AOL and HuffPo: SUED

It was only a matter of time.

Unpaid contributor Jonathan Tasini is seeking class-action status in his suit filed on behalf of his fellow bloggers.  What's at stake?  The estimated $105 million worth of content earned by Arianna Huffington, the proceeds which, Tasini says, should now be given to those writers.

"'The Huffington Post is nothing without the bloggers who created the content,' said Jonathan Tasini, a one-time Huffington Post blogger who filed the lawsuit and is seeking class-action status on behalf of the bloggers.

"Part opinion, part news, the left-of-center website has to some extent relied on free contributions by celebrities, politicians and experts to drive its Internet traffic, turning it into a major online force since its start in 2005.

"A spokesman for the website said he had not reviewed the lawsuit, but called the allegations 'completely baseless.'"

Rock on.  Blogging is a sadly un-lucrative business.  Even Joe Jervis, author of the wildly popular blog Joe.My.God., works a day job to support himself.  For Arianna to make millions off this deal and not pass down some of the profit is a slap in the face to the people who contributed thousands of man-hours to her success.

[Reuters]

AOL Cans Freelancers, Switches To Newsroom Format For Writers

It seems like the AOL purchase of the Huffington Post isn't just making Arianna a quick buck but also screwing over freelance writers who work for AOL.

 
A few weeks ago the freelancers who supplied AOL with much of their business and finance materials were placed in limbo as the managerial team decided what to do with them after the formation of the Huffington Post Media Group. Most of them assumed this meant they were getting the axe. They were, of course, correct.

"Well, it's official: The Huffington Post Transition team has just eliminated all AOL freelancers and contractors (at least those in business and finance--everything under Peter Goodman). But we have been invited to continue contributing for free. We will be replaced either by a handful of people Goodman has in mind, or with young, new (read cheap) writers who have yet to be hired.

"We've been told that all these new, full-time employees will be expected to report to the office every day for a 40-hour work week. For some reason, it's very important to Arianna [Huffington] to have writers physically working in a newsroom in either LA, New York or Washington, DC, thus going back to an archaic newsroom model that went out with the invention of the telephone, and needlessly eliminating any talented writers in other parts of the country. So much for a global, cutting edge news team."

How the hell do you go from being the forefront of liberal blogging to becoming... CNN?!  Arianna:  You are officially the worst businessperson ever.  

[Business Insider]

Huffington Post No Longer A Leftist Publication

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Arianna Huffington stated what many of us suspected would happen once the sale of her website was complete:  The Huffington Post will no longer be considered by the publishers a "lefty" leaning news source.  Huffington maintains that it has never been a leftist blog and thus there's no great change in policy now that it belongs to AOL.

 Arianna refreshes herself with the refrigerated tears of sweatshop writers.

"You’ve been saying recently that The Huffington Post is not a lefty publication?
Actually I’ve been saying that for three years. The tag line that we’ve used a lot is 'Beyond left and right.'

"Three years ago was 2008. I looked at The Huffington Post a great deal during the election. It felt like the Internet version of Keith Olbermann’s show, and if that’s not lefty. . . .
Why don’t you be more specific? What were the messages that you considered lefty?

"It’s as if you’re trying to tell me that Smurfs aren’t blue.
I’m just telling you that it is very clear that we have progressive views, but to call everything we’re doing lefty — it misses the whole point that American policy needs to be redefined beyond left and right. It’s a completely obsolete view of politics.

"Still, I’m amazed you’re trying to tell me that The Huffington Post wasn’t started as a lefty blog?
I’m not trying to tell you anything. I’m telling you things. I’m not trying, O.K.?"

HuffPo has a larger readership than the New York Times, and that is due to the hard work of thousands of unpaid liberal contributors.  Arianna, my dear, I hate to be crude (not really) but:  HORSESHIT. 

The rest of the interview is here:
[NYT]