Philip Scribner Balboni (born February 15, 1943) is an American journalist and media entrepreneur who has worked in broadcast and cable television, newspapers, wire services and digital media. He is the founder and former president of New England Cable News[1] and GlobalPost, as well as former vice president and news director of WCVB-TV.[2]
Philip S. Balboni | |
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| Born | Philip Scribner Balboni February 15, 1943 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Boston College Columbia University |
| Occupation(s) | Media entrepreneur, broadcaster, journalist |
| Years active | 1967-Present |
| Known for | GlobalPost |
| Spouse |
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| Children |
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Balboni served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the Columbia Journalism School[3] and is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.[4]
Early life and education
editBalboni was born and raised in Norwood, Massachusetts. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Boston College in English literature, with minors in philosophy and French literature.[5]
Balboni served two years on active duty as a United States Army officer. In 1965, he served in Vietnam.[5]
He went on to become a Ford Foundation Fellow at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.[5]
Career
editBalboni began his journalism career in 1967 as a general assignment reporter for The Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia.[6]
WCVB-TV
editAt WCVB-TV, the ABC affiliate television station in Boston, Balboni held a series of management positions from 1972 to 1990. He served as editorial director from 1972 to 1982, overseeing the research and writing of all station editorials under the general supervision of its Editorial Board led by Harvard historian Oscar Handlin.[7] In 1982, he became vice president and news director.[8][9] In early 1982, he conceived and launched the nightly news magazine “Chronicle”[10]
Hearst Corporation
editFrom 1990 to 1994, Balboni served as special assistant to Frank Bennack, the CEO of the Hearst Corporation,[11] with responsibility for technology strategy and new projects. During this period, Balboni was a founding member of the News in the Future Consortium at the MIT Media Lab.[12]
New England Cable News
editBalboni first conceived of a 24-hour cable news service for New England while serving as news director at WCVB-TV.[13] Upon moving to the Hearst Corporation in New York, he created a joint venture between Hearst and Continental Cablevision, then the third-largest cable television provider in the US.[5][11] From 1992 until 1994, Balboni served as chairman of the NECN board, becoming its president in April of that year.[14]
GlobalPost
editBalboni left NECN in 2008 to become co-founder, president and CEO of GlobalPost, one of the first native digital news sites started in the United States.[15]
With GlobalPost, Balboni and his co-founder Charles M. Sennott, a former Boston Globe foreign correspondent, created the country's first purely digital international news organization.[16] GlobalPost won the George Foster Peabody Award and Edward R. Murrow Awards for international video reporting.[17]
In late 2015, GlobalPost was sold to the WGBH Educational Foundation.[18]
DailyChatter
editIn March 2016, Balboni launched DailyChatter, a subscription-based email newsletter devoted exclusively to world news.[19] According to Balboni, the publication is founded on the principles of independence and non-partisanship with a mission to inform Americans at a time when global news reporting continues to decline.[20]
Other professional activities
editBalboni served as a member of the national jury of the duPont-Columbia Awards in Broadcast Journalism and was a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Columbia Journalism Review.[21]
References
edit- ^ Gonzalez, John (February 14, 2008). "NECN Founder and President Stepping Down". Boston Magazine. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- ^ "Philip S. Balboni". C-SPAN. 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- ^ "Board of Visitors". Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- ^ "Advisory Board". Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Philip S. Balboni - President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder". Public Radio International. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ Legg, Heidi (February 12, 2014). "Phil Balboni #32". The Editorial. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ Trigoboff, Dan (August 18, 2003). "Making His Cable News Dream Come True". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ Schwartz, Tony (February 15, 1981). "Some say this is America's best TV station". New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ Lamson, Peggy (1987). Stay Tuned: Behind the Scenes at Channel 5. David R. Godine, Publisher. p. 4. ISBN 0879236817.
- ^ "Philip S. Balboni". Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ a b The Continental Cablevision Story - From Community Antenna Television to the Information Superhighway. Pilot House Associates. 2015. pp. 214–216. ISBN 9781882771400.
- ^ Herther, Nancy K. (January 19, 2009). "Internet Journalism Gains Another Foothold With GlobalPost". Information Today, Inc. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ "Getting off the Ground - The Journalism School Knight Case Studies Initiative". Columbia University. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ Sullivan, Steve (May 8, 2000). "NECN Comes Into Its Own". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "GlobalPost aims to 'redefine global news,' says Balboni". Shorenstein Center. April 28, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ "Just Enough Alarm: GlobalPost and the Syrian Chemical Attack Story". Columbia Journalism School. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ "History of GlobalPost". GlobalPost. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ Yu, Roger (September 24, 2015). "Boston-based WGBG buys world news site GlobalPost". USA Today. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
- ^ Hazard Owen, Laura (March 14, 2016). "GlobalPost's founder hopes to find freedom from platforms and ads with a new email newsletter". Nieman Lab. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
- ^ Prince, Seth (September 9, 2019). "Story behind DailyChatter – Interview with Philip S. Balboni". Seth Prince. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ "Philip Balboni". New England First Amendment Coalition. Retrieved May 25, 2021.