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She'll Huff and She'll Puff
LA Observed reports this morning about the huge blog v. blog argument currently going on between LA Weekly columnist Marc Cooper and Weekly freelancer Nikki Finke in regards to her recent attack on Arianna Huffington's brand new celebrity/political-centric blog, Huffington Post.
As the hits have just been tallied up and around 8 million for the Huffington Post's first day, the question isn't whether or not Finke's goal in slapping Arianna on her first day of school was right or wrong, or if there's some personal issues that should be handled on the sidelines between Cooper and Finke, but rather -- where are these 8 million people coming from, and which of them really cares about reading mini-blog rants by Robert Evans, David Mamet and Larry David?
LAist is impressed with the follow through of Huffington and the slew of celebrities and political pundits she's recruited for her blog -- don't get us wrong. It's impressive and it's intriguing and it's got our curiosity along with the other 7,999,999 of you. But we just have to ask the question -- how long will it all last? And if it does last, what kind of original content and staying power will the Huffington Post retain?
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Personally, knowing celebrities like we do, we hardly expect people like Evans, David and Mamet (or even Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Brad Hall) or even Anchorman director Adam McKay to keep up with original posts that actually have to do with something concrete. In the end, we suspect (at least on the celebrity angle) that it may just end up being yet another PR stop along the road to movie, music and book releases.
I mean, let's face it -- celebrities swing by Leno, Letterman or Conan for a quick five minute appearance, say something witty or funny or important, and then plug their upcoming project. Are we totally off base, or does the Huffington Post feel like exactly the same thing?
8 Million hits. That sure is a lot of movie tickets. And a lot of money.
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This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
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Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
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