Report: Remaking AOL in Huffington's Image

Web Portal's New Editor Sweeps In With Cookies, Big Ideas to Turn Passions Into News—and Money

WSJ Photo

The Huffington Post made a name for itself through a formula of buzzy political commentary splashed with celebrity gossip and traffic-grabbing tricks.

Now its co-founder, Arianna Huffington, is plunging into a campaign to rescue AOL Inc., according to a story by Jessica E. Vascellaro at wsj.com.   As the new editor in chief of AOL's 56 content sites, a job she began after AOL's $315 million acquisition of the Huffington Post closed last month, Ms. Huffington is installing her employees, pushing coverage of her pet topics and gutting aspects of AOL's existing system to do so.

"There was no clear editorial direction," she said of AOL's collection of sites, settling into her new office in New York recently. "That's what we're bringing to the table now."

Whether the moves will be enough to transform the struggling Internet icon—and turn significant profits—remain to be seen. AOL has struggled in its years'-long quest to generate a big business off inexpensive digital content. The company says it aiming to make its content business, minus its Patch blog network, profitable this year.

Ms. Huffington, who has relentlessly built-up her profile in fields ranging from politics to self-help, must prove she's a good fit, as some employees fear she is more interested in building her Huffington Post website than AOL overall.

She has introduced herself to employees in more than a half-dozen cities with Greek cookies and personal tales, such as one tying her passion for local journalism to her upbringing in a small Greek village. She's tried to win over those anxious about change with a promise to take "the best of the old with the best of the new."

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