MSNBC has made a deal with Thomas L. Friedman to base a theme on their online news site - MSNBC.com - around his best-selling book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century.
On the site, Friedman will conduct video interviews with newsmakers around the world. He'll start off with Bill Gates as the first guest when the site launches in September.
The interview from each participant will start with the question, "When did you realize the world was flat?" which refers to the content of Friedman's book in which he talks about the globalization trends happenig now.
While Friedman won't be writing on the site, the video interviews will include the ability for users to respond or submit their own thoughts on the "world is flat." Friedman will interact with people in response to their comments though. There will also be articles included that supplement the video content.
"This will allow him to have a dialogue with his fans," said Jeff Bernstein, co-founder and chief marketing officer of production company PBJS, which is producing the site. "A franchise this dynamic is a natural to make the leap from print to the Internet."
As far as the interviews themselves, they will be put into short-form segments which will be presented over a four- to six-week period. After that there will be new guest interview uploaded to the site.
There will be an advertising element included with the site, which will involve only a few high-level advertisers, which will have minimal disruption in the experience.
Comment Preview