AOL to Buy the Huffington Post

The internet giant will shell out $315 million for the left-wing news website.

The Huffington Post’s unlikely upward trajectory continues unabated, as the venture that began as a small blog in 2005 now becomes the flagship news site of the massive AOL company. As part of the deal, Huffington Post’s unabashedly liberal co-founder Arianna Huffington will also gain oversight over AOL’s news and financial sites, likely throwing into doubt AOL’s non-partisan image. Huffington said her politics would have no impact on how she runs AOL’s operations. AOL is hoping the deal will reverse its financial decline, which has been steady for nearly a decade as the company based on dial-up internet access struggles to cope with the changing media landscape. The Huffington Post only posted its first profitable year in 2010.