GlobalPost Threatens Over Blog Post
I wrote yesterday about the questions and concerns I had about my favorite television news program, PBS Newshour, announcing a partnership to use the international reporting services of Boston-based GlobalPost. GlobalPost, I found, has been described as a “blog” and even NewsHour last evening called it a “Web site.”
Today, I received the following email from a fellow who says he is the communications and marketing person at GlobalPost. I am posting his email here to show what I consider to be the troubling, threatening tone of this outfit, and I invite your comments:
Mr. Henderson:
I received your message yesterday, but I couldn’t quite make out your phone number and couldn’t return the call. I saw your post “PBS Newshour Outsources International News,” and your article is so riddled with errors and inaccuracies that we request you remove it immediately.
I have to wonder if you spent a single second researching GlobalPost. I have to conclude that you didn’t, because if you had you would have easily found on our site — or in hundreds of articles posted by major news organizations, including the New York Times, that describe GlobalPost’s model in detail – that GlobalPost is not an “international news aggregator blog.” We don’t aggregate content and we are not a blog. If you had done the slightest bit of research, you would have learned that we are a news organization with a network of 70 credentialed journalists filing stories to us from 50 countries. Yes, they are freelancers, but they also have a contract with GlobalPost to deliver stories each week. All of our correspondents are career journalists. While you write: “some you’ve hear of and many you’ve never heard of,” many are award-winning veteran journalists that have reported for major US news organizations, including: the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time magazine, Newsweek, CNN, FOX News, the Associated Press, Reuters and NPR, among many others. The network includes two Pulitzer Prize winners and the editorial output is vetted and managed by a group of top-notch editors in Boston under the direction of our Executive Editor Charles M. Sennott, a respected career journalist and foreign reporter.
You also would have learned, if you had done one iota of reporting, that the Huffington Post and Bill O’Reilly are marketing partnerships – we do not share any editorial responsibility for the content. Those sites give our original content wider reach by displaying it for their audiences, and we are proud of those partnerships. The announcement released yesterday about our partnership with the NewsHour is clear that we will be working together on the segments that appear on their air. Last night on the NewsHour, they did a two-way interview from Kandahar with our correspondent Ben Gilbert. Gilbert’s work has aired on NPR, the PRI/BBC program “The World,” the Canadian Broadcasting Co., BBC and ABC Radio. Gilbert’s articles have appeared in US News and World Report and the San Francisco Chronicle. He spent two years for NPR as Baghdad producer, filing for NPR’s “Newscast,” “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition” and “Day to Day.” He then spent six months in Iraq as bureau chief for Voice of America and “Marketplace.” Is that experienced enough for you?
You should be very careful before you suggest that GlobalPost is “devoid of professional journalistic standards” without any evidence to back it up. Our organization is built on the ideal of professional journalistic standards and we are confident that our reporting lives up to that ideal.
If you consider yourself a journalist, we ask that you accept responsibility for the errors in your piece and remove it. You have disparaged our organization and our people. We are available to talk and I await your response.
Rick Byrne
Rick Byrne
Director of Communications & Marketing
GlobalPost
The Pilot House/Lewis Wharf
Boston, MA 02110
[email protected]
617-854-3184
www.globalpost.com
It should be noted that neither GlobalPost nor Byrne were available to “talk” yesterday before my blog piece was posted.
Let me also call attention to one distortion in Byrne’s email. I did not make a statement about “devoid of professional journalistic standards.” I merely asked a rhetorical question. It was he who made the statement in the email above.
Category: Featured, News Media
Dave,
I have read your post from yesterday, along with Globalpost’s response. As a burgeoning PR professional, it seems like we have a classic case of legitimacy.
I have not read the official post made by Newshour/Globalpost. But your questions are valid. Globalpost is not very well known as of yet. To be honest with you, I had not heard of Globalpost until now. Globalpost’s (rather stern) answer to you, should have been the information contained in the original announcement (if it wasn’t).
Mr. Byrne’s statement of response outlined how they operate and relate to sites like Huffington and O’Reilly. He also laid out many credentials of the freelance reporters that have signed contracts with them, and gave a specific example to you.
The audience of Newshour probably is about as familiar with Globalpost as I was previously, which is to say not at all. Mr. Byre has to realize that Globalpost is not a household name in the news world yet, like some of the publications he mentioned in his response to you. So official releases/announcements need to speak to that.
Had Mr. Byrne and Globalpost realized this, their announcement would have accomplished a duel purpose: 1) given the pertinent information of the newly created alliance between them and Newshour AND, most importantly, 2) given more about who Globalpost is and how they work, thereby lending some legitimacy and “brand knowledge” to the Newshour audience that probably wasn’t familiar with them.
Just my two cents worth.
Jeremy Fischer
http://www.rebirthofpr.com
I don’t get why this response is so confrontational. If Global Post is as described, and not an aggregator, then the original post looked confrontational and not sure the questions were the right ones.
You are right, this is your blog and freedom of speech is still a given right. You can ask questions, the more the better!
If the Globalpost cannot take any criticism, what the hell are they doing on the Internet anyways?
Best way to react on criticism is work harder and proof the critics wrong. Best taste of revenge at that moment.
now, they look like a fool, demanding you would take something down from your own site, where you have the right posting what you think!
The funny thing is that David Henderson is confrontational in many of his postings. This is pretty much his way of doing things. He also tends to take many liberties with the facts. Try and defend yourself or take a different point of view and he will either blast you or delete your comment all together. You
You have to take all blog postings with a grain of salt since there really isn’t much fact checking going on.
George,
With respect, I disagree with you. Henderson’s blog certainly is NOT confrontational. Quite the contrary, it is thought provoking and enlightening.
But your statement about “liberties with the facts” completely lacks basis in accuracy. Curious to know on what you base such a broad brush remark. Can you cite specifics?
I would be interested in knowing your connection with GlobalPost.
M.J.
Marshall,
Mr Byrne did a good enough job of of outlining how liberties were taken with the facts. It amazes me that you say this blog is not (no caps needed) confrontational. I suggest you check out the recent writings link at the top of this page. There are plenty of examples of Mr. Henderson lashing out at companies and individuals.
I am in no way associated with GlobalPost. I would be interested in knowing your association with Mr. Henderson.
G.J.
This discussion is so interesting because my blog post was about the need and assurance of transparency, truthfulness and accountability in the media.
Mr. Jones … you might find this to be relevant in the context of your assertions – http://tinyurl.com/ydksu24.
David Henderson
David
Having read your post which raised valid points and having read Mr Byrne’s aggressive response, what comes to mind is that methinks the gentleman doth protest too much!
David,
There is a song a friend of mine, Bruce Marshall wrote called, “Say little; listen a lot”.
The gentleman’s letter is quite telling. Asking questions is part of being a journalist as you well know, having much deep experience in your pockets. In addition, his expertise seems to be in marketing, which says more to me than the long-winded letter. He got his marching orders.
Here’s something I’d like to share with you which I wrote yesterday: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=153002628074481&comments=
Keep on asking the questions. They merit a meaningful of response and not a lot of rhetoric.
Lisa-Marie