The Left Rises Up Against HuffPo
The Left Rises Up Against HuffPo
By Don Irvine | February 10, 2011 It didn’t take long for the left to react to the $315 million AOL-Huffington Post merger that was announced on Monday. And the reaction was mostly negative. One group formed a Facebook page with the title of “Hey Arianna, Can You Spare a Dime” evoking thoughts of the Great Depression. The description box for the group which has only attracted 145 likes to date is as follows: AOL gave you $315 million: We’re asking you to give a little back to the unpaid writers who built the Huffington Post. This is in reference to the bloggers who for the most part weren’t paid for their posts but now watch helplessly as the site they helped build cashes in without them. The group also points to Huffington’s latest book which to them contradicts her behavior with regard to the merger: In her book “Third World America,” Arianna Huffington wrote, “It’s no longer an exaggeration to say that middle-class Americans are an endangered species.” Her book takes to task the greedy tactics of rich bankers who have made it all but impossible for working people to earn a living wage in these harsh economic times. In her book, it’s clear that she envisions herself a champion of the middle class and a defender of the little guy. We applaud Ms. Huffington’s position on the working class. Which is why we feel it’s so important for her to understand that the policies of her proudly progressive publication contribute to the economic woes of this nation by driving down the value of journalism. This $315 million buyout by AOL, along with her $4 million annual salary as part of the deal, was built on the backs of hard-working writers who never saw a dime for their labor. Many of Huffington Post’s most productive contributors broke news and provided astute analysis to regular beats, allowing Huffington to avoid hiring a paid journalist for the same coverage. We call on Ms. Huffington to live up to the ideals she so earnestly professes and share some of her profits with the people responsible for the Huffington Post’s 117 million unique visitors each month. Yes Arianna, what are you doing for the little people that helped you make this deal? Fishbowl LA reports that bloggers have begun deleting their accounts in protest. Some bloggers have told FishbowlLA, they will just no longer post. Others have reported deleting their accounts. Al Giordano wrote that it took him 90 minutes to take down his account completely and then he posted: As author and sole owner of the words in this story, I did not write them for AOL, and do not wish to have any association with it imposed upon me. The original text may still be found at http://narconews.com/thefield – Al Giordano, February 7, 2011 Adbusters is who originally coined the hashtag #huffpuff: Socialite Arianna Huffington built a blog-empire on the backs of thousands of citizen journalists. She exploited our idealism and let us labor under the illusion that the Huffington Post was different, independent and leftist. Now she’s cashed in and three thousand indie bloggers find themselves working for a megacorp. And added: We are the ones who built the Huffington Post. And now we will be the ones who will huff & puff it down. The Politico reported that the bastion of left wing publications The Nation weighed in on the merger with an e-mail from editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel to its readers and turned it into a fund raising opportunity. Huffington Post Dear Nation Reader: Without a doubt, the media world is in tumult. Newspapers are shedding jobs, venerable institutions are dying off, new upstarts are gaining audience, and everyone it seems is merging or combining to create ever larger corporate conglomerates. The loss of Keith Olbermann on MSNBC and The Huffington Post’s merger with AOL are just two recent examples (see John Nichols on the subject). Given all this uncertainty, it’s not surprising that media companies are looking for stability through size. But while mergers and conglomerations might confer economies of scale, they come at enormous cost: independence. That’s a price that The Nation has never been willing to pay. It is our independence that you and your fellow Nation readers make possible by providing more than 20% of all of our revenues through extra donations. Please show us that you cherish our independence as much as we do by making a gift today. Or check out ten things you can do right now to support our efforts without spending a dime.It is at times like this that we’re reminded of the daring spirit — and responsibility — our 146 years of independence gives us. The Nation (and its many moving parts, including TheNation.com) cherishes that independence and will never waver in producing the truthtelling, fearless journalism that sustains and fuels our democracy. Our longtime editor Carey McWilliams once said: ”It is precisely because The Nation’s supporters cared more about what it stood for than what it earned that the magazine has survived” when countless other media outlets have gone under. Show us you’re with us by making a gift today or checking out our list of ten things you can do right now to support The Nation without spending a dime. You have my thanks. Sincerely, Katrina vanden Heuvel Editor & Publisher, The Nation Huffington so far has not directly addressed the complaints from the left preferring instead to talk about the synergies and potential for growth which makes her sound more like a corporate flack than the liberal activist that she really is. So far the defections have been just a trickle but should they turn into a flood both Huffington and AOL will face a larger than expected challenge in making the deal work. But having banked $300 million in cash it may not matter that much to Arianna and her investors. http://www.aim.org/don-irvine-blog/t...gainst-huffpo/ Zucker: NBC Tried to Buy HuffPo By Don Irvine | February 9, 2011 AOL shocked the media and blogosphere on Monday with their announcement that they were buying the liberal Huffington Post. Apparently, they weren’t the only company hoping to buy the popular site. Bill Kirtz, writing for Poynter.org, reports that former NBC Universal president and chief executive Jeff Zucker told an audience at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center that NBC had spent 18 months pursuing a deal but “could never agree on price.” Zucker also praised the deal by saying that it was “a very good day if you believe in news. It helps The Huffington Post monetize its investment and gives AOL a bigger platform.” With all the lefties on MSNBC, it would have been a marriage made in heaven; but NBC wasn’t so in love with the idea that they would pay just any price. It was a very good day for Arianna Huffingtona and her investors, but not for AOL shareholders who have seen the market cap of the company drop by the value of the purchase price since the deal was announced. Porter Bibb, managing partner at Mediatech Capital Partners LLC, commenting on Bloomberg Businessweek.com wondered where AOL with a price of 30 times projected earnings, could afford paying for 95% of it in cash. Bibb called this the internet bubble 2.0. Huffington didn’t just monetize her investment, she robbed AOL blind. According to AOL Chief Finance Officer Arthur Minson, HuffPo will generate $50 million in revenue this year, with a profit margin of 30 percent. Simple math says that equals $15 million. They just paid $315 million. It looks like a long payoff. Conservatives have been critical of AOL from an ideological perspective as the purchase gives Huffington a bigger platform for her views, but liberals are worried that she has sold out. Conservatives could possibly benefit as the value of The Daily Caller or the myriad Andrew Breitbart sites just soared and made them potential acquisition targets. Liberal bias and all, Arianna is laughing all the way to the bank. http://www.aim.org/don-irvine-blog/z...to-buy-huffpo/ |
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