Arianna Huffington's vanity-blog vehicle The Huffington Post recently took on $25 million in new funding at a $100 million valuation.
That's an impressive haul considering the dire state of the online advertising industry. Gawker Media head Nick Denton is ominously predicting a 40% drop in online ad revenue. On the other hand, HuffPo's cost structure is a bit different than other online publications -- it uses free celebrity-generated content, which helps keep costs down.
Michael Learmonth (who recently left Silicon Alley Insider) notes in AdAge that at $100 million, HuffPo is worth more -- on paper at least -- than a number of old-world newspaper companies. Sure, HuffPo has a way to go to catch up to the New York Times and the Washington Post, which are worth $1 billion and $3.3 billion respectively. But those are exceptions -- have a look at the chart below to get an idea of just how poorly most newspaper and magazine stocks are doing.
Lee Enterprises - St Louise Post-Dispatch and 52 other papers
A.H. Belo - Dallas Morning News, Providence Journal
Media General - Tampa Tribune, Richmond Times-Dispatch
McClatchy Corp - Sacramento Bee, Miami Herald, 28 other papers
Playboy Enterprises - Playboy Magazine, Playboy.com, various other adult-themed ventures
(Data from Google Finance, AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Don't forget that Huff Post is not only celebrity bloggers, but featured everyday bloggers as well. I am one of them and the real value comes through the energy of a large community of Americans who care about the ideals that this country was founded upon. The internet takes the shackles away and Huff Post editors are devoted to the right of responsible free expression for everyone.
There is a growing dollar value to the site but it's true worth in this locked down media age is invaluable.
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