HuffPost
On the 9th of May 2005, Arianna Huffington launched The Huffington Post as a direct counter to the Drudge Report. Her team built an early strategy around search-engine optimized stories and headlines based on trending keywords like What Time Is the Super Bowl. This approach generated significant traffic by answering questions people typed into search engines. By January 2011, web search engines drove 35% of the site's traffic compared to just 20% at CNN. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong noticed this SEO-driven journalism practice and tried to implement similar methods across his own properties during the acquisition talks.
AOL acquired The Huffington Post in March 2011 for US$315 million. Arianna Huffington became president and editor-in-chief while overseeing existing AOL properties including Engadget and TechCrunch. Verizon Communications purchased AOL for US$4.4 billion in June 2015, making the news site part of Verizon Media. BuzzFeed acquired the company in November 2020 through a stock deal. Weeks after that acquisition, BuzzFeed laid off 47 HuffPost staff members mostly journalists in the U.S. They also closed down HuffPost Canada and let go of 23 staff working for Canadian and Quebec divisions. Jonah Peretti stated the company lost around $20 million during the previous year before the shutdown.
Lydia Polgreen succeeded Arianna Huffington as editor-in-chief in December 2016 following her resignation. Polgreen announced in April 2017 that the company would rebrand its official name from The Huffington Post to HuffPost. This change included updates to the website design logo and content reporting strategies. Danielle Belton took over as editor-in-chief on the 12th of April 2021. In January 2019, Verizon Media eliminated opinion and health sections while laying off 20 employees including Pulitzer Prize finalist Jason Cherkis. The practice of publishing blog posts from unpaid contributors ended in January 2018 transforming how the site operated.
HuffPost Chicago became the first local version launched in spring 2007. HuffPost New York followed in June 2009 with HuffPost Denver launching on the 15th of September 2009. HuffPost Los Angeles arrived on the 2nd of December 2009 and HuffPost San Francisco opened on the 12th of July 2011. The first international edition appeared on the 26th of May 2011 when HuffPost Canada launched. Le Huffington Post debuted as a French-language edition on the 23rd of January 2012 in partnership with Les Nouvelles Editions Indépendantes. HuffPost Japan launched on the 6th of May 2013 collaborating with Asahi Shimbun as the first Asian country edition. Brasil Post began operations on the 29th of January 2014 before closing down in November 2020 following BuzzFeed's acquisition.
Visual Art Source went on strike against The Huffington Post in February 2011 to protest unpaid writers. The National Writers Union and NewsGuild-CWA joined the boycott though it was dropped by October 2011. Jonathan Tasini filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit on behalf of thousands of bloggers in April 2011. A court dismissed the suit with prejudice on the 30th of March 2012 ruling that bloggers had volunteered their services for publication compensation. The site featured extensive sections from contributors including Adrienne Wu on gender identity and Barack Obama writing about politics. Deepak Chopra contributed articles on integrative medicine while Catherine Duchess of Cambridge wrote about mental health issues.
HuffPost faced criticism for providing platforms to alternative medicine proponents like homeopathy advocate Dana Uullman. Steven Novella president of the New England Skeptical Society criticized the site for hosting such blogs. In 2011 skeptic Brian Dunning listed the website at number 10 on his Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites list. Anne Sinclair served as editorial director in France despite controversy over her support for husband Dominique Strauss-Kahn during sexual assault accusations. HuffPost South Africa apologized unreservedly in April 2017 after publishing hate speech calling for disenfranchisement of white men. Editors removed an article praising Jeffrey Epstein in July 2019 following public backlash.
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Common questions
When did Arianna Huffington launch The Huffington Post?
Arianna Huffington launched The Huffington Post on the 9th of May 2005. She created the site as a direct counter to the Drudge Report and built an early strategy around search-engine optimized stories.
Who acquired HuffPost in November 2020 and what happened to staff afterward?
BuzzFeed acquired HuffPost in November 2020 through a stock deal. Weeks after that acquisition, BuzzFeed laid off 47 HuffPost staff members mostly journalists in the U.S. and closed down HuffPost Canada while letting go of 23 staff working for Canadian and Quebec divisions.
Which editor-in-chief rebranded The Huffington Post to HuffPost in April 2017?
Lydia Polgreen succeeded Arianna Huffington as editor-in-chief in December 2016 following her resignation. Polgreen announced in April 2017 that the company would rebrand its official name from The Huffington Post to HuffPost.
What was the outcome of the lawsuit filed by Jonathan Tasini against HuffPost bloggers in 2011?
Jonathan Tasini filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit on behalf of thousands of bloggers in April 2011. A court dismissed the suit with prejudice on the 30th of March 2012 ruling that bloggers had volunteered their services for publication compensation.
When did HuffPost launch its first international edition and which country hosted it?
The first international edition appeared on the 26th of May 2011 when HuffPost Canada launched. Le Huffington Post debuted as a French-language edition on the 23rd of January 2012 in partnership with Les Nouvelles Editions Indépendantes.