The Huffington Post
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The Huffington Post (often referred to on the Internet as HuffPost or HuffPo) is a politically-progressive online news website and aggregated weblog founded by Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer, featuring hyperlinks to various "News Sources" and "Columnists." The Huffington Post was launched on May 9, 2005 as a news and commentary outlet; its caption reads: "Delivering News & Opinion since May 9th 2005." Its roster of bloggers includes many people from Arianna Huffington's extensive network of prominent "friends." As of August 8, 2006 it was the 5th most popular weblog overall as measured by web links[1] and the most popular "Analysis and Opinion" web site as measured by web hits.[2]
In addition to regular (often daily) columns by Huffington and a core group of contributors (such as Harry Shearer and John Conyers) , the HuffPost has featured notable celebrity contributors from politics, journalism, business, and entertainment (Norman Mailer, John Cusack, and Bill Maher, to name a few), as well as other relative unknowns. Because of the prominence and access of its contributors, the HuffPost regularly publishes scoops of current news stories, otherwise providing links to selected prominent news stories, providing a left-of-center counterpoint to the link-heavy style of The Drudge Report. Compared to other left-wing blogs such as the expertise-heavy Znet or the long-established Daily Kos, the HuffPost draws a balance between hard news commentary and coverage, popular culture and celebrity opinion features. It is also known for the wide range of opinions expressed by members of the public who are encouraged to comment on the original articles. The comment section is home to discussions on politics, religion, topical events, world affairs, cultural and social matters. It has an open format, and rarely does a commenter get banned for his or her views or even a verbal attack. Long, pointless, ad hominem, abusive and endlessly repetitious comments are the only sure way to be banned.
In August 2006, it was announced that Softbank Capital would invest $5 million dollars in the online news site, which has grown dramatically popular in only a year, to help expand it. Plans include hiring more staff to update the site 24 hours a day, hiring in-house reporters, and a multimedia team to do video reports. Alan Patricof's Greycroft Partners also invested. The news marks the site's first "first round of venture capital funding."[3]
The site now has invested in Vlogging, video blogging, with many of the site contributors contributing via video, and capturing clips in the media and posting them on the site.
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[edit] Contributors
A comprehensive list of contributors to the The Huffington Post blog can be found in its alphabetical Bloggers Index:
Among the celebrity or otherwise-prominent bloggers are:
Politicians (former or current):
Actors, comedic performers, directors, and producers:
Business people:
Others:
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Advance publicity announced forthcoming articles from:
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[edit] Awards
The Huffington Post won the 2006 Webby Awards for Best Political Blog.
Arianna Huffington was selected to the TIME 100 list recognizing the 100 most influential people.[4]
[edit] See Also
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ Technorati
- ^ Alexa measurements for Huffington Post website
- ^ Softbank Capital invests $5 mln in Huffington Post, Reuters, August 7, 2006, accessed October 18, 2006
- ^ The Time 100 : Arianna Huffington, TIME, April 30, 2006, accessed October 18, 2006
