Is digital journalism profitable?

Absolutely, says Ariana Huffington, who has just launched the Indian edition of The Huffington Post.

Here, in an interview published in Mint today, are Huffington's responses to two questions that will be at the top of the minds of journalists as well as media aspirants:

• Is digital journalism profitable?

Absolutely. There are two things that are happening that are very good for us. More and more people are consuming news digitally. And with 4G coming to India next year, and broadband expansion being a big priority of the Modi government, it is going to accelerate.

Also, advertisers or brands which are slow (to adopt digital media) are realising that more and more people are not just consuming news but also participating themselves through their own stories online. So, digital spending cannot be an afterthought. It has to be at the forefront of their agenda.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON PHOTOGRAPHED IN NEW DELHI

• What kind of journalism will Huff Post do in India?

Same as everywhere. Journalism that can win a Pulitzer. In-depth, investigative reporting will continue to be important for us. We won the Pulitzer for a 10-part series that took our military correspondent nine months to write. It also had all the multimedia elements.

All the areas we cover relentlessly across the world, we are going to cover here as well, including violence against women, gay rights...

It is interesting to see that a lot of the old beliefs of journalism are being stood on their heads. Like the term: “If it bleeds, it leads.” Put bad news, mayhem on the front page and traffic will follow. Now we are seeing that in fact, people like to share good news as a lot of traffic comes from sharing and social. I want to share examples of human ingenuity, compassion, and creativity. And that is what has been at the heart of what Huff has been doing from the beginning.

READ THE INTERVIEW IN ITS ENTIRETY HERE: "Our business model in India will be advertising supported: Arianna Huffington"

• Photo courtesy: Mint/Pradeep Gaur

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