Arianna Huffington

Speaker: Chuck Rolando (Standard American accent)

Arianna Huffington is the editor-in-chief of one of the internet’s top news websites: The Huffington Post. Last year US magazine Forbes voted her the “12th Most Influential Woman In Media.” She was born in Greece 60 years ago, and studied Economics at Cambridge University. Huffington has lived in the USA since 1980. She is now a powerful voice in US politics.

A COLLECTIVE BLOG

In 2005 Arianna Huffington asked 250 bloggers, journalists and celebrities to join a collective blog called The Huffington Post. Contributors included the legendary Walter Cronkite, Norman Mailer and Diane Keaton. Critics said it would only last six months, but it has been an incredible success. Today it is a major news website with over 3,000 bloggers. The Huffington Post has evolved and a team of journalists now cover politics, the economy, entertainment, health and sport. It still has celebrity contributors such as documentary-maker Michael Moore, Hillary Clinton and a certain Barack Obama.

THE NET EFFECT

Huffington explains the success of the Post: “It’s easier for an outsider to innovate. Traditional newspapers took a long time to understand the internet and how to use it.” She continues: “Traditional news media only cover stories for a limited time, we follow stories long term.”

CRITICISM

The Huffington Post has its critics, however. People complain that it is too liberal. Others complain about its support for pseudo-science. They ask how celebrity bloggers can write about serious medical problems. For example, actor Jim Carrey recently supported the connection between child vaccinations and autism: a connection discredited by experts some time ago.

CELEBRITY

Arianna Huffington has written several books and she appears regularly on US television and co-presents the current affairs radio show Left, Right & Center. Her opinions often cause controversy. Her current campaign is “Move Your Money.” She encourages people to move their money from big banks to small community banks. She hopes this will teach banks to respect local communities. She says: “Big banks say the crisis is over. But what about all the ordinary people who are losing their jobs and their homes every day?”

Arianna’s Early Years

Arianna Stassinopoulos (her maiden name) was born in Athens, Greece. She is the daughter of journalist Konstantinos Stassinopoulos. In 1966, she moved to England where she studied at Girton College, Cambridge. She fell in love with the English journalist Bernard Levin, and moved to London. Levin refused to marry her, however, and she moved to the USA in 1980. She immediately became involved in American politics as a supporter of California governor Jerry Brown.
In 1986, she married Republican Michael Huffington and spent the following years supporting his political career. After their divorce in 1997, Arianna retained the name Huffington.

ARIANNA AND CHEESE

Last year Arianna visited Italy on a mission for the CIA. No, she wasn’t a spy. CIA stands for Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori. She came to investigate the cheese industry. She discovered that nine out of ten Italian cheeses sold in the USA are fakes. She wants to help protect her favourite cheese: Parmigiano Reggiano. She also learnt that US Fontina is produced in China, and Asiago in Wisconsin!