Web startup to offer foreign news as papers cut

Many papers simply rely on traditional sources like the AP, a 162-year-old news cooperative with more than 1,000 journalists outside the United States.

Although some newspapers have complained about the AP's costs as they undergo job reductions and other cuts, GlobalPost executives doubt any paper would drop it.

John Daniszewski, the AP's managing editor for international news, said GlobalPost won't have the budget or the staff that the AP has "to cover any event on the planet of significance in a very short amount of time."

"We welcome them," he said of GlobalPost. "It's good there are more voices covering and interpreting international news."

GlobalPost is the latest of several niche offerings in news.

The political Web site Politico offers its Washington coverage to other news organizations. CNN is transforming an internal news service into an offering for newspapers this year. The Sports Network site announced Wednesday it will go after cost-conscious papers as well.

Individual papers also have started informal news-sharing partnerships. The Christian Science Monitor and McClatchy, which publishes The Miami Herald and other papers, are in a three-month trial to share foreign coverage. The Sun also began a news exchange this month with The Washington Post, giving the Baltimore paper access to its larger rival's foreign coverage.

John Walcott, who oversees McClatchy's foreign bureaus, said efforts like GlobalPost show promise but come with risks.

"It's often hard to judge the reliability of some reports from abroad," he said.

Robert Ruby, who left the Sun as foreign editor in 2006 as the Baltimore paper began shutting its three remaining foreign bureaus, said papers have cut space for international news along with their staffs, so they might have difficulty finding room for GlobalPost's coverage.

But Marcia Myers, the Sun's deputy managing editor, said having more voices is always better, and she plans to keep an eye on GlobalPost.

Boston Globe officials declined to comment.

GlobalPost's journalists are expected to produce weekly dispatches on political, business, social and cultural developments and regularly update an online reporter's notebook with miscellaneous tidbits. They also will offer photos and video when appropriate.

During major developments, such as the Mumbai terror attacks or the conflict in Gaza, GlobalPost's journalists will be asked to pursue unique angles, said Sennott, who serves as GlobalPost's executive editor.

"We can't ignore it because it's what matters," he said, "but we can cover it differently and we can take it in a different direction."

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