(CNN) -- Internet provider AOL is to buy news and blog website The Huffington Post for $315 million, the latest in a long line of innovative start-ups snapped up by established big-name firms...For its $315 million investment, AOL is buying itself a fashionable and rapidly growing brand popular among center-left circles in the U.S. and overseas.
I had to read that headline about 3 or 4 times and I still don't quite believe they have it right, I honestly would have assumed at this point it would have been the Huffington Post buying AOL. Aside from AOL charging a few old ladies monthly fees all I've ever heard for the past 3 or 4 years is how they're broke and the deal with Time Warner was the worst in history. I just assumed we'd be reading about them closing their doors for good before hearing about them buying a major online news outlet. Shit if I knew they had $315 million to play with I'd have put the word out I'm looking for a buyer.
While pundits do their research and hem and haw over whether this was a good deal or not, I've already formed an opinion. No, it wasn't a good deal. Huffpo is really only relevant to me when I'm looking for a left leaning opinion on some political or financial story, they're really weak in covering anything outside of that arena. On the other hand I don't think AOL gets enough credit for having to put together a really decent news portal while being able to filter out all the noise from the dominant personalities typically stabled at all of the large news outlets. While I like the entertaining, polarizing, and though provoking arguments these personalities present, no matter what side of the issue they're on, it can be hard to pay attention to the actual story at hand sometimes and that's why its good to have a straight man to just deliver the stories as they are on occasion. If HuffPo comes in and clouds out the stories with its liberal slant, well then you'll lose a reader AOL, Goodbye.
