CBS Strikes International News Partnership

According to the New York Times' David Carr, CBS News is planning to partner with GlobalPost to beef up its international reporting.

The Boston-based GlobalPost, which is less than a year old, has correspondents in 50 countries. "Having a broadcast-network partner was a high priority for us, and to be associated with CBS News is a great validation of what we are trying to build," the site's founder, Philip S. Baldoni, told the Times. "We hope to become an important source of international news for Americans, and this partnership is a big step in that direction."

According to the site's own Mission Statement, GlobalPost also has syndication agreements with the New York Daily News, Reuters, the Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, and several other news organizations. Carr says GlobalPost's correspondents will not appear on CBS's air.

In April 2008, the Times' Tim Arango reported that CBS was considering partnering with CNN to boost its international reporting. That story was quickly denied by the network in a Hollywood Reporter story by Paul J. Gough (here reprinted by Reuters). A spokesperson for CBS told Gough, "We are extremely satisfied with and proud of our newsgathering operation… No outside arrangement is being negotiated."

In a CBS release quoted today by Carr, the company said, "We are excited about increasing CBS News’s resources, and very pleased to work with GlobalPost’s impressive global network of talented and experienced freelance journalists. With this exclusive arrangement in place, CBS News will have unmatched access to first-rate journalists with expert knowledge of the countries they live in and cover."