Producing more original video has been one my top goals for HuffPost for a couple of years now. That's why when our founding editor Roy Sekoff and Gabriel Lewis, who was helping HuffPost ramp up our video production, came to me with their idea for HuffPost Live -- a streaming network that would use HuffPost's stories, editors, bloggers, and commenters as its real-time script, I knew we had found the right vehicle for bringing HuffPost's voice, attitude, and disruptive approach to video. It was also an innovative way to tap into our active and passionate HuffPost community and the world's growing hunger for self-expression. People don't want to just consume news; they want to be part of shaping the story of our time.
Mitch Semel soon joined the team from The Onion as executive editor, and Adam Denenberg from Reuters signed on as head of technology. When I saw Ahmed Shihab-Eldin (from Al-Jazeera's The Stream) speak at Google Zeitgeist, I knew we had to have him come aboard, which he did as our first host/producer.
Over time, the initial idea continued to evolve, eventually becoming a platform for engagement and user participation that aims to be as disruptive in video as HuffPost has been in the way news is delivered, consumed, and engaged with.
I could tell you about all the cool features of the HuffPost Live platform, sing the praises of the incredible tech and production team we've assembled, wax lyrical about how gifted our host/producers are, and explain the thinking behind our community-first approach, but since HuffPost Live is now just that -- live! -- why not go see for yourself?
WATCH OUR FIRST HUFFPOST LIVE SEGMENT HERE:
WATCH MY SEGMENT WITH MIKA BRZEZINSKI ON UNPLUGGING AND RECHARGING:
WATCH MY SEGMENT WITH JOHN CUSACK ON AN INNOVATIVE NEW MORTGAGE RELIEF SOLUTION: