Here’s a quick thought about a problem of international reporting: sources. Your viewers and readers are in your country, while your sources are largely not (there are exceptions such as CNN or the BBC, but humour me).

In order to make contact with the people and evidence who can help answer your questions, you have to rely far more on your personal network than, for example, a home affairs or education correspondent.

But the globalisation of modern news – and the ability of people to search on the internet for information related to their own experiences – has changed this. Now, if you report on an issue in another country, people in that country can see what you’ve written and contact you with further information.

In a nutshell this reflects the way that journalism has moved from a ‘push’ medium limited by transmission and distribution infrastructure, to a ‘pull’ (search) and ‘pass’ (social media) one.

Three particularly strong examples of this: Channel 4′s ongoing reporting on the civil war in Sri Lanka and evidence of war crimes. Video footage that was obtained as part of that journalism was, eventually, seen by someone who recognised one of the bodies. (A particularly good lesson for budding journalists is how photos of those bodies were dated using EXIF data, and correlated with documentary evidence from the Sri Lankan MOD - material that don’t lend themselves to broadcast, but can be put online)

Second, Paul Lewis’ investigation into the death of a man being deported to Angola. One of the passengers on the plane where he died was a US citizen who works in Angola. He contacted Lewis after coming across a tweet calling for witnesses.

Third, Paul Lewis again, and the death of Ian Tomlinson at G20 protests. This was again provided by a US citizen who happened to be in the UK at the time and came across the story after he returned home.

Curiously, of course, these two latter stories are not examples of international journalism in terms of their subject – but they do highlight how the web can make international newsgathering part of home affairs stories too.

James Craven believes that instructive blogging should be paid. That was part of his inspiration behind leaving a job as CEO of a successful B2B media company and launching Asian Correspondent, a news site intended to report and aggregate news and information from the continent.

“I think that the blogosphere is one of the most important things to happen in media in the last thirty years. And I think it’s a real game changer. That said, the biggest problem with it is that it is quite difficult to navigate and find content. There’s enormous opportunity in working hard to find like-minded writers that have synergy, and to create channels that allow readers to find the sort of information they’re looking for globally,” he says.

To achieve this, Craven and his team hand picked thirty-five bloggers spanning thirteen different Asian countries after a careful survey of the region’s blogosphere, based on quality of reporting, relevance and popularity.

Craven admits that while he has the utmost respect for sites like the Huffington Post, which have been able to generate so much influence and traffic in less time than it took the New York Times, he does not agree with the idea of paying little or no monetary rewards to writers who contribute time and effort, not to mention page views and unique visitors to such sites. “It’s highway robbery!” he says.

So, it may come as a surprise that Asian Correspondent, the first such undertaking for Craven’s Hybrid News Limited, is being hailed as a HuffPo for Asia. However, the motivations are somewhat similar. Craven hopes to capitalize on the inarguable talent that lies in the blogosphere, and also tap into the mobilizing power of the Internet that is so exclusive to blogs and citizen media.

“It struck me that recent events such as the Obama election, the UK PM scandal and the Afghan elections were huge media moments, driven by citizen reports,” says Craven. “It also struck me that some of the audiences individual bloggers were building completely blew away anything that could be done cost effectively in print.”

That doesn’t mean the site will merely harbor a collection of views and opinions from people around Asia. Bloggers, who are paid a set monthly fee, will provide commentary, opinion and fact-based reporting.

Sometimes, bloggers are in a better position to cover a story than traditional journalists, says Craven. This is especially true with declining revenues that are unable to sustain foreign bureaus and international correspondents in western countries such as the US and UK.

Craven cites the example of the Philippines-based blogger who covered the recent devastating floods in the region for Asian Correspondent. “In the case of Paul Farol in Manila, a couple weeks ago, when the floods lapped his door, he was in the perfect position in terms of content, photography and video to cover that story.” In addition, there are advantages to being a native in narrating such an experience. The mainstream media is often unable to empathize with locals, or see a story in the same way as residents.

But do readers in other countries want to read that story about floods happening thousands of miles away? Craven believes that there is an appetite for these subjects; the key is targeting the right people. Seeding such articles with groups that would be interested, such as, say, the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce, would increase impact and interest.

“We’re interested in digital PR and traditional marketing, which would introduce [such] stories as they break to the large Filipino community in America and obviously target the Philippines as well.”

The same is true of advertising, according to Craven. Context-based ads are the answer for revenue generation. Advertisers such as Exxon Mobil and BMW don’t believe that aligning their message with gossip news will help them sell their products. “If you can create that context and advertisers can see that their buyers are reading your paper, then it’s not just about millions of hits. It’s about the right hits and that’s what we’re doing with Asian Correspondent.” The site is already approaching advertising agencies to purchase media campaigns that go directly to readers, and has a couple of partnerships.

Craven is confident that there is money to be made online with stories that don’t necessarily involve Britney Spears. No conversation about journalism is complete, of course, without invoking Spears, or the kind of reporting she represents: universally rejected by the mainstream media, and yet, attractive in its ability to generate traffic, page views, and hence, revenue.

Craven worries that many news sites that start out with high ambitions of delivering quality news content often degenerate into celebrity gossip portals. Asian Correspondent does not plan to go that route, he insists. “It doesn’t have to be the most popular or most commercial story or angle to still be a real business. I think we have to make sure that our business looks for opportunities to report on stories that aren’t being covered by anybody else.”

With a home page that showcases stories as wide-ranging as a standoff between Tasmanian timber workers and environmentalists, the banning of fake Twitter accounts in India,  and the Afghan elections, that is exactly what the site is trying to do. News reports from bloggers are supplemented with AP news wire from the region. Citizen journalists are also  encouraged to post their stories, and there is plenty of room for multimedia reporting and citizen videos.

Editors are based in Chang Mai, Hyderabad and Brisbane, and the site attracted over 140,000 unique visitors within the first six days of launching its beta version. If the model is successful, there is a plan to expand to other countries and continents.

“I call the company hybrid because I feel that my business model is a combination of all the fantastic elements of investigative journalism and foreign correspondence, but also through model delivery platforms.”

The past few years have seen a slew of news sites aimed at deploying citizen journalists and bloggers to fill a newshole in international reporting. How successful any such site will be depends on quality content and a viable business model.

Asian Correspondent seems to have the right ideas. If it can attract the right audience and advertisers, it could be well on its way to being a comprehensive source for Asian news.

There is very little that qualifies as better foreign reporting than a story by a Robert Kaplan or a Dan McDougall. It’s not a 2-minute soundbite from a television camera on broadcast news or a ten-thousandth reiteration of an Associated Press story. It’s hardcore investigative journalism that usually comes after months if not years of living in a region, interacting with its denizens, and observing livelihoods.

Unfortunately, in a flailing journalism world, where international bureaus are far from cost effective for major news organizations and foreign correspondents are fast becoming their most dispensable employees, this breed of reporters is dwindling.

The good news – if there was ever one in journalism these days – is that new media is taking up the slack. There is a whole new host of Web sites that are dedicating themselves to reporting major issues from different parts of the world; many of these sites are implementing innovative ways to gather information from around the globe, and are forming robust online communities while they’re at it.

Through reporters and contributors stationed in almost every country, these sites are not only filling in the newshole abandoned by the closure of international bureaus of major newspapers but are also doing something that has never been done before – offering perspectives and insights from natives who live in a region and deal with its issues everyday. With the Internet’s global reach of audience and contributors, the concept of foreign correspondents in alien lands struggling with language and culture barriers seems almost passé.

Ground Report became the go-to site for updated information during the Mumbai blasts last year – it not only beat the mainstream media in its expediency of coverage but also offered details and perspectives that are often limited to locals. Citizens were offering maps and directions to hotels under siege within minutes, and help lines were established on blogs to aid relatives bypass jammed phone lines to contact loved ones. Few western journalists traveling to India would have been able to provide such intricate details about the attack sites. Ground Report used Twitter to recruit more citizen reporters as the crisis unfolded. The site also broke the story of the underreported Bangalore blasts earlier that year, along with the BBC and the AP.

Started by journalist Rachel Sterne almost two years ago to alleviate Americans of their lack of awareness about important international events such as the Darfur crisis, Ground Report has grown into a magnificent project involving 5000 reporters around the world. While the community rates the best stories, the editing and vetting of content is done by a group of moderators to ensure quality.

Such sites are not restricted to short breaking-news reports alone.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting likes to call its news stories “campaigns,” which not only raise awareness on underrepresented issues around the world, but are also promoted and published for various audiences in order to increase their impact. Brainchild of longtime American journalist Jon Sawyer, it was established in partnership with Emily Pulitzer in 2006, and today, it is one of the most reliable sources of international coverage in the US. The stories are not merely one-time pieces, but multi-part series that are followed through and updated over the course of several months.

The Center has also partnered with various traditional and nontraditional news organizations to which it disseminates news – the organizations gain because of the content they receive on important global issues, and the Center’s reporters profit from the wide reach and recognition they get from diverse readerships.

The reports focus on the human element, something mainstream outlets tend to ignore. The Pulitzer center’s story on AIDS in Jamaica in collaboration with poet Kwame Dawes drew on narratives from victims in the disease-ravaged country, and its campaign to raise awareness about global warming brings to light tangible effects of climate change, as told through the stories of people who are already suffering its consequences. From corruption in Colombia to the Maoist rebellion in India, the Center has truly extended the geographic and material breadth of news coverage.

Global Post, the latest in a series of such ventures, was launched by Charles Sennot, the Boston Globe’s veteran foreign correspondent earlier this year. With about 70 correspondents in over 50 countries, this project utilizes already-established journalists in different regions of the world in order to provide foreign coverage. Its correspondents include professionals from media stalwart organizations such as CNN, the AP and The Washington Post. While not devoted expressly to citizen journalism, the site aims to locate top bloggers from each area covered in order to amplify its reporting. Social media tools will help create a network to communicate with people in different regions.

One recurring theme in these undertakings seems to be the journalist-as-entrepreneur model that David Westphal describes. The Pulitzer center exemplifies this model by paying its freelancers not much more than a travel stipend, but in helping them find multiple venues to showcase their work. This expands their reach and audience thus allowing them to profit from their reporting, but relieves the nonprofit organization of the burden of payment. Ground Report pays its contributors (fees vary between a few cents to a couple hundred dollars) based on unique traffic to specific articles. Hence, writers actually have a stake in the quality of work they produce. Global Post goes one step further, and in addition to monthly compensation it offers its contributors a grant of shares in the company, thus allowing them part-ownership benefits.

This is just part of the larger push toward a more entrepreneurial approach to journalism be it through the education of aspiring journalists, the training of seasoned reporters, or a fundamental shift in the way we think about the news industry in general, as has been detailed on OJB before.

This idea of producing quality content through a network of independent journalists seems particularly useful in global reporting, which is second only to the hyperlocal genre in being able to tap into the best features that the Internet has to offer.