Well, we’ve seen enough articles over the past week that we can’t stop reading about AOL’s remarkable acquisition of The Huffington Post – at a pretty significant $315m price tag.
First, I have to say that the capitalist in me needs to genuinely congratulate Ms. Huffington. To turn her website into the pageview and influence juggernaut it’s become shows real internet acumen. Through a savvy combination of headline-seeking, and SEO, she leveraged thousands of unpaid volunteers – many of them desperate grateful for any bit of exposure they could get for key underreported news stories like: how vaccines cause autism and updates on Katy Perry (PHOTOS!). Well done.
I’ll admit – I never thought it had a real chance of success. When it launched, I remember asking myself, “who actually gives a crap about what Julia Louis-Dreyfuss thinks about legislative politics?!” How wrong I was, apparently.
But now that the dust has mostly settled from the big sale, something interesting has emerged – some pretty widespread liberal discontent at Ms. Huffington’s payday. My favorite, of course, is the complaint of those like the Freelancers’ Guild:
We call on Ms. Huffington to live up to the ideals she so earnestly professes and share some of her profits with the people responsible for the Huffington Post’s 117 million unique visitors each month.
Hear, hear!
You know, it brings to mind a funny story given all of the hyperbolic bile that’s been flung at this site and its leadership – especially by members of that wronged class of HuffPo sweatshop bloggers…
When RedState was sold back in late 2006 (alas, for far, far, far, far less than $315m), the founders of RedState took more than ten percent of the GROSS purchase price to distribute to the contributors and editors whose efforts had been (and remain) so key to the site’s success. Not only that, Eagle also made clear their interest in not just keeping our superstar Mr. Erickson engaged – but key volunteers as well.
I’m sure those enjoying the windfall at HuffPo have plans at least as generous as those of us right wing crazies here at RedState.
Moe Lane
PG DeFreese
Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
Dan Spencer
But, dahling, salaries are so MIDDLE CLASS!
streetwise (Diary) Friday, February 11th at 4:42PM EST (link)The panache, cachet and glam of Huffpo are their own reward!
But, dahling, salaries are so MIDDLE CLASS!
streetwise (Diary) Friday, February 11th at 4:42PM EST (link)The panache, cachet and glam of Huffpo are their own reward!
I love that AOL's stock took a huge hit after that...
JadedByPolitics (Diary) Friday, February 11th at 9:26PM EST (link)CRAZY purchase. I rarely paid attention to AOL, now I know not to pay any attention to them period.
Unified Patriots – How-To:
Activists Taking Action
PuffHo - Isn't That Just The Thing That Destroyed Pollster.com? (nt)
IJB Friday, February 11th at 11:42PM EST (link)If there were no Huffpo
kyle8 (Diary) Saturday, February 12th at 6:55AM EST (link)Then it would have to be invented. The Huffers are a lonely and zealous group, they need someplace to go for affirmation.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
The only ideal that Arianna Hufffington is going to
sharonmcp (Diary) Saturday, February 12th at 7:49AM EST (link)live up to is, what’s ideal for Arianna Huffington.
She and Michael Moore are the worst kind of Liberal anti-capitalist – they’re hypocritical Liberal anti-capitalist who make millions of dollars for decrying capitalism.
“Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.” ~ Ronald Reagan
They're only the worst kind in that they have the cash to fool others
bk (Diary) Saturday, February 12th at 8:52AM EST (link)The list of these sorts of lefties is long unfortunately: Soros, Lewis, Bing, Streisand, Redford, etc.
As the saying goes, "the list is long and distinguished"
E Pluribus Unum (Diary) Saturday, February 12th at 10:25AM EST (link)I shall refrain from quoting the snappy comeback.
Kill the Terrorists
Protect the Borders
Punch the Hippies h/t IMAO
Don't you understand that's the best way...
kowalski (Diary) Tuesday, February 15th at 6:43PM EST (link)Don’t you understand that’s the best way to really make money? You become the biggest profiteer by railing *against* the system and courting the lefty children, their professorate hangers-on and the other disaffected, while standing up on Bill Maher’s program and talking about how the idea that anyone can become a millioniare in America is a lie, while becoming one of the richest men in the hemisphere.
That’s how Michael Moore has made his entire fortune. He figured out how to capitalize on the angst he created himself. He’s a parasite.
Defend Liberty — Join the NRA | Live in Massachusetts? Join GOAL.
Daily Kos
kachina30 Saturday, February 12th at 3:04PM EST (link)Went down the tubes…hahaha
So is Arianna going to spread the wealth?
izoneguy (Diary) Saturday, February 12th at 4:58PM EST (link)Obama was lambasting business people that they must spread the wealth.
All the HuffPo bloggers should quit.
They can start their own blog and call it “Post Huffington”.
Then AOL has paid almost one-third of a billion dollars for nothing.
The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.
But wait. There's more on Page 6!
Flagstaff (Diary) Tuesday, February 15th at 10:45AM EST (link)“share some of her profits with the people responsible for the Huffington Post’s 117 million unique visitors each month.”
If Obama didn’t mean exactly that, what did he mean?
To the person who wrote that (a member of the AFL-CIO, it appears), I must point out that it’s not 117 million for the HuffPo. It’s 25 million. The remainder were already looking at AOL properties.
But izoneguy has a good point. They don’t even have to start a new rag. The interesting ones could bring their pictures of Katy Perry over here. We could even have our own Page 6.
“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964
Cash for trash
emmi (Diary) Saturday, February 12th at 10:49PM EST (link)Amazing how the left hates capitalism except for the uber wealthy of their group!Those lemming bloggers are blind!Such cash for such trash,amazing!
Call me naive,but I think this should be a great lesson to all
earlgrey (Diary) Sunday, February 13th at 5:28PM EST (link)those HuffPo enthusiasts. Hopefully it might open some eyes.
Not sure it's enough of a mugging to turn a dedicated HuffPoBot into a conservative...
acat (Diary) Monday, February 14th at 4:24PM EST (link)but it’s a start…
I’m not expecting AOL to know what to do wtih this acquisition any more than they knew what to do with Time-Warner…
Mew
——
Caveat Suffragator
I'm not surprised RS was generous
kestrel (Diary) Monday, February 14th at 12:55PM EST (link)I think the way RS was transitioned shows not only gratitude to contributors, but recognition and respect for the greater purpose of the site in ensuring that this greater purpose continues to be pursued. (Selling it in this way also demonstrates that the owner did not consider himself the center of the universe.) By contrast, Leftists tend to use and discard things – including people.
It is no surprise that Arianna’s underlings are howling. What would be a surprise is if they saw themselves – mirror-like – in her actions, for this is precisely how they treat the communities they “organize” and all those whose savior they pretend to be. Such self-recognition would be a Damascus Road experience.
55555 (NT)
runner12 (Diary) Tuesday, February 15th at 10:13AM EST (link)Yeah, I pretty much stopped posting diaries after the RS sale
Marcus_Traianus (Diary) Monday, February 14th at 4:14PM EST (link)I believe the last straw was HUFFPO posting pictures of you, Erick, streiff, Dan, et al lighting Cubans with $100 bills.
It just does something to a person’s psyche when you work hard, writing your fingers to the bone, gratis and then when a payday comes, everyone is like- Marcus who?
The creativity just drained right out of me. I am now that guy on the corner of Bowery and Houston holding a sign “WILL WRITE FOR FOOD”.
Yeah, and I heard about the Lamborghini Gallardo too… Bastards.
“Both of our political parties, at least the honest portion of them, agree conscientiously in the same object—the public good; but they differ essentially in what they deem the means of promoting that good. One side believes it best done by one composition of the governing powers; the other, by a different one. One fears most the ignorance of the people; the other, the selfishness of rulers independent of them. Which is right, time and experience will prove.”.Thomas Jefferson
The bastiches Stole That Lamb!
Repair_Man_Jack (Diary) Monday, February 14th at 4:15PM EST (link)Right out of LaupNoring Driveway!
Mr. Obama is pretending that an economic “recovery” is underway when he knows damn well that the banking system is just blowing smoke up the shredded *** of what’s left of that economy – James Howard Kunstler
I read a guy who called Ariana Huffington
kyle8 (Diary) Monday, February 14th at 4:17PM EST (link)Jar Jar Gabor. I spit up my coffee.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
the poor (literally) bloogers at Huff Post
tamib (Diary) Monday, February 14th at 9:16PM EST (link)my heart just breaks……ok, enough compassionate conservatism.
Schadenfreude to the nth degree. There is something simply satisfying reading useful idiots complain they were used as indentured servants.
hey, part time Starbucks Barista's make some good money!
Common_Cents (Diary) Tuesday, February 15th at 7:45PM EST (link)While they wait for Uhbama to create a government job for them, and pay off their school if they join Uhbama’s army, and give them free health care.
Obama=Golfer in Chief, Leading from,
behind, the Back Nine.Leaders don’t create movements. Movements create leaders. Get involved. Your future depends on it.
Govt “invests” YOUR tax money for POLITICAL return rather than economic return.
The difference is, the contributors at redstate that got paid mattered
mbauer (Diary) Tuesday, February 15th at 7:28PM EST (link)http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/the-economics-of-blogging-and-the-huffington-post/
If you write crap in a flooded market like huffpo, or even if its good but in a flooded environment, you really aren’t that big of a deal