Guardian launches US website

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 05:07 PM

The Guardian America website was launched today in a bid to meet the needs of a growing US audience, its editors said.

Michael Tomasky, editor of the Guardianamerica.com site, said it would combine the best of the UK site with “political and cultural coverage of the States that is more geared toward a US audience’s interests”.

The site’s official launch includes an interview with Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in which she criticises George Bush for applying the same “broad brush” approach to different terrorist groups.

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger said: “There is clearly a demand in the US for the Guardian perspective on global news and comment.”

Guardian America, which has an editorial team of eight based in Washington DC, will also use video news feeds with audio and video footage created by its own in-house team.

Mr Tomasky said: “The Guardian’s already-huge US audience shows that they must be doing something right.

“What we’ll try to do is to bring those American readers the best and most relevant of what London produces every day and combine it with political and cultural coverage of the States that is more geared toward a US audience’s interests but staying faithful to the Guardian sensibility.”

Emily Bell, Guardian News and Media’s director of digital content, said: “At a time when many media organisations are cutting back, we are making a significant investment in our journalism, creating a new type of multimedia content which showcases the best Guardian journalism and story-telling in all its forms.

“We hope to make the most of this offering during the American primaries and beyond.”

A variety of user services and facilities tailored to the US market, from holidays to dating, will be introduced over time and will eventually include opportunities for recruitment advertising.