The Mercury News Weekend

Huffington leaving her post

Website’s departing editor plans to head a health startup

- By Joseph Pisani and Tali Arbel Associated Press

“People were mocking blogs and mocking celebritie­s and she built a formidable media and political force.” — Jeff Jarvis, journalism professor, commentato­r

NEW YORK — The Huffington Post is going to be without a Huffington.

Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post’s editor-inchief, announced Thursday that she’s leaving to head a new health, wellbeing and productivi­ty startup.

“I thought HuffPost would be my last act,” Huffington said in a tweet. “But I’ve decided to step down as HuffPost’s editorin-chief to run my new venture, Thrive Global.”

The one-time conservati­ve commentato­r oversaw explosive growth at the liberal online news and blog site that she co-founded in 2005, which won a Pulitzer in less than a decade.

The site is known for its celebrity and newsmaker blogs and was a pioneer in the “aggregatio­n” model in online news, posting stories that relied on articles and informatio­n from different news organizati­ons as well as its own contributo­rs. Initially, it was criticized for that practice by some journalist­s, including former New York Times editor Bill Keller . The site still has plenty of news from others, but it’s also invested in original reporting. Within seven years of its founding, The Huffington Post had earned a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on its series about wounded veter- ans. It was a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist for national reporting for a multimedia project on opioid addiction.

Aside from its U.S. edition, The Huffington Post has 14 internatio­nal editions in multiple languages.

“People were mocking blogs and mocking celebritie­s and she built a formidable media and political force,” said Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor at CUNY in New York and well-known media commentato­r.

How or if The Huffington Post will change without its last remaining co-founder remains to be seen.

The company is part of much larger entity — phone and cable company Verizon, which is on an acquisitio­n spree as it builds out its digital ad business. It bought AOL, Huffington Post’s owner since 2011, last year.

In late July, Verizon announced the $4.8 billion acquisitio­n Yahoo, which has its own hefty media business.

Huffington said that the Yahoo buyout had nothing to do with her decision to leave, according to an article on The Huffington Post.

In a press release, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said of HuffPost that AOL and Verizon “are committed to continuing its growth and the groundbrea­king work Arianna pioneered.”

For now, Huffington will be replaced by an interim editorial committee made up of five people, according to an internal memo posted on the site.

Jarvis doesn’t believe HuffPost will change much since Huffington’s main focus had shifted away from politics some time ago.

“I can’t pinpoint when, she seemed to lose her singular focus on politics,” Jarvis said.

Others are less sure the site will not change.

“There’s a reason to fear that it wouldn’t be as solid as it has been,” said Jeff Cohen, an associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College, who started blogging on the site shortly after it was founded.

“I’m a little saddened,” he said. “I think she’s been a strong force for journalism.”

 ?? BRIAN ACH/GETTY IMAGES FOR AOL ?? Huffington Post editor Ariana Huffington, who will be replaced by an interim committee of five people, says the Yahoo buyout had nothing to do with her decision to leave.
BRIAN ACH/GETTY IMAGES FOR AOL Huffington Post editor Ariana Huffington, who will be replaced by an interim committee of five people, says the Yahoo buyout had nothing to do with her decision to leave.

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