Arianna Huffington Planning UK Edition Of Huffington Post

First PopEater, then the world. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, who recently sold the brand to Aol for $315 million, is taking steps to expand the Huffington Post beyond the U.S.

At today’s MediaGuardian Changing Media Summit, Huffington announced plans to unveil a UK edition of HuffPost this summer. The new blog will echo the U.S. formula that has continuously brought the Huffington Post both pageviews and criticism: It’ll feature a core group of paid editors and invite unpaid writers to contribute to a group blog.

And the UK represents just the first step in the newly-formed Huffington Post Media Group’s plans for world domination. Tim Armstrong, Aol’s chief executive, told summit-goers that the U.S. represents a mere 4 percent of the world’s population.

HuffPost’s international editions would very likely steer clear of having the political tilt upon which the American version was originally founded. But make no mistake: Kitten videos are a global phenomenon. Seriously, though, TechCrunch’s revelation that the Huffington Post is beefing up its reporting team and seeking to build centralized newsrooms fits in neatly with the brand’s plans to expand internationally, offering not only aggregated stories but, original – and, thus, possibly hyperlocal – reporting as well.

h/t Guardian

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!