GlobalPost — a Boston-based web start-up which aims to fill a void in international news coverage — launched today, amidst a world economic crisis and escalating Israel-Palestine turmoil.  And a centerpiece of its pre-launch promotion ramp-up has been a web video program, created by DigiNovations, has showcasing the bold venture on GlobalPost’s home page.  (Post launch, it has moved to the Global Post “About Us” page.)

GlobalPost has put together a team of 65 correspondents in 45 countries, who are reporting on the world’s most critical issues and timely events. The free website aims to attract viewers who have been unable to access as many foreign stories from U.S.-based newspapers and TV networks, as traditional media cuts expenses, including foreign bureaus, due to declining readers/viewers and advertising dollars.

GlobalPost, founded by veteran journalists Phil Balboni, the Founder of New England Cable News, and Charlie Sennot, a former Boston Globe foreign correspondent and bureau chief, hired Diginovations to show web viewers what they could expect to see. DigiNovations created a 6-minute video program that presented GlobalPost’s profound mission of educating Americans with international stories that are increasingly not being told.

View the GlobalPost launch video

The website presentation has used compelling video and pictures of global conflict, some shot by GlobalPost correspondents themselves, who are using pocket-sized digital cameras to supplement their story-telling. DigiNovations’ story introduced some of the news operation’s seasoned correspondents, highlighted the regions they would cover, and teased the site’s viewers with bits of stories they could expect to see. GlobalPosts’ reporter roster includes veterans of major news organizations such as CNN, The Washington Post, Time magazine and The Associated Press.

In one sense, the timing of the website launch and preview video appears perfect, amidst continued worries about the global economy, terrorism, Middle East bloodshed, and climate change. Video interviews with Balboni, Sennot, and two of the venture’s lead investors portrayed a new news source that aims to seek out stories that are of importance to every American. In the story, Sennot says “there’s never been a time in our nation’s history where you needed to understand the world more… these are issues that are all globally connected.”

But the launch of GlobalPost comes amid a slowdown in the online advertising, the source of more than half of the company’s projected revenue. Implementing a video to help promote the site and attract viewers was deemed a smart investment. DigiNovations’ Senior Producer Mont Fennel, lead producer for the web video, says “It was challenging to put together the visuals for a 6-minute- long story whose product, a website, had not even taken shape, but with creativity we made it work, and GlobalPost tells us it was very pleased with the results.”

GlobalPost also showcased DigiNovations’ story at the company’s launch party in October.