In a burgeoning world of digital publishing and online news feeds, it makes perfect sense for AOL to go out and pay an extraordinary amount of money for… the Huffington Post.
Really? AOL couldn’t find something to spend their money on like, oh I don’t know, upgrading something or getting into a venue that actually generates revenue? Maybe get into the ebook industry, the one that is growing, instead of splurging on a company which advertises on its website for you to help “predict the news”?
I’m all for expanding your business (really… I think this whole “capitalism” thing is going to work out eventually) but it’s almost like they want to lose money. Is AOL being audited by the IRS and needed a tax write-off?
Hmm… now that I think about it, that’s not a bad idea. Spend millions to write-off billions.
But… in the end, if we go by past events, AOL will still be standing and the Huffington Post will be a smoldering pile of ash muttering “They told me so”…
Jason Córdova 
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Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of corporations?
Honestly, this sounds more like AOL trying to move back into journalism and, well, “doin’ it wrong”. Could be a tax writeoff, but there’s gotta be better ways to do that.
Well if they’re moving back into journalism, why are they purchasing the HuffPo? The National Enquirer has better coverage and more realistic world views than they…
Hence the “doin’ it wrong” part.
I didn’t say they were being SMART about it, but I can’t see any OTHER reason to be doing it. I’ve also noticed an uptick in mention of the HuffPo in other mainstream media outlets of late, which I’m still trying to figure out ends up on the funny or terrifying sides of the balance sheet.