Right then, I’ll get straight to it: The UK needs its own Huffington Post, and Piers Morgan is the only man for the job.
Is there any newspaper (online or otherwise) making such good investment in journalism than the Huffington Post? Last week it announced it would be investing $1.75 million in investigative journalism. The new Media Talk USA podcast asks whether Arianna Huffington could be the unlikely savour of the very finest strand of journalism — the investigators.
The Huffington Post is a strange beast. Launching in 2005 as essentially a ‘celebrity blog’, the HuffPo received a lukewarm reaction. Some disagreed with its mission, and others ignored. It was nothing too important — just a load of ego-tripping celebs doing no ‘real’ journalism. Newsweek described its aims as “[to] put heat (and perhaps even shine a little light) on the news of the day through diarylike musings, opinions and links”.
Which, for a good while, it was just that. Blogs, opinion… shouting. All good fun, but it’s no New York Times.
Taking a look at the site today, we can still see hallmarks of its birth, but it has evolved. The main content is still blogs — although for some reason they feel like columnists rather than bloggers, a set up more in keeping with Comment is Free. But it’s now referring to itself as ‘The Internet Newspaper’, dealing with news and video as well as the shouty blogs.
And now it’ll be pumping cash into its own investigations. I can’t wait to see the results — I hope the team can show the mainstream media guys how it’s done. While they’re sweating about re-writing a press release, the HuffPo can get back to the roots of journalism: finding stuff out.
But here’s what kills me: all this Huffington Post talk is very exciting — but it won’t affect me too much. Where is the UK HuffPo? Why don’t we have an online newspaper?
Why aren’t we getting investment for investigative journalism?
So I’m asking you, Piers Morgan. It’s up to you. Call it ‘The Morgan’ if you have to. Grab some friends, some cash, and set up office. Canary Wharf would be nice — you did your finest work there.
I find our lack of a good, well-read online-only newspaper very depressing. And the only thing stopping it is a lack of a big name. Someone who’s mere involvement would get clicks. For the first week — the buzz would be about it being new, but from there on in it’ll be the content that brings them back.
We’re long overdue anything like this. Piers is the only person I know who has the status, the money and, let’s face it, the skill to bring something like this to reality.
Now I know he’s busy with his career as a TV talent show judge/chat show host, but having read Piers’ book, I have a sneaky suspicion that you can take the man out of newspapers, but you can’t take newspapers out of the man. Come on Piers, I know you miss it.
Surely this would only serve to fuck up the printed newspaper industry even more. It’s already on the brink of oblivion.
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Alternatively it could be the catalyst the print industry needs to invest proper resources across the board in digital media, as a supplement to the core product, rather than as a sidebar. HuffPo’s recent funding announcement for online
How many newspaper sites have genuinely broken an exclusive story online because it’s the best medium, rather than shoving it there to claim bragging rights a couple of hours before it makes the evening news on TV instead? There’s just a few instances, if that. Most of the time the web’s a repository for shovelling off wire copy, rewrites of other site’s stuff and a conduit for multimedia content. Digital staff barely have the time to do their normal job, let alone get out and do some proper reporting.
A digital-only, fully spec’ed newspaper serving Britain is a phenomenal idea. Sadly, Morgan may not be the right person to head up such an operation – although he’s the sort of mercurial talent such a project would need to attract investment or interest – because of his baggage from the Wharf and his TV persona. Somewhere that can do what British papers do well, but free from the limitations of a tight book, space restrictions and publishing deadlines.
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I’m right there with you, Dave. It looks like you and me are the only people left in the UK with a genuine liking for the man Morgan.
Whatever happened to First News? Is he still running that? Meanwhile, I’m off to read God Bless America. And no, I’m not joking.
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Very well written post. If you need to listen to BBC Radio on the iPhone – I strongly recommend BBC Streams – it is easily the best way to listen to BBC Radio on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and it’s free at BBCStreams.com.
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