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Huffington Post Finalizes Its Divorce From Its Bloggers

Searing Truth, your support and kind words about The Planet are greatly appreciated!

It’s been our mission since we founded PlanetPOV 5 years ago, to have it be reflective of and responsive to the membership. For bloggers, by bloggers, that’s our ethos.

Great to have you here, it’s a very positive, involved and thoughtful community here. Lots of great analysis, humor and sincere Progressive sensibilities (Repubs of good will are always welcome and respected too!).

Maybe we’ll see you here Friday night for our weekly live chat, Vox Populi? It’s a lively and fun real time conversation with fellow members on the week’s events.

In any case, make yourself at home!

» Posted By AdLib On June 4, 2014 @ 10:54 pm

Hey teddy55, welcome to The Planet!

Here you’ll find truly free expression, great features and conversations and many familiar folks!

Thanks for the kind words on your first impressions, we’re very pleased to have you here!

» Posted By AdLib On June 4, 2014 @ 10:44 pm

Kalima, you have quite a way with words, my friend. Lets me save mine for later!

So well said, your props for CL and explanation of our philosophy.

Now…how do we break it to everyone that we’re going Facebook only? 😉

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:57 pm

CL, I don’t think I could say it any better than Kalima but I do say this without any hint of humility, The Planet is what it is because of you and all of our members who infuse it with their conscience, intelligence and wit.

We just built the vehicle, it’s you and the rest of our membership who drive it.

And true, this was never and never will be a profit-driven effort. As you mentioned, we’re solely funded by our membership and won’t accept advertising from any party that conflicts with the principles of our membership. So, we don’t expect AOL to make an offer to buy us anytime in the near future.

Lastly, though I have been to Greece, I am not and won’t ever be Arianna…so I guess I’ll have to return that pillow with the picture of Newt Gingrich’s face on it to the store.

Cheers, Choicelady and thanks so much for all of your support!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:54 pm

CL, I hear that because their brains are so small, crickets go crazy for stories about the Kardashians. Now it all makes sense!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 10:33 pm

TheHandyman, going back even farther in her life to her launching her career, we can see a real indicator of everything she became:

Huffington was accused of plagiarism for copying material for her book Maria Callas (1981); the claims were settled out of court in 1981, with Callas’ biographer Gerald Fitzgerald being paid “in the low five figures.”

Lydia Gasman, an art history professor at the University of Virginia, claimed that Huffington’s 1988 biography of Pablo Picasso, Picasso: Creator and Destroyer, included themes similar to those in her unpublished four-volume Ph.D. thesis. “What she did was steal twenty years of my work,” Gasman told Maureen Orth in 1994. Gasman did not file suit.

Columnist Maureen Orth also claimed that Huffington “borrowed heavily for her 1993 book, The Gods of Greece.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arianna_Huffington

Hmm…using other people’s work to profit from and elevate herself while cutting them out…why does that sound familiar?

I’ve always viewed her as a mercenary on a campaign for wealth, celebrity and influence who would say or do what was necessary to accomplish her goals. If HP was seen as a reflection of that, all that’s transpired certainly appears…consistent.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 9:22 pm

MilesLong, first of all, welcome to PlanetPOV.

I too had to laugh at the Rovian doublespeak of HP’s marketing of it’s exercise in greed. “Moving the conversation to where you want to have it…even if we have to force it on you.”

Actually, that could be a fun little distraction, coming up with alternative HP phrases for their actions.

“Evicting you from your home just as you hoped for!”

“Selling your children to who you wanted us to!”

“Giving your car four flat tires for your convenience!”

HP did slide down to lowest common denominator territory with its misleading and one word headlines and tabloid front page articles, it was a bit of a dichotomy with that going on while bloggers were debating the complexities of the ACA.

I do think HP should be seen as a cautionary tale so I don’t know that looking for the next one would yield any different results. Instead of looking to others to get hedge funds to finance another corporate site that patronizes Progressives to further their wealth, I’m more of a believer in bloggers supporting independent sites that reflect their principles and values…and building up the sites they like that they would like to see grow.

IOW, being the change instead of waiting for it.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 8:56 pm

Hey yellowbusdriver, welcome to The Planet.

What they’re thinking is that nothing will stand in the way of their maximizing profits.

You know, like any Progressive website.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 8:04 pm

Welcome to The Planet, TheHandyman.

It’s been kind of an open secret along the way that HP itself was always just a vehicle for Ariana’s ambitions. I mean, who can do a total 180 from Right Wing ideologue to Left Wing liberal overnight and be credible? Then is it really a surprise to see her flip to being an anti-Obama purist then a corporatist then a self-ordained guru of self-help?

There was never any philosophical consistency but one thing stayed consistent and I think that was the key to understanding her and HP’s agenda…whatever path led to greater wealth, celebrity and influence, she and HP followed.

The Planet is a site that may be reminiscent to some of the early days of HP, when the bloggers were the heart of the site, there was a healthy and open community and free expression was uncompromised.

That’s what hooked me on HP and blogging back then and it’s what the sensibility is behind PlanetPOV.

Glad to have you here.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 8:01 pm

In case you missed it, last night Jon Stewart skewered the corporate mentality of today’s MSM (which HP is of course an intrinsic part of). It kicks in towards the end of the segment:

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:49 pm

Thanks for all the kind words, seehowtheyrun.

And thanks for the link to Nick’s post. We’re all in this together!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:42 pm

Welcome to The Planet, javax2! Though we call the folks who come here from HP…”friends”. 😉

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:40 pm

S-Man, considering how HP has de facto chosen corporate allegiance to returning the support of the people who made their company a success, it is hard to see how anyone can view HP as anything other than being driven by the quest for power and money. And that contradicts most everything Arianna has tried to represent publicly about her and HP’s intentions.

If it walks like a sellout and quacks like a sellout…

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:38 pm

Kes, you really touched all the bases! We have much in common in our experiences at HP, starting off very positive then disintegrating as trolls and censorship set in.

You put your finger on what some new members may see as a key difference between HP and The Planet. It is like fast food vs. a nice local restaurant. There, the comments came out fast, shorter and frequently, here, the comments come out more measured but more substantially.

There was always a new comment to see when you refreshed but nearly impossible to have a meaningful conversation of substance. Here, new comments may not appear every few seconds but conversations can become very in depth and continue for days.

Like fast food vs. a local restaurant, I think that it’s healthier to go to and support the local restaurant. The food may not be coming out as fast as the fast food place but the quality of the food makes it well worth it.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:28 pm

Hey relians! So…crickets can register at Facebook? 😉

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:18 pm

Nirek, you are hereby “official”! Cheers!!!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:18 pm

Hi dimbulb2, nice to see you!

I agree with you on both points. As long as people invest themselves in creating what they want, especially on the internet, they can make it a reality.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:16 pm

monicaangela, thanks so much!

We share the same kinds of positive memories of our early days at HP. I think it’s because we know how good it can be that we wouldn’t accept how bad it came to be.

I have to agree, because of being in a kind of emotional vice between the heavy moderation and the hateful trolls, I became more stressed and negative in my last months there. With the community here, we have even more substantial and wholly uncensored conversations that leave me feeling satisfied and smarter.

I do think a balance is important, not to be too buried in the web so one can be engaged directly in the world around them and their life. At the same time, the community and conversations we have here adds to the rest of my life.

I’d suggest that it’s part of a healthy intellectual and emotional diet, a valuable “food for thought” group…but you still have to have dinner!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:13 pm

Rickerando, it is a disruption but we hope that when you add a visit to The Planet in your day, it brightens your day.

Happy to have you here!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 12:00 pm

Nirek, I think you may need to be appointed as the Official PlanetPOV Ambassador! Really appreciate all you’re doing to help make our new members feel welcome!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:58 am

Very fun, PPO, thanks for sharing that.

And as long as we’re talking humor and HP, remember this post from the end of the year on the Facebook requirement at HP?

AOL To Buy Delta Airlines: Will Require All Passengers to Fly Naked

https://planetpov.com/2013/12/12/aol-to-buy-delta-airlines-will-require-all-passengers-to-fly-naked/

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:57 am

PPO, how can I not be pleased about your sharing your props for Vox Populi? And you always add to the fun and insightful conversation every time you’re there!

Cheers, PPO!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:51 am

Well said, Kalima! Thanks!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:48 am

ST, I can tell you that my blood pressure sure reduced after leaving HP and having The Planet to blog at instead.

And you don’t even need a prescription!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:48 am

cognitogirl, always happy to help.

It is a little learning curve when you move from one blog to another but you’ll be surprised how quickly you become familiar with The Planet.

Again, very pleased to have you here.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:44 am

Hey SearingTruth, welcome to The Planet!

Yes, The Planet is a place for real and thoughtful discussions. It’s like meeting with informed and conscientious friends every day at a local diner to really discuss what matters in the world and what we can do about big issues.

A very different atmosphere from HP but one I hope you’ll find very satisfying.

Cheers and welcome!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:42 am

Lefty, guess we’ll see if your HP account finally does get closed, please let us know any updates on that, I’m curious about this.

Otherwise, welcome to The Planet!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:28 am

PPO – Thank you so much for the very kind words…and for making The Planet the place it is by being a part of it and reflecting those same principles and values you describe.

As you say, this is a site by bloggers for bloggers and by all of us taking responsibility for keeping a nice home for blogging, we can indeed have nice things here!

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:26 am

Murph, a very insightful view, well done. And what a response your sentiments garnered at HP!

I hope my post reflected the positive impact that the HP of 2007-2008 had on me, there wouldn’t be a PlanetPOV without it.

I used the marriage allegory because it does happen that way, that you can be close to someone then there’s a point where they’re not the person you married anymore, they’re different and you no longer share the same values.

As a kind of “2nd Home”, HP has meant a lot to many people. It is a shame that it has spun out as far as it has from what it used to be but just because that structure has been blown away by a corporate hurricane, it doesn’t mean the community is.

You mentioned a number of solidly Progressive sites including The Planet where the HP community can continue to thrive and that’s a good thing. It could lead to a broader and bigger community if these sites and communities are bridged together.

Every cloud has a silver lining, they say. Right now there’s a great deal of disappointment but who knows, a year from now this could have been the spark that lit a brighter Progressive fire.

» Posted By AdLib On June 3, 2014 @ 11:22 am

The Weekend Music Thread-A Tribute to Neil Young

Woodstock – CSNY

» Posted By AdLib On May 31, 2014 @ 9:33 am