In all the media buzz about the AOL deal with The Huffington Post, one issue keeps coming up that makes no sense to me. Will Huffington Post bloggers still submit their work for free when HuffPost founders just made a lot of money on their investment?
As a fairly regular blogger on HuffPost*, I can expertly say three things. I make no money from blogging, and I don't resent it; I don't intend to stop, and I don't agree with critics who challenge the current model.
In fact I am only going to be unhappy if they stop taking my posts. News flash to the New York Times -- every op-ed submission you receive would still want you to print their column even if you didn't pay the $150 bucks!
The fact is that for part-time opinion writers to be successful, we need platforms. We want our voices to be in the conversation of the day, and we need sites with a LOT of traffic to be effective in doing that.
I bow in homage to full-time opinion writers who work for or have contract deals with media outlets. Theirs is an honorable profession, and I would never suggest that they want to work for free. I am all about content creators having a choice about how to distribute their content. And as a contract political analyst for CNN, I believe that it is important to recognize professionalism in the field. I often write on CNN.com without getting paid for it as well because it is a critically important news platform. But, and this is a deliberate strategy, opinion is not a big highlighted feature of their website.
But when a story is moving or an issue bursts from your heart and you just have to get it out, The Huffington Post has always been a place that welcomes the here and now of your thoughts. And they get it up fast. They don't edit my thoughts. And unlike almost every media outlet, they don't even edit the length -- though some of my posts could use some I'm sure.
Indeed, my favorite moments on HuffPost are when I have written something and it sparks another post in disagreement -- or in agreement, but with another tangent. There is nowhere else online where this live dialogue exists so efficiently and effectively. Current placement is very egalitarian. Blog posts shift frequently, front page to vertical and back. The only test is whether it is popular. Is it getting read? Are there a lot of comments? Are people excited to participate? They have the technology to determine all of those things, and that is why the entire site feels like it is newly relevant every time you hit refresh. Arianna and the editors' challenge with AOL is going to be to keep the conversation as alive on the front AOL page and the other verticals.
Frankly, I don't see that exposure for a diversity of voices on any other site featured with so much enthusiasm. And that is why so many "famous" people blog. That is why when someone big has something to say, HuffPost is often the place they say it -- un-edited, in their own words -- not fearful of a shortened interview or a misunderstood and out-of-context comment.
I say on to the next level -- take my voice and send it to the more than 100 million AOL users a month. Far from feeling exploited, as a HuffPost blogger, you feel you are actually in the game.
*Full disclosures. I was political director of The Huffington Post for 2008 and editor at large from 2009 to 2010, and that is how I know how it works and how decisions are made to support bloggers. But I have no stock and I currently receive no compensation for my blogging.
Follow Hilary Rosen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hilaryr
I don't see many views in opposition to the company line on this site.
Maybe they should pay the bloggers and eliminate the moderators
THAT said, much of my stuff has gone straight to Archives, since Off the Bus. But the most frustrating thing of all, by far, is you can send 1000 emails, which no one answers. I can only imagine this will get worse!! Hmm. Now that this lucrative deal has been made, perhaps hire a second person for Blogteam??
As for the consternation of this merger: AOL is an aging Baby Boomer brand that has been a joke for those of us under age 45 for a few years.
People aren't seeing this move for what it is: AOL was failing and it basically paid 300-some million dollars to get HuffPo to take over its brands and make them work.
My money is on the Greek lady with the pleasant accent and the keen instincts on how to make an Internet powerhouse from scratch in fewer than 5 years.
Times have changed. Many bloggers have realized they will not make a living this way. Many have also realized that a few of their members have really cleaned up. If the people who administer the site are earning $300,000/year (according to one report) why would the workers, who provide the substance and content (the writers) expect to continue to provide their labor free of charge.
A few, those who earn a living through their high profile, may continue. I think most will leave. After all, how much substantive criticism of the corporate-run society can we expect on a corporate-run website?
In fact, it might be a good time to thank ALL the bloggers who have, over the course of a few short years, made the site such a stunning success...
I know that in her media appearencs...... Ms. Huffington herself has always been quick to credit both the HuffPo bloggers...and even we lowly readers and commenters....(what she generously referrs to as "The HuffPo community").....for the site's success.
I've been a patron almost since the site's inception...and have always been aware that the bloggers contribute "pro bono" as it were........
Indeed...I miss reading the work of some who seldom post any longer...
(The fiery and eloquent anti-war pieces by Jane Smiley...and the dry wit and humor of Nora Ephron come immediately to mind)
I've long thought that a piece (or even a documentary film!) about the "inner workings" of the site would be something many of us would find fascinating......
If anyone knows of such...please feel free to respond.
Congratulations and continued success to all concerned from a member of the "HuffPo community"
Regards
TM
"I was political director of The Huffington Post for 2008 and editor at large from 2009 to 2010,"
If this writer given the experience with Huffington is elated over the AOL acquisition, it certainly cannot be all bad.
Initially, I had some apprehension, not only as a user but an admirer of the blog
Here they get it for free, and then make a profit on it.
However, make no mistake, not paying for content which enhances the bottom line is GENIUS from a business sense.
Underpaying for willing labor...isn't that the problem with big businesses who profit on the backs of underpaid but willing laborers from abroad?
Most of you bloggers who are devoting significant time to your pieces, as opposed to us plebes with the "quick hitters", you are being used...
To me, being truly progressive means raising up the little guy and gal, not just focusing on the wealthiest and most populous demographics. That's where I think a lot of "progressive" media fail, not only HuffPo, but also MSNBC and many others. You can't accurately call yourself LGBT-inclusive and therefore, in my opinion, truly progressive, if you never get past the first two letters of the acronym.
Let me hasten to add.......I would be VERY reluctant to believe that HuffPo deliberately excludes the work of transgender contributors.....(please correct me if I am mistaken in that surmise).
I HAVE learned the following about prejudice and discrimination from the experience of a lifetime:
They say that you can't change what's in another's heart by statute....
That may be true....but when outright discrimination is proscribed by law (as it should be)
THAT'S when the real... more important change begins...the one in the attitude of ordinary people.
When discriminatory barriers fall and people have to deal with some of "them" ...
(african Americans or Latinos in formerly all-white schools....women in formerly all-male jobsites..... LGBT folks in (supposedly).. all-"straight" ones)..........
Something interesting happens:
When the sky does not fall..or the earth spin off it's axis...
The most surprising people can be heard to say "Ya' know Juan ...or Sally is really pretty cool!"....before long they no longer add "..for one of THEM".
Already illegal.. racist, sexist, &/or homophobic harrasment becomes socially unacceptable......
In short the best way to transform "them" into "us"....is visibility and presence....so people can see:
"He/she is really pretty much like me"
TM
Before we continue, ....is it just me....or is your articulate response available only for ME to peruse? (I just read it....ay some length")
No comments "pending"......Nothing else from Beckygrrl on this thread.......
What shall we make of this?
As we did in the pre-historic days of pagers......
RSVP....911
TM