The Huffington Post - now generally known as the Huff Post - has in four years gone from upstart to online powerhouse - and now it wants to branch out into news. But is the Huffington Post ready to replace the ailing US newspaper industry?
The Guardian reports in "Towering Ambition":
"There's precious little good news from America's current affairs media these days. Barely a week passes without another announcement of savage staff cuts, bankruptcies or even closures at newsrooms across the US. But last week champagne corks were popping. The Huffington Post, the New York-based liberal blog, announced it was setting up a $1.75m fund to help fill the gap left by the decimation of US investigative teams.
The initiative, said the site's founder, Arianna Huffington, was an attempt to preserve good journalism in America. "For too long," she said, "we've had too many autopsies and not enough biopsies. The HuffFund is our attempt to change this."
The aim is to dig away at weighty subjects, starting with the economic crisis. The fund will provide for up to 10 staff, supplemented by freelancers, many of them old media stalwarts sacked from failing news institutions.
The fact that the rescue mission is being launched under the flag of the HuffPo - a blog best known for its vibrant commentary rather than news - underlines the blurring effect of the internet revolution. Blogs are inheriting the investigative work of newspapers; newspapers are blogging."
The Guardian reports in "Towering Ambition":
"There's precious little good news from America's current affairs media these days. Barely a week passes without another announcement of savage staff cuts, bankruptcies or even closures at newsrooms across the US. But last week champagne corks were popping. The Huffington Post, the New York-based liberal blog, announced it was setting up a $1.75m fund to help fill the gap left by the decimation of US investigative teams.
The initiative, said the site's founder, Arianna Huffington, was an attempt to preserve good journalism in America. "For too long," she said, "we've had too many autopsies and not enough biopsies. The HuffFund is our attempt to change this."
The aim is to dig away at weighty subjects, starting with the economic crisis. The fund will provide for up to 10 staff, supplemented by freelancers, many of them old media stalwarts sacked from failing news institutions.
The fact that the rescue mission is being launched under the flag of the HuffPo - a blog best known for its vibrant commentary rather than news - underlines the blurring effect of the internet revolution. Blogs are inheriting the investigative work of newspapers; newspapers are blogging."
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