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The America Online/Huffington Post merger. AOL still exists, to me, was the big revelation
from this. But I'm-- I actually-- remember, I used to have... AOL used to... I used to
be the big AOL guy when we were younger. I would have my AOL email account and there
was the Instant Messenger and the chatrooms and all of that stuff. AOL still exists, and
The Huffington Post has been sold to AOL for $315 million. People have been asking me a
lot about this, especially in email, what will happen?
Don't forget, Arianna Huffington is a former Republican and before all else, for all of
her progressive credentials and her creating of The Huffington Post as a platform, an alternative
platform, with plenty of progressive opinion, she is a businesswoman first and foremost.
And as we can see, a few million-dollar investment has turned into $315 million, the writers
don't get paid, they will continue not to get paid, it is going on free labor. Yes,
the amount of exposure is incredible. When we were on the front page of Huffington Post
a couple of weeks ago for a few hours only, the amount of traffic was incredible. So I
don't deny the power of it. But let's be honest, corporate media is getting increasingly homogenous.
And if you're tuning into this show, to some extent, you must be tired of the same old
corporate media messages. Even though there are slightly more liberal and more conservative
alternatives in corporate media, on the whole, the homogenization does not stop.
Louis: But in theory, this could just be an investment on AOL's part, right?
David: Well, then let's get into that. What are AOL's intentions here? And we don't know.
How much editorial control will AOL have over The Huffington Post? No matter what is going
to happen, I don't think it is even on the table that Huffington Post will become more
of a progressive bastion. It may stay the way it is, it may turn more conservative,
it may be integrated into AOL's standard news reporting, which is basic, corporate reporting
right down the middle. What I would guarantee is not going to happen is that this solidifies
The Huffington Post or expands The Huffington Post's role as an alternative to corporate
media. Maybe it won't hurt it, if we're lucky; this is not going to be an improvement, by
any means.
Louis: But things could remain the same.
David: They could. I mean, the Huffington Post brand was-- had value behind it. The
AOL brand, who associates or feels close to the AOL brand?
Louis: Who even speaks of it anymore? Right.
David: Well, that's the reason why maybe they... maybe the idea here is more relevance. But
the Huffington Post brand is one people did associate with, it had a certain cache, it
had associations, we'll see what happens.
Louis: If it's not broken, don't fix it.
Transcript provided by Alex Wickersham and www.Subscriptorium.com. For transcripts, translations,
captions, and subtitles, or for more information, visit www.Subscriptorium.com, or contact Alex
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