A Special Message to Bloggers Outside the United States

The MBA is currently a U.S.-centric organization. The dominant language is English. The course in media law for bloggers is based on U.S. law. The insurance product, the lawyers, other services and the application process are all geared towards an American audience. This does not reflect our aspirations to be a global organization; it is simply a function of limits on our financial resources at this time. Opening a new chapter in another country is no small undertaking. It will entail developing country-specific content for the media law course based on local law, translating copy on the the site, legally establishing a local organization, establishing a local leadership, setting up local business operations like banking and other services, having a local insurance product, developing a network of attorneys and so on. As we grow, and have more resources, we fully intend to open MBA Chapters around the world so that eventually the U.S. is one chapter among many.

As a practical matter, we have to start somewhere and since the founding members are in the U.S. it makes sense to start here. Of course, the blogosphere is bigger outside the United States than within and not surprisingly many MBA members live outside the United States. This is a good thing because it gives an indication of where we ought to look to grow next. As we seek to add chapters, we are going to want to work with local bloggers in other countries who are already familiar with the MBA, embrace the model we've established here, are comfortable with the English language, and are open to taking on a leadership role locally.

So, while we certainly understand if you want to wait until we come to your country before you join, please know that we hope you will join now despite the limitations of our starting in the United States. The more non-U.S. bloggers we have as members, the more quickly we can establish the basis for future expansion outside the U.S.