# Huffington Post: Pro and Con **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512 "2011-12-08T15:45:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/1 "2011-12-08T15:45:59Z")
I occasionaly come across references to the Huffing Post and wonder how the SDMB members feel about it. Do you like it? Do you not like it? Why? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/2 "2011-12-08T15:54:34Z")
I read it often and enjoy it, but I do get annoyed with the way their front page links just take you to another page where you have to find the story’s link again and click. Just an annoying way of multiplying their pageviews for advertisers. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/3 "2011-12-08T15:54:38Z")
I read it if has an interesting article. It’s more of a “Gotcha!” tabloid than a self-respecting newspaper. Still, they’ll run stories other media outlets won’t and I respect them for that. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/4 "2011-12-08T16:52:00Z")
I mostly know it as a haven for the left’s favorite types of woo and pseudoscience. And then it has lots of politics/editorials/goofy news bits that I’m not interested in reading. ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/5 "2011-12-08T17:00:14Z")
They’ve got to be making a fortune on the ads. I often just give up (especially if I’m using my phone) never actually reaching the page I wanted to read because of all the ads that must load and load and load… ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/6 "2011-12-08T17:24:59Z")
I visit regularly as it covers a very wide spectrum of material that I would have to track down if they hadn’t aggregated it. However, I find it’s tendency to “tabloid” style headlines extremely annoying. > [@lazybratsche](#): > > I mostly know it as a haven for the left’s favorite types of woo and pseudoscience. I hear that complaint too, but, I don’t ever see that stuff on the front page so it doesn’t hit my radar. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/7 "2011-12-08T18:02:42Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > I mostly know it as a haven for the left’s favorite types of woo and pseudoscience\ How many havens does the right wing have? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/8 "2011-12-08T18:03:58Z")
> [@JuliaSqueezer](#): > > They’ve got to be making a fortune on the ads. I often just give up (especially if I’m using my phone) never actually reaching the page I wanted to read because of all the ads that must load and load and load… I run adblock and don’t see all that many ads. I will agree that navigation could be improved. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/9 "2011-12-08T18:53:26Z")
Several years ago, just after they started, I began reading HuffPo, and really enjoyed it. Like others, I appreciated the links from many other news sources, as well as the blogs. But it seemed to me they began putting too many (for my taste) frivolous entertainment stories on the front page alongside the hard news stories. For example, I just pulled up HuffPo, and here are some examples headlines of the hard news: > [@](#): > > GETTING NERVOUS? > Romney Campaign Goes On Offense Against Newt Gingrich > > Shooting At Virginia Tech, At Least 1 Reported Dead … DEVELOPING > > Top Aide To Rick Perry Calls Anti-Gay Ad ‘Nuts’ > > PLUS: Perry Defends Controversial Spot See, I’d be interested in reading those stories, so they’re the pros. The cons? Bullshit like this on the front page: > [@](#): > > 10 Celebrities You’d Never Know Are Latino > > Best Celeb Wedding Gowns Of 2011.. Is This Model Too Skinny?.. SJP Doubles Down > > Ashlee Simpson Finalizes Divorce.. Planning A Vacation Post-Split.. Nasty Things Exes Say > > The 21 Gayest Christmas Songs Of All Time Now sure, people are interested in that sort of thing; that’s why tabloids sell at the checkout line. And if that’s what people want to read, I have no problem with that (actually, I say that’s their problem, but I won’t try to stop them). I’m just speaking for myself, and in my opinion, HuffPo has gone too far in the stupid news area. I prefer harder news and look to ThinkProgress, TPM Muckraker, as well as more traditional sites like the BBC and others for news. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/10 "2011-12-08T19:45:40Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > How many havens does the right wing have? Far more than there ought to be :p. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/11 "2011-12-08T19:48:49Z")
My favorite thing about HuffPo is that even though most of the links I see from there end up at stories that are about videos, they tend to describe the video in detail or even transcribe it. Lots of places you have to watch the video and that sucks. I don’t explicitly read HuffPo but I get a lot of links to it. It seems like they are becoming increasingly unbelievable. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/12 "2011-12-08T20:26:12Z")
I glance at it every once in a while. They have some interesting stories, but they’re also like the Drudge Report of the left, so you have to take some of their more outrageous headlines with a grain, if not an entire bushel, of salt. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/13 "2011-12-08T21:01:01Z")
It used to be one of the ugliest, (aesthetically) worst-designed sites on the Web—but now, so many sites have adopted the same horrendous “billboard diarrhea” layout that it doesn’t even stand out anymore. I still think it’s obnoxious, though. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/14 "2011-12-08T21:13:45Z")
I hate the way it’s designed, but they do have interesting articles from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/15 "2011-12-08T21:38:50Z")
I read stories there occasionally when facebook friends link to them, but I almost never go there otherwise. There’s too much visual clutter to wade through. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/16 "2011-12-09T02:50:11Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I read stories there occasionally when facebook friends link to them, but I almost never go there otherwise. There’s too much visual clutter to wade through. Or when SDMB friends link to them (we hope). ---
**Author:** ![wheresmymind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@wheresmymind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheresmymind)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/17 "2011-12-09T03:22:50Z")
I check it out every week or so and usually enjoy a couple articles, but I’d never use it to get my daily news. I consider myself pretty liberal, but Huff Post is a little TOO liberal for my taste. Sometimes I think to myself “Oh now I get it. Those conservatives think we’re ALL LIKE THIS. No wonder they don’t like us.” And as others have mentioned, there’s often a lot of borderline woo in certain sections. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/18 "2011-12-09T03:34:22Z")
> [@wheresmymind](#): > > I consider myself pretty liberal, but Huff Post is a little TOO liberal for my taste. Sometimes I think to myself “Oh now I get it. Those conservatives think we’re ALL LIKE THIS. No wonder they don’t like us.” I don’t understand this though I’ve heard it before. I’m right of center and like the paper. It doesn’t strike me as having an overly liberal bias, even in the political reporting. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/huffington-post-pro-and-con/605512/19 "2011-12-11T21:17:54Z")
I used to really like it and didn’t understand why many people didn’t. Lately, though, I’m sick of the difficulty in navigating the damn thing. Quite often, I click on a headline and absolutely cannot find the story referenced in the headline. And I’m beginning to really dislike the way they include multiple stories under one headline. I think I’m gonna stop patronizing the thing due to all the clutter.