Journalism should enter 21st century, Huffington asserts

Huffington Post founder extols the integrity of old media, but not its tired habits

The Huffington Post.

If you’re a Republican, the mere mention of that Web site might make you cringe—or perhaps cause you to shake with rage at the “leftist” media.

And Arianna Huffington? Don’t even get me started, you think.

Hold on. Don’t stop reading yet.

Even though she’s portrayed as a left-wing rabble-rouser, the insights she gave to a packed auditorium Wednesday evening at Columbia College in Chicago about the future of journalism and social media are worth hearing—no matter your political leanings.

Besides, as Huffington says, “Journalists are addicted to looking at everything from the right and left. That’s lazy.”

Huffington says her site, drawing up to 23 million unique visitors each month, attracts debate and even features blog posts from conservatives including George Will and Newt Gingrich.

Her speech jibed with the format of her Web site—snappy sound bites, topical and informative. She focused on three main topics: journalism, lifestyle and politics.

(Relax, relax. We’ll go easy on the politics.)

Digital denial