More global editions are in the pipeline as the Huffington Post takes its ‘watercooler’ publishing formula to the world.

International versions of the news and blog site – launched in 2005 – now appear in the UK, Canada, France, Spain and Italy, and others including German, Brazilian and Japanese editions are planned, in addition to a HuffPo Live video network launched last August.

In an interview with WAN-Ifra’s World News Publishing Focus, Arianna Huffington says its formula for success is deceptively simple: “From the beginning, the whole point was to take the sort of conversations found at water coolers and around the dinner tables – about politics and art and books and food – and open them up and bring them online.

“Our success has to do with our ability to do that, and to tell the most important – and the most entertaining – stories of the day,” she says.

But she warns that it is time to redefine success, with a third metric, beyond money and power, “that places value on well-being, wisdom and our ability to make a difference in the world”.

She discusses the site’s business model in a market which trends towards paid content. While the Huffington Post is dedicated to remaining free, it relies on other models including sponsorship and native advertising.

“Sponsorships have already been very important to us, making possible several of our verticals committed to making the world better, including Global Motherhood (sponsored by Johnson & Johnson), Good News (Capella University), TED-Weekends (Chevy Volt) and Impact X (Cisco),” she says.

Despite the massive changes occurring in news media, she is optimistic about the future of newspapers: “I believe that the obituaries for newspapers are premature. Many newspapers are belatedly but successfully adapting to the new news environment (like the New York Times). And it’s my feeling that, as long as they keep adapting, there will be a market for newspapers.

“There is something in our collective DNA that makes us want to sip our coffee, turn a page, look up from a story, say, ‘Can you believe this?’, and pass the paper to the person across the table.



“The future of news is a hybrid future, as traditional outlets adopt the tools of digital journalists – including speed, transparency and engagement – and new media adopt the best practices of traditional journalism, including fact-checking, fairness and accuracy. And the line between old media and new, between digital and print, will be increasingly blurry,” she says.