IGL and GlobalPost Establish New Collaboration

NEXUS | The IGL Newsletter | Spring 2009

The headlines read “Turkey Offers the US a Path Out of Iraq,” “Dominican Dreams: El Barrio to the Big Leagues,” and “The Other Side of an Aegean Wonderland.” They represent articles found on the web site of GlobalPost, a new Boston web-based global news service which now has a special collaboration with the Institute for Global Leadership.

Charles Sennot, the Vice President and Executive Editorial Editor of Global News, describes the new organization, "At GlobalPost.com, we believe passionately that we as a country need to know more about the world. We believe the challenges we face are global, whether we are talking about climate change or the economic crisis or terrorism. Therefore, finding solutions will require global understanding. That's why we have 65 foreign correspondents in 45 countries trying to provide the reporting that will bring deeper understanding of all of these complex issues and realities out there in the world.”

He continued, “We feel connected to the IGL and its spirit of learning. We have found that the IGL students are on fire with a passion to learn about the world and we hope to harness some of that energy for strong journalism projects here at GlobalPost. There are at least three IGL graduates already working for us in the field and a host of interns coming on board this summer.” The above headlines represent some of the stories by the IGL alumni, Casey Beck, Trevor Martin, and Nichole Sobecki.

The special collaboration will sponsor student internships and research. With expert mentorship from the seasoned journalists and professionals at GlobalPost, students will gain insight into international reporting, with opportunities to contribute to GlobalPost.com. Five interns will be selected by the Institute and GlobalPost to work in Boston during the summer of 2009 to support the network of foreign correspondents that GlobalPost has created around the world. Students conducting research and traveling this summer will also be encouraged to develop stories for GlobalPost.

Additionally, under Sennott's guidance, the organizations will work together on an annual research project of global significance. The first under discussion will focus on the fate of the world's oceans. A look at counterinsurgency in South Asia is another thematic concern.

This relationship was established with the co-directors and co-founders of GlobalPost, Philip Balboni and Sennott.

Balboni is the President and Chief Executive Officer of GlobalPost. Previously, he was the President of New England Cable News (NECN) for 16 years. As NECN's Founder, Mr. Balboni conceptualized the network, developed its business plan, and negotiated the joint venture between owners Hearst Corp. and Continental Cablevision, now Comcast. After initially serving as a Director and as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Balboni became President and Chief Executive Officer in 1994.

Previously, Mr. Balboni served as Special Assistant for New Projects to the Chief Executive Officer of the Hearst Corp., with responsibility for technology assessment, strategy, and government relations. During this period, Mr. Balboni was instrumental in founding the News in the Future Consortium at the MIT Media Lab and served as a member of its Executive Board for five years, joining representatives from 20 other media and telecommunications companies from the United States, Europe, and Latin America. At WCVB-TV, the ABC-affiliated television station in Boston that the New York Times once called "perhaps the finest television station in America," Mr. Balboni held several key management positions, including eight years as Vice President and News Director.

Balboni has written, "I cannot wait to start working with your amazing students."

Sennott has a long-standing relationship with the Institute dating back to 1996, when EPIIC students researched for his Boston Globe series, "Armed for Profit," for which he won the Livingston Award for National Reporting, the Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, and a National Headliner Award for Investigative Reporting. Through nearly 25 years as a reporter and on-air analyst, he has been on the front lines of wars and insurgencies in 15 countries, from the jungles of Colombia to the deserts of Iraq. He has covered a wide range of stories from the papal transition in Rome to the oil industry in Saudi Arabia. A longtime foreign correspondent for The Boston Globe, Sennott served as the Globe's Middle East Bureau Chief based in Jerusalem from 1997 to 2001 and as Europe Bureau Chief based in London from 2001 to 2005.

Sennot added, “We encourage any of you who might have an interest in international reporting to check out GlobalPost and see if you want to find a way to get involved."

A number of the Institute's graduates have gone on to careers in international reporting and professional news careers, including Shorena Shaverdashvili, now a publisher and journalist in Tblisi, Georgia; Sean Love, former country director for Internews, Azerbaijan; and Pip Wood, the former national editor for the Cambodia Daily.