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Two experienced media professionals are launching a new media outlet aimed at English-speaking graduates who value independent news sources which, they say, is some 200m people globally. Justin Smith, ex-CEO of Bloomberg Media, and Ben Smith, a former NYT editor and co-head of BuzzFeed, are said to be getting great interest from potential investors. The move follows the launch of Puck (Hollywood-Silicon Valley-Wall Street), expansion of (the apparently profitable) Axios, and the global plans for Politico (under Axel Springer ownership).

Justin Smith & Ben Smith: “A big dissatisfied audience”

Much is yet to be disclosed, and Ben Smith’s comment to New Yorker is unrevealing: “We’re thinking more about the audience than about competitors… I think there is a big audience of people who are dissatisfied with their current options.

There’s a lot of research that suggests that, for…a range of overlapping reasons”. No launch date yet. But everytime you see an ambitious global plan – which, presumably, will attract a fair amount of launch capital – don’t you think about the lower-cost, lower-risk potential of doing it in one country?

David Bradley, former owner of The Atlantic, says he wants to invest in the Smiths’ project whatever it is.