taking away from the free site."

Optimism in a crisis
It is clear that Balboni, a former digital executive at the Hearst corporation, has learnt from the past and does not want GlobalPost to experience the legacy problems of the print industry in its online ventures.

Instead he sees the Post as an opportunity to innovate and experiment with both the editorial and business models of online journalism.

The global economic situation has played a part in the site's plans too - part of the planning has been 'developing a culture that respects frugality' - and despite the plight of other news outlets, Balboni's optimism remains intact.

"It's an interesting challenge to debut in the midst of this economic crisis. In a way I relish it because it makes the opportunity even more exciting. In our early years, when we have modest expectations, is frankly a good time if you have to face a bad economy," he explains.

"Internet is the only route for journalism in the future. It is on the web that journalism will develop new opportunities and strength.

"This [GlobalPost] isn't just our own venture. It is part of the cutting edge - what I am confident will be a new flowering of journalism on the internet."