Austin Bay Blog

I found the link via Drudge– it leads to Nikki Finke in the LA Weekly. Finke wonders if Arianna Huffington’s blog “disaster” will finally finish her. I doubt she’s finished because Huffington has a lot of money and will go out of her way to nudge, flatter, and cajole. Money, hard sell, and drive mean she has a degree of staying power one should never underestimate. And Finke’s verdict may be a tad premature. I see a lot of talent amid the chaos of the “HuffPost” and never ever underestimate talent– but let’s leave my thoughts for the end of this post. [Hint: at the moment it’s a clog, not a blog.]

The first series of jabs in Finke’s knock-down:

Judging from today?s horrific debut of the humongously pre-hyped celebrity blog the Huffington Post, the Madonna of the mediapolitic world has gone one reinvention too many. She has now made an online ass of herself. What Arianna Huffington’s bizarre guru-cult association, 180-degree conservative-to-liberal conversion, and failed run in the California gubernatorial-recall race couldn?t accomplish, her blog has now done: She is finally played out publicly. This Web-site venture is the sort of failure that is simply unsurvivable, because of all the advance publicity touting its success as inevitable. Her blog is such a bomb that it?s the box-office equivalent of Gigli, Ishtar and Heaven?s Gate rolled into one. In magazine terms, it?s the disastrous clone of Tina Brown?s Talk, JFK Jr.?s George or Maer Roshan?s Radar. No matter what happens to Huffington, it?s clear Hollywood will suffer the consequences.

It almost seems like some sick hoax. Perhaps Huffington is no longer a card-carrying progressive but now a conservative mole. Because she served up liberal celebs like red meat on a silver platter for the salivating and Hollywood-hating right wing to chew up and spit out.

Of course, only the fawning mainstream media didn?t see this coming; instead, The New York Times, the New York Observer, the Los Angeles Times et al. were too busy breathlessly reporting Arianna?s big plans and bons mots to bother to do any reporting. (The L.A. Times? praising of her preening is understandable, since the parent company?s Tribune Media Services stupidly signed on to syndicate the blog?s star blather.)

ASIDE: I enjoy the LA Weekly. I had read a few pieces by Jill Stewart but started looking for her by-line after Iread a piece of hers in that publication. Stewart’s a writer I’d invite to write for my blog– strong voice, definite wit, respect for the hard facts.

Howard Kurtz also weighs in on Huffington (hat tip Instapundit).

Kurtz seems upbeat about the blog, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Kurtz is always careful and solicitous when the rich, powerful, famous, and liberal are involved. Still, he finishes with a punch, albeit a punch pulled, Still, it’s pulled with finesse.

The Krutz lede:

The essence of blogging has been the one-man band, the big mouth in the basement, the pajama-clad pontificator taking on the media establishment.

Now Arianna Huffington, who knows something about seizing the spotlight, wants to change that. She is launching today a 300-person blog, the Huffington Post, featuring lots of her famous showbiz friends, that could redefine the nature of online commentary, or at least bring her another 15 minutes.

Her marquee names — Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Geffen, Rob Reiner, Albert Brooks, Bill Maher, Larry David — aren’t exactly hurting for ways to get their message out.

“The great thing about blogging is that your thoughts don’t have to have a beginning, middle and end,” says Huffington, arguing that famous folks are usually too busy to craft an op-ed piece. “You can just put a thought out there in the cultural bloodstream.”

Huffington’s Hollywood pals — who also include such writers and producers as David Mamet, Norman Lear, Mike Nichols and Aaron Sorkin — are just the neon attractions. She is also touting Walter Cronkite, Gary Hart, Arthur Schlesinger, Mort Zuckerman, Vernon Jordan and Bobby Kennedy Jr.And while the blog is heavy on left-wingers, she has reached out to the right, luring the likes of John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, Tony Blankley of the Washington Times and National Review’s David Frum.

Says political activist Laurie David, wife of the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star: “Early every morning, we’re at the kitchen table reading the papers, and within three minutes one of us is screaming. This is going to be a channel for that.”

The Kurtz conclusion:

Will Huffington’s blog make news, or just be a collection of occasional posts by Very Important People who can’t really be candid without jeopardizing their lucrative ventures?

The best blogs, love ‘em or hate ‘em, have an unmistakable voice; this will be a cacophony of voices. It’s an open question whether the scribblings of the rich and influential can be as compelling as those of previously obscure people who are now online stars.

So what do I think of The Huffington Post?

In terms of lay-out it’s confused– and in terms of “blog voice” it’s confused. Call this a “clog voice” — a clog, not a blog. The page comes off as a collection of quipsters prepped for Letterman and Leno soundbites and cued for flashy smiles with sixty white teeth. That’s too many teeth. Guess what– it has too many contributors. There are several genuinely bright and able minds in the mix, with the kind of talent it takes to carry any medium (Dan Pipes, Byron York, Jon Corzine, Tina Brown, Arthur Sclesinger Jr., James Pinkerton). Do they have the energy and obsession for a good group blog? Dunno– time will tell. As for the clog– will the HuffPost’s editors be able to prune and slice egos?

As an event the HuffPost is another indicator that the Internet has not only arrived as the au courant medium of kewl, it has begun to dislodge both newspapers and chat tv. Ad agencies, however, could have told you that many moons ago.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin was on the HuffPost early.