Legal publishers can learn from Huffington Post

I‘ve always been intrigued by the Huffington Post, a news website and aggregated blog founded by Arianna Huffington, featuring hyperlinks to various news sources and columnists.

The Post not only aggregates blog content, but also provides a publishing platform for high profile people who don’t have their own blog, e.g., anchorman Walter Cronkite, actress Diane Keaton and the lawyer Vernon E. Jordan Jr. Imagine such a media site for the law.

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter article on the Huffington Post this morning is a great read for those of you interested in Internet publishing. Look at some of the reasons those considering an online legal newspaper may want to use the Post as a model.

• The Huffington Post is the second-most-linked-to blog, behind only the technology site TechCrunch.
• ‘We’ve always wanted to be part of the national conversation,’ says Roy Sekoff, the site’s editor.
• ‘It helps to be bookmarked by the mainstream media,’ says Arianna Huffington.
• Has come to symbolize a certain combination of entrepreneur and online commentator, creating a brand and a business.
• Seeks to be a community, not merely a collection of links. As new topical subsites come online, especially the one for local news, the site will increasingly try to act as an Internet curator with a distinct attitude, mixing blog posts, original news and links to other sources.
• Becoming an ‘Internet newspaper.’

Stay tuned.