I wanted to let you know The Conversation launched its US service today.
The US service is the third in The Conversation’s global network, following the UK launch last year and the 2011 launch in Australia.
Our US team of 10 is led led by Margaret Drain, formerly Executive Producer and Vice President of National Programs at WGBH who was responsible for science and factual shows such as Nova and Frontline.
The team is based at Boston University and will work with academics across the US with an initial focus on the 62 members of the American Association of Universities along with the US Science Coalition universities.
We are now a global team of 62, working with more than 14,000 academics internationally – making The Conversation one of the world’s largest virtual newsrooms.
The Conversation US is supported by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Alfred P Sloan Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Our global publishing platform is supported by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Reuters is our US Media Partner. As with all other sites, it is a not-for-profit education entity.
The three newsrooms will work as one, sharing content and ideas. Australian academics and institutions will benefit from the increased global audience and opportunity for collaboration.
For readers this means an even better global service on issues such as Ebola and other communicable diseases; the war in the Middle East; the battle for food, water and energy security; the global misery of migration; and the challenges of balancing human rights and data protection with national security. With the upcoming G20 meeting in Brisbane next month, our Business + Economy editors across all three Newsrooms are now working together to provide unrivalled coverage.
When it comes to foreign coverage, most of the media relies on wire services and/or foreign correspondents. Instead, The Conversation works with local editors and university researchers across three continents to bring you a new standard for global journalism.
I hope you’ll join in sharing the news of the US launch with your friends and colleagues. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
Andrew Jaspan Editor