Huffington Chides Traditional Journalism in SLC Speech

None by KCPW

"Bloggers enhance the debate," says Huffington Post founder

She might be most well-known for her Greek accent, but Arianna Huffington says that traditional American journalists are the ones who need to learn how to speak with a new voice.

"Staying on a story and not giving up on it, is just an important element of good journalism," Huffington says.  "That's the difference with bloggers -- if the mainstream media are suffering from Attention Deficient Disorder, then bloggers suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. We stay on a story until something happens."

Huffington is a nationally syndicated columnist and the co-host of public radio's Left, Right, and Center program. As part of the McCarthy Family Lecture series, Huffington spoke on the campus of Salt Lake City's Rowland Hall St. Marks this weekend. She says that bloggers are not a threat to newsroom reporters.

"I believe that as we move forward. We are going to have both print and online media," Huffington says. "I think this debate about whether it will be print or online is really obsolete."

Huffington was once an out-spoken conservative journalist, but is now known for being an adamant critic of President Bush's administration and television media. Her website, the Huffington Post, is an online news, commentary, and aggregated blog.

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