The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post
Founded May 2005
Founder(s) Arianna Huffington
Kenneth Lerer
Jonah Peretti
Headquarters New York City, New York, United States
Key people Arianna Huffington, Editor-in-Chief
Tim Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer
Roy Sekoff, editor
Employees 200+
Parent AOL
Slogan "The Internet Newspaper: News, Blogs, Video, Community"
Website www.huffingtonpost.com
Alexa rank 88 (January 2012)[1]
Type of site News & blogging
Registration Optional
Available in English
Launched May 9, 2005
Current status Active

The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring columnists and various news sources.[2] The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy, and has news, blogs, and original content. The Huffington Post was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet and alternative to news websites like the Drudge Report.[3] On February 7, 2011, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for US$315 million making Arianna Huffington editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group.[4][5]

Contents

History

The Huffington Post was founded by Arianna Huffington in May 2005, and launched a few days later on May 9. The Huffington Post has an active community, with over one million comments made on the site each month. Prior to The Huffington Post, Huffington hosted a website called Ariannaonline.com. Her first foray into the Internet was a website called Resignation.com, which called for the resignation of President Bill Clinton and was a rallying place for conservatives opposing Clinton.[6]

Local and international editions

In 2008, the site launched its first local version, HuffPost Chicago;[7] HuffPost New York[8] launched in June, 2009, HuffPost Denver[9] launched on September 15, 2009,[10] HuffPost Los Angeles[11] launched on December 2, 2009,[12] and HuffPost San Francisco, launched on July 12, 2011.[13] HuffPost Detroit,[14] launched on November 17, 2011.[15] The most recent, HuffPost Miami launched in November 2011.[16]

The Huffington Post launched its first international edition, HuffPost Canada, on May 26, 2011.[17] On the 6 July 2011 the Huffington Post UK launched its UK edition.[18] On October 10, 2011, Huffington announced a deal with Le Monde and Les Nouvelles Editions Indépendantes for a French-language, France-targeted edition, Le Huffington Post,[19][20] to be launched by the end of 2011. In January 2012, another French-language edition will be launched in the canadian province of Quebec[21].

Contributors

In addition to columns by Arianna Huffington and a core group of contributors such as John Conyers, Harry Shearer, Jeff Pollack, and Roy Sekoff, The Huffington Post has over 9,000 bloggers—from politicians and celebrities to academics and policy experts—who contribute on a wide range of topics.

Celebrities are allowed to post blogs on the site, and a number have opted to do so over the years. In many cases, such as that of Robert Reich, content is cross-posted among multiple sites.[22]

The site also publishes columns by specialists in a wide range of fields such as Anand Reddi on global health issues, Alice Waters on food, Doctor Harold Katz on dental health, Suzie Heumann on sex, Diane Ravitch on education, Jacob M. Appel on ethics, Howard Steven Friedman on statistics and politics, Auren Hoffman on business and politics, Jon LaPook on medicine, and Iris Krasnow on marriage, and publishes scoops of current news stories and links to selected prominent news stories.

The Huffington Post's OffTheBus is a citizen-powered online news organization that is a collaboration between The Huffington Post, New York University (NYU), and Jay Rosen's NewAssignment.Net.[23][24] The Huffington Post's FundRace is a website that tracks contributions to the presidential campaigns and includes a mapping feature that shows contributions broken down by city, neighborhood, and block.[25]

UK bloggers include Alan McGee, Jody Thompson, Dom Joly, Dina Rickman, Malcolm Cowley, Alex Lee Thomson, Anna Hart, Martin Moore, Colin Pattison, Belinda Parmar, and Rachel Preece.

Investment

In August 2006, The Huffington Post announced that SoftBank Capital would invest $5 million in the site, which had grown in popularity in only a year, to help expand it.[26] Plans included 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 marked the site's "first round of venture capital funding."[27]

The site now has invested in Vlogging, or video blogging, with many of the site contributors contributing via video, and capturing clips in the media and posting them on the site.

In November 2008, The Huffington Post completed $15 million fundraising from investors, to finance expansion including more journalism and the provision of local news across the United States.[28]

On February 7, 2011, AOL announced it would acquire The Huffington Post for US$315 million. As part of the deal Arianna Huffington will become president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, which will include The Huffington Post and existing AOL properties Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, MapQuest, Black Voices, PopEater, AOL Music, AOL Latino, AutoBlog, Patch, and StyleList.[5]

Criticism

Science controversies

The Huffington Post has been criticized by several science bloggers, as well as online news sources, for including articles by supporters of alternative medicine and anti-vaccine activists and censoring rebuttals written by science bloggers before publishing.[29][30][31][32]

Steven Novella, president of the New England Skeptical Society, criticized The Huffington Post for allowing homeopathy proponent Dana Ullman to have a blog there:

"Dana Ullman, a notorious homeopathy apologist, actually has a regular blog over at HuffPo. For those of us who follow such things, the start of his blog there marked the point of no return for the Huffington Post – clearly the editors had decided to go the path of Saruman and "abandon reason for madness." They gave up any pretense of caring about scientific integrity and became a rag of pseudoscience."[33]

Labor disputes

In February 2011, Visual Art Source, which had previously been cross-posting material from its website, went on strike against The Huffington Post.[34]

Since March 2011, the strike and the call to boycott The Huffington Post was joined and endorsed by the Huffington Post Union of Bloggers and Writers (HPUB), the National Writers Union (NWU) and the Newspaper Guild (TNG) [35]

In April 2011, The Huffington Post was targeted with a multimillion dollar lawsuit filed in United States District Court in New York by Jonathan Tasini on behalf of thousands of uncompensated bloggers.[36]

Awards

References

  1. ^ "Huffingtonpost.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2012-01-02. 
  2. ^ Kurtz, Howard (July 9, 2007). "A Blog That Made it Big". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/08/AR2007070801213.html. Retrieved 2008-11-25. 
  3. ^ "The Huffington Post". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1192975/The-Huffington-Post. Retrieved 2009-03-03. 
  4. ^ Fishman, Rob (2011-03-14). "The Huffington Post Media Group Makes Key Announcements". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/14/the-huffington-post-media_n_835283.html. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  5. ^ a b Pitney, Nico (2011-02-07). "AOL Agrees To Acquire The Huffington Post". AOL. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/07/aol-huffington-post_n_819375.html. Retrieved 2011-02-07. 
  6. ^ Editors (December 16, 1998) "Direct Access: Arianna Huffington." Washington Post. See also Huffington's September 14, 1998 column at Resignation.com, where she calls for Clinton to resign, and her December 24, 1998 column at Resignation.com, where she states why she started Resignation.com.
  7. ^ "Chicago News and Opinion". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chicago/. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  8. ^ "New York News and Opinion". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/new-york/. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  9. ^ "Denver News and Opinion". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/denver/. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  10. ^ Roberts, Michael (2009-09-15). "The Debut of Huffington Post Denver". Blogs.westword.com. http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2009/09/the_debut_of_huffington_post_d.php. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
  11. ^ "Los Angeles News and Opinion". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/los-angeles/. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  12. ^ "Go West, Young Internet Newspaper: Introducing HuffPost Los Angeles". Huffingtonpost.com. 2009-12-02. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/go-west-young-internet-ne_b_376756.html. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
  13. ^ "San Francisco News and Opinion". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/san-francisco/. Retrieved October 11, 2011. 
  14. ^ "Detroit News and Opinion". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/detroit/. Retrieved 2011-21-Nov. 
  15. ^ "Motoring Into the Motor City: Introducing HuffPost Detroit". Huffingtonpost.com. 2011-17-Nov. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/huffpost-detroit_b_1098666.html. Retrieved 2011-21-Nov. 
  16. ^ Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/miami/. 
  17. ^ "Huffington Post launches Canadian version". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. 2011-05-26. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/huffington-post-launches-canadian-version/article2035896/. Retrieved 27 May 2011. 
  18. ^ "Arianna 'really excited' for Huffington Post UK edition". BBC News. 2011-07-06. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14042203. 
  19. ^ Arianna Huffington (10/10/11 09:37 PM ET). "Bonjour, Paris: HuffPost and Le Monde Announce Le Huffington Post!". Paris: The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/le-huffington-post_b_1004326.html. 
  20. ^ Hanrahan, Mark (2011-10-10). "Huffington Post To Launch French Site". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/huffington-post-launch-france_n_1003109.html. 
  21. ^ Desplanques, Anne Caroline (2011-12-12). "Huffington Post Québec: Cinq questions à l'éditeur, Patrick White (5 questions to Huffington Post Québec Editor Patrick White)". Projet J. http://projetj.ca/article/huffington-post-quebec-5-questions-lediteur-patrick-white. 
  22. ^ Huffington Post blogs
  23. ^ Fineman, Howard. "Off The Bus News and Opinion on The Huffington Post". Huffingtonpost.com. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/off-the-bus/. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  24. ^ "Get Off the Bus : CJR". www.cjr.org. http://www.cjr.org/feature/get_off_the_bus.php. Retrieved 2009-03-07. "OffTheBus (OTB) was a citizen-powered campaign news site co-sponsored by The Huffington Post and Jay Rosen’s NewAssignment, at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute." 
  25. ^ "Campaign Donors : Fundrace 2008 – Huffington Post". Fundrace.huffingtonpost.com. 2009-08-28. http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  26. ^ "The Huffington Post Announces $25 Million In Funding" (PDF). http://www.softbank.com/pages/HP_Oak%20_120108.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-07. 
  27. ^ Softbank Capital invests $5 mln in Huffington Post, Reuters, August 7, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2006.
  28. ^ Business big shot: Arianna Huffington, online entrepreneur The Times November 21, 2008
  29. ^ Owens, Simon (2009-05-02). "Science bloggers challenge credibility of Huffington Post "wellness" editor". Dailykos.com. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/5/2/727191/-Science-bloggers-challenge-credibility-of-Huffington-Post-wellness-editor. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
  30. ^ "Steven Novella: ''The Huffington Post’s War On Science''". Sciencebasedmedicine.org. http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=470. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
  31. ^ Parikh, Rahul K. (2009-05-15). "The Huffington Post is crazy about your health". Salon. http://www.salon.com/env/vital_signs/2009/07/30/huffington_post/. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  32. ^ PZ Myers (2009-12-14). "What do Fox News and the Huffington Post have in common?". Scienceblogs.com. http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/what_do_fox_news_and_the_huffi.php. Retrieved 2010-02-21. 
  33. ^ Steven Novella (31 January 2011). "Homeopathy Pseudoscience at the Huffpo". New England Skeptical Society. http://theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=2775. Retrieved 7 February 2011. 
  34. ^ Lasarow, Bill (2011-03-05). "Why our writers are on strike against the Huffington Post – Bill Lasarow". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/05/huffington-post-aol. 
  35. ^ "Don't cross the picket line - boycott the Huffington Post". 2011-06-15. http://nwu.org/boycott-huffington-post-0. 
  36. ^ Huffington Post Is Target of Suit on Behalf of Bloggers, Jeremy W. Peters, The New York Times, 12 April 2011
  37. ^ "14th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners". Webbyawards.com. http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  38. ^ "New York City Hot 125". Lead411.com. http://www.lead411.com/topnewyorkcompanies.html. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  39. ^ "14th Annual Webby Nominees & Winners". Webbyawards.com. http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php#webby_entry_blog_political. Retrieved 2011-04-02. 
  40. ^ "The Huffington Post – 25 Best Blogs 2009". TIME. 2009-02-13. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1879276_1879279_1879212,00.html. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  41. ^ 49th Southern California Journalism Award Winners
  42. ^ Huffington Post page for Bennet Kelley.
  43. ^ Aldred, Jessica (2008-03-09). "The world's 50 most powerful blogs". London: Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/09/blogs. Retrieved 2008-09-23. 
  44. ^ Kiri Blakeley (2009-07-14). "In Pictures: The Most Influential Women In Media – No. 12: Arianna Huffington". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/14/most-influential-women-in-media-forbes-woman-power-women-oprah-winfrey_slide_13.html. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 
  45. ^ Close (2009-07-13). "Arianna Huffington | MediaGuardian 100 2009 | Media | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/11/arianna-huffington-mediaguardian-100-2009. Retrieved 2009-09-02. 

External links