Arianna and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong sat down with Charlie Rose on Thursday to discuss the recent merger of The Huffington Post with AOL.
Arianna explai...
I find myself confused by today's media landscape. It's harder than ever to figure out what is a media company, what is a technology company and who is a journalist.
Learn from Arianna Huffington, as I have: stay current; share power; maintain and grow your network of contacts; be on the lookout for opportunities. It's simple, really: believe in yourself and miracles can happen.
There's a good reason for applauding HuffPost's deal with AOL, and the largess it reaped. For the first time a progressive media entity has actually attained what seemed an absolute impossibility.
Left versus right: These are overly-simplified labels that perpetuate division, and we ought not cater to them, because that amounts to lazy journalism.
Is ideological innovation possible in online journalism, and will we see it from this merger? No one ever thinks to ask that. Without understanding why, we just assume the answer is no.
I have never felt the need to self-censor on The Huffington Post. We will see how things progress with the AOL/Huffington Post deal but I think it will be Arianna telling them a few things, not vice versa.
Greg Shove of Halogen casts the deal between AOL and The Huffington Post in proper light when he says, "AOL has just placed a big bet on the authentic web at scale," making an interesting use of two important terms.
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.
Whether the generation raised on AOL: ISP as internet aquarium will bite at AOL:content king remains to be seen, but the acquisition of The Huffington Post certainly brings the company closer to its long-lost users than it has been for a while.
I'm excited by the new venture: as long as HuffPost and AOL's shared vision imagines creative contrarian content, this site will flourish. But that will depend as much on the community as it does the leadership.
Here's an exclusive video interview BoomTown did with Huffington Post Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong this...
If the 21st century is about "self-determination" -- and I think it is -- then we all need to be actively informed and engaged. Journalism has become an interactive, communal exercise in self-education.
AOL is an online pioneer that engenders great trust among its 250 million global users. HuffPost is on the cutting edge of creating news that is social and brings with it a distinctive voice and a highly engaged audience. In this case, 1 + 1 = 11.
Below, a press release from AOL and The Huffington Post:
AOL AGREES TO ACQUIRE THE HUFFINGTON POST
Acquisition Will Solidify AOL's Strategy of Creat...