Arianna And Tim Armstrong On CNN Money: AOL Was 'The Only Partner' For HuffPost (VIDEO)

Arianna and Tim Armstrong sat down with Poppy Harlow of CNN Money on Monday to discuss AOL's acquisition of HuffPost.

While the deal had been brewing for awhile, the pair had managed to keep things under wraps. "The last couple weeks we were afraid it was going to leak," said Armstrong, AOL's CEO. "One of our key strategies was hiding in plain sight ... Arianna has been at our sales conference ... she's been at our Patch company meeting."

Asked about other potential suitors, Arianna explained that "AOL was the only partner right now that would work for us, because we were not for sale. We were not looking to cash out. Our investors were perfectly happy with the trajectory The Huffington Post was on. This was not something we were looking for, it really came organically out of my conversations with Tim and the alignment of our visions."

WATCH PART 1:

In the interview's second segment, Armstrong and Arianna stressed that their content wasn't trying to lean to one viewpoint, but to look "beyond left and right" and be transparant.

"I think it's hard to argue they have not been moving directly dead center," Armstrong said of HuffPost.

"We now have a larger platform to prove that point," added Arianna. She also pointed out that the traditional left-vs-right construct can be "stifling" and is "not in tune with where young people are."

"We went to challenge the conventional wisdom," she said.

WATCH PART 2:

 

Comments

[awenuts]

10:22 AM on 02/10/2011

'a powerful brand for delivering a "consumer experience"......' I come to huffpost to obtain news stories directly from sources in an attempt to cut through the imposed bias of corporate advertising dollars )... so how does a Cargill add, and having a "consumer experience" tie together with all that???? I"m thinking, not so much and now I'm just deeply saddened.

[rjmtx]

07:55 AM on 02/09/2011

Anyone else notice your friends and fans going down? There's an exodus here. If they just unfanned me, I would still be following them, but they are gone altogether.

I question this matrimony, but will wait and see.

[KillgoreTrout43]

02:05 AM on 02/09/2011

The only way to get beyond left and right, is to report the news, as it happens. The old who, what, where, and why. The, "why," being some what shaky.

[devinkay]

05:47 AM on 02/09/2011

Right. If we could trust *any* news source to honestly report objective, fact-based stories devoid of loaded verbiage and false equivalences, left/right/center would be virtually irrelevant and we Americans could get down to the satisfying and rewarding challenge of working together in a spirit of informed compromise, as we do successfully every day face-to-face all over the country in millions of diverse environments. But we're left trying to make decisions about our world using polarizing, emotionally-manipulative pseudo-news/infotainment, which, if you ask me, isn't a whole lot different than basing your life on a Tom & Jerry cartoon. And the all-or-nothing tempests on the fringes that swallow this pablum like ambrosia have now been cynically whipped into gale force winds that all but blow away reasonable discourse. These days we can all go to our favorite echo chamber (talking about you, DU and Townhall) and shout until our ears ring and bless our own virtues, but it's preachers and choirs and nothing else. No solutions anywhere but scorched earth.

Anyway, anyone relying on any single news source, aggregator or otherwise, to make sense of the complexities of this world isn't very serious about knowing the truth anyway.

[TheIndependenceParty]

01:48 AM on 02/09/2011

I've posted here on HP for quite a while, after attempting the same on Truthout for a while. I was an AOL customer in the early 1990's, ... and before that, Compuserve.

In 1985 I'd arrive at a hotel, unscrew the phone jack, ... connect alligator clips to the contacts, ... and whiz away at 300 Baud, ... a pathetic faction of today's bandwidth, ... simply to tinker with form files from the IRS, ... or text files from BBS's around the country.

AOL has coasted to a stop, ... gliding on the tendency of the elderly to stay with a brand. @aol.com means nothing when you are a cable customer or satellite customer.

Can someone tell me what AOL brings to the table of value?

[ProgressiveMan92]

11:04 PM on 02/08/2011

Arianna Huffington will become the editor in chief of AOL's new content. In other words the Huffington Post will remain the same and AOL will become better.

[InfinteShibumi]

12:30 AM on 02/09/2011

New here?

[lodger16x]

10:14 PM on 02/08/2011

The problem is who gets to define "dead center"? Obama has fallen all over himself to please Wall St and the Chamber of Commerce. Etc. 
But the 'middle right" portrays him as a socialist. The political spectrum in the US is completely out of whack with the rest of the developed world. And polls which ask about specific policies show DC Beltway is far to the right of "real" Americans.  
If HuffPost goes "center", I just hope it will not let the far right tell lies unchallenged.

[cardineaux]

09:31 PM on 02/08/2011

I remember trying to terminate my ISP with AOL years ago. It was an unethical sham the way AOL tried to switch the situation so that it was almost impossible to accomplish. Only after hours on the telephone and getting really ticked off at people would they finally close my account. Many of my friends experienced the same. I won't forget or forgive that. I immediately closed my former Huffpo account when I read this news. Now, I have reconsidered, and opened a new account, but any hint of AOL coming into control of this site, and I'll be gone. I wish Ms Huffington the best.

[mad lib]

11:22 PM on 02/08/2011

Let's get you some fans back.

[Happylib]

02:20 AM on 02/09/2011

Me and all my friends went through the same thing with AOL. I am still boycotting Blockbuster for being so shady in the 90s as well.

[rjmtx]

07:56 AM on 02/09/2011

Thanks for bringing up another company I want to forget... Wow, AOL and Blockbuster. Those were the days...

[Rubyfoo]

08:57 PM on 02/08/2011

I wish Huffpo/AOL the best of luck in the going-beyond-left-and-right, transparency thing. You're paddling against the current maybe, but I'm glad someone wants to try.

[OnAndOnSOH]

08:43 PM on 02/08/2011

I like the idea about not leaning left or right. But with how crazy the right is these days, how can you remain level headed and not sound like you're leaning to the left?

[naughtYmike]

09:02 PM on 02/08/2011

You can't.

[loki]

11:04 PM on 02/08/2011

With the modern Right, your left if you dont totally agree with everything they say and want.

[chyanne lake]

07:48 PM on 02/08/2011

Just ran across an article that said a source close to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told Business Insider that he "calls himself a libertarian," but in fact Armstrong is "one of the most conservative people around."
So once again the Golden Rule wins, "Those with the Gold rule". American democracy is dead. Corporatism has enslaved America.
I can't tell the good guys from the bad anymore. Who am I to believe? "News" is nothing more than "tilted" opinions and flagrant propaganda. I can not find a reason to discuss politics, the needs of the working class, or any reason to hit the pavement for petitions, to get out the vote....or even to vote myself. I do not feel like WE, THE PEOPLE have a real voice these days. I'm just angry, frustrated and feel defeated. So why should I bother to STAND UP when I know I'll just get beat down beyond recognition?

[mauibob]

12:45 AM on 02/09/2011

Fact, his one and only political donation in 2010 was to Chuck Schumer

ARMSTRONG, TIM
NEW YORK, NY
10003 AOL/CEO $1,000 07/20/2010 P FRIENDS OF SCHUMER - Democrat

Gotta hate those pesky facts

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/tim-armstrong.asp?cycle=10

[Zagostino]

07:48 PM on 02/08/2011

How wonderfully tragic this fits into Chris Hedges the "Death of the Liberal Class." One of the pillars of the Liberal Class, along with the Church, Labor Unions, Universities, and the Democratic Party is the Media. And, boy how sad it is to see this happening to H-Post.

For a prescient view of where we stand check out: http://www.booktv.org/Watch/12062/Death+of+the+Liberal+Class.aspx

[Bellanova]

09:34 PM on 02/08/2011

Alright, anyone who quotes Hedges must be fanned. So there. :)

[peacekitten]

11:05 PM on 02/08/2011

couldn't agree more.

[Don Steele]

07:03 PM on 02/08/2011

Is it within vision to publicly express the dangers from allowing large media control to powerful few holding interests in myriads of other businesses?

[olivesforbreakfast]

06:53 PM on 02/08/2011

A lot of people seem to be asking where they might turn if HP gets absorbed into MSM as many fear and suspect it will.

I would recommend Amy Goodman's daily video report:

http://www.democracynow.org/

You might think you don't have the time to spare to tune in but I want to reassure you that once you do, you will become a fan and supporter. The interviews that Goodman conducts with people on the ground and in the know are top notch.

She also interviews academics from around the world who are experts in relevant fields.

Not only that, Goodman, her co-host, Juan Gonzales, as well as her producer, Sharif Abel Kaddous, who is currently on site in Cairo, would never dream of detracting from the earnestness with which they present their stories by tagging articles such as 'More Cute Animal Photos of The Week' next to a story about human rights abuses somewhere in the world as HuffPost has been doing for the last year.

The Democracy Now site reminds us that for true democracy to work, people need easy access to independent, diverse high integrity sources of news and information. See for yourself if this sit works for you.

If you are new to Democracy Now, may I recommend this edition of the show as a real eye-opener:

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/7/the_empires_bagman_us_ambassador_frank

[Zagostino]

07:51 PM on 02/08/2011

I just want to echo your comments on Democracy Now. I have been so impressed with their coverage of Egypt. Nothing I have seen emanating from the U.S. can even come close. If any of you H-Post readers appreciate honest, non-corporate influenced news reporting then I highly recommend olivesforbreakfast's recommendations.

Yeah, right on olivesforbreakfast!!!

[want2run527]

12:04 AM on 02/09/2011

Yes and I must include the recent interview with Noam Chomsky,
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/2/noam_chomsky_this_is_the_most

[Totto]

05:26 PM on 02/08/2011

While you're there, listen to: www.thomhartmann.com

[Falling4ever]

05:12 PM on 02/08/2011

Im sorry? Please note, not an American, but i enjoy this site because IT IS left leaning and if either she or they claim theyre not then would someone like to do a count on the number of" Oh my God look what Beck/Palin/ Odonnel are doing now stories for me? (lol)

Big business has only ONE motivation for doing Anything, lets just hope the almighty dollar doesnt sully yet another great idea