DailyChatter reaches 50th college/university, offering students free daily subscriptions
More than 5,200 college students in 26 states and the District of Columbia now have free access to the independent, non-partisan international newsletter
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Philip Balboni
BOSTON, April 25, 2019— With the additions of American University, Hamilton College, Harvard College, and the University of Hawaii, the independent and non-partisan international daily newsletter DailyChatter now counts more than 50 colleges and universities offering their students unlimited free subscriptions.
Subscriptions to DailyChatter, which normally cost $25 per year, are being offered free to college students as part of a major new public service initiative. Begun as a pilot at the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College in 2017, the initiative has blossomed with support from the Knight Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. More than 5,200 students at leading colleges and universities in 26 states and the District of Columbia have opted-in to date to receive DailyChatter by e-mail each weekday morning.
“The opportunity to help the next generation of citizen/leaders be better informed about our complex and interconnected world is one of the most exciting challenges I’ve faced in 50 years in journalism,” said Philip S. Balboni, Founder, CEO, and Co-Executive Editor of DailyChatter.
“We’re eager to grow our university initiative to reach hundreds more institutions of higher learning in the coming months and years,” added Elizabeth Bartle, DailyChatter’s Director of University Relations & Global Engagement.
With a staff of experienced writers and editors in Europe and the United States, DailyChatter provides context and perspective on global news through a succinct narrative summary — “The World in 2 Minutes” –designed for easy reading on a tablet, smartphone, or computer. DailyChatter reported on stories from 134 countries on all six continents in 2018.
The four new participating institutions that have brought DailyChatter to the 50 mark—American, Hamilton, Harvard, and the University of Hawaii—exemplify the broad, diverse group of institutions that have signed up to date: large, medium and small schools, both public and private, from all regions of the United States. Launches at new partner universities are continuing this spring, and DailyChatter is also now accepting commitments for the 2019-2020 academic year starting this fall.
DailyChatter began its university initiative in the 2017-2018 academic year with 13 colleges and universities and has steadily expanded since. Surveys of early readers found 32 percent of student subscribers read it daily, 31 percent read it several times per week, and 98 percent said reading DailyChatter has made them more knowledgeable about world affairs.
WHAT COLLEGES AND READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT DAILYCHATTER:
- Alan Solomont, Dean of Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch
College of Civic Life, one of the early colleges to sign up for the initiative, said: “At Tisch College, we believe that being an informed citizen is the first step to engaging with our communities and the world in order to solve pressing problems. DailyChatter helps advance that mission by facilitating access to international news in a format that is timely and accessible to students.” - Jane Edwards, Dean of International and Professional Experience and Senior Associate Dean at Yale College, said: “I find those of my students who try to keep up at least to some extent with what is happening beyond the US borders are daunted by the barrage of information of mixed quality that hits their devices each day. One of my advisees, who is herself an international student, mentioned what a relief it is to turn to DailyChatter – brevity, coherence, a wide range of sources, and its non-partisan tone make it unique. It’s an engaging source of significant and often unexpected stories from many corners of our globalized world.’’
- Scott Carpenter, Chair of French and Francophone Studies and Director of Cross-Cultural Studies and the Center for Global and Regional Studies at Carleton College, said: “Carleton students have flocked to DailyChatter. In a world full of distractions, DailyChatter provides moments of focus, and the new daily map feature launched this month conveys context. Connecting with world events has never been easier.’’
- Yves Mangulabnan, a student at the College of Liberal Arts of the University of Minnesota, said: “I appreciate DailyChatter for what it does, giving me a glimpse of the world’s affairs without the spin, bias, and framing that plague news organizations today.’’
Through its University Initiative, DailyChatter is available at no cost to participating colleges and universities. No contract is required to join and the students simply click on a link in an email from their school to fill out a short form to sign up. Students who opt in keep their free subscriptions for as long as they are enrolled in their institution. DailyChatter does not share their e-mail addresses or track their online activity.
About DailyChatter
DailyChatter’s mission is to help people of all kinds know the world better. Launched in March 2016, the newsletter is exclusively devoted to international news. Subscriptions cost $25 per year, and DailyChatter is delivered to subscribers every weekday morning at 6 a.m. Eastern Time. DailyChatter is published in Europe and headquartered in Boston, with staff based in Berlin, Paris, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Portsmouth, N.H. Its website is at www.dailychatter.com and more information about the University Initiative may be found at https://www.dailychatter.com/university-initiative/