Most of the organization's interns come to Internews from HSU's master's program in social sciences, which began a new two-year program in 1997 that focuses on the theme of globalization. Internews, as a purveyor of the international spread of the Western ideals of free expression and democracy, has risen to success on the wings of the globalization movement. It is, in fact, perhaps the boldest local example that we live in a time when a single person with a vision can obtain millions of dollars in funding for the purpose of disseminating that vision to nearly every corner of the planet. Hoffman views the issue as complex. The protesters in Seattle had many important points to make, not least of which is the lack of transparency in the World Trade Organization and other international financial institutions.
Globalization is here.
There is no turning back the clock. Information wants to be free. In his personal life, however, Hoffman has always preferred the small-town coziness of Arcata life to the rest of the globe. Living in this community, far from the bustling life of lunches and meetings that he is sure would occupy his life in New York or Washington, he says he is able to accomplish his work without such distractions while remaining close to the values that inspired him to begin Internews in the first place. In the end, it is the necessity of exposing all truths that drives a newsman like Hoffman and a news organization like Internews to conquer the world.