Anatomy of HuffPost's front page, and related pages; terminology

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Contents:

(1) Front page anatomy; "top news thread," "splash headline"

(2) "Story thread," comment status bar

(3) "Teasers"

(4) "Blogs"

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(1) Front page anatomy; "top news thread," "splash headline"

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Throughout Huff-Watch, you will see statements such as, "HuffPost's top news thread at the time was (title)," and "HuffPost published a splash headline, entitled..."

The graphic below, which we'll refer to as "Front Page Anatomy," was assembled from sequential screen captures taken on December 31, 2008 (click to enlarge):


The uppermost space on HuffPost's front page is devoted to whatever is the top news story being featured at any given time. We refer to this as the "splash headline," and "top news thread."

As the graphic above indicates, the top news thread (or splash headline) of December 31, 2008 was entitled:

The Biggest Business Scandals Of 2008; From Jerome To Bernie

When one clicks on the top thread image (or the "Comments" button beneath it), s/he is taken to a page that is devoted to that story (referred to on Huff-Watch as the "top news story thread," or "the story page").

For example, on April 19, 2009, the top news thread (or splash headline) was:

CIA Waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 Times In One Month

HuffPost's "news" stories come in one of two varieties:

• Summaries of stories sourced from other news organizations (e.g. CNN, ABC, MSNBC, New York Times, etc. --- or "other" sources; see Section 2), with links back to source of the cited article
  
  
• Original HuffPost reporting, most often from its writers based in Washington, DC and New York
  

The headlines appearing on both varieties of "news" stories are most often created by HuffPost. The headline pictures are mostly selected by HuffPost, and are not the same as those utilized by the cited source. More on this in Section 2.

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(2) "Story thread;" comment status bar

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If one clicks on this the above image (or below it, on the "Comments" button), s/he is taken to the "story thread," as shown below. This is ultimately what we refer to as the "top news thread" at any given point in time:


Scrolling down this top news thread, one encounters either (a) a summary or the story (often if cited from another source), or (b) a detailed account, often if it is original HuffPost reporting. In this case, HuffPost sourced this story from the far-left blog "FireDogLake," and provided a summary and a link to the original source:

Note: When we say "far-left," we aren't kidding. On the "About FireDogLake" page, Jane Hamsher is listed as the site's "Founder & Publisher." It is worthwhile to note that Ms. Hamsher is also an official blogger at HuffPost, who in 2006 did something so outrageous with her blog --- with HuffPost's apparent permission --- that it became a fairly widely-covered story at the time, and is described here at Huff-Watch.
Update July 3, 2009: Here is another example of FireDogLake's contribution to political discourse in America.

Regarding the waterboarding story, HuffPost could have used any of a variety of sources for it --- Associated Press, CNN, Washington Post, or any of the rest that it lists at the bottom of its front page (below). It instead chose to source this story from... FireDogLake.

Scrolling further down the top news thread, one encounters the beginning of the comments --- atop which is what we'll refer to as the Comment Status Bar. It indicates how many comments have been published on the thread, and how many are "pending" --- meaning that they are being reviewed by HuffPost. According to HuffPost, since March 2008, only those comments that it has reviewed and approved appear on its news threads.


To further punctuate the fact that only those comments that that have been approved by HuffPost are published, if you look closely, you'll see this statement from HuffPost, just below the Comment Status Bar (emphasis added):

"Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to"

Returning now to the "Front Page Anatomy" graphic at the top of this page, the center column contains:

• Top recent news story threads, which move progressively down the page as time goes by
  
  
• Other news stories that HuffPost determines are of less prominence

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(3) "Teasers"

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Another term you will see employed throughout Huff-Watch is "teasers" (or "teaser headlines"). This refers to the brief headlines and smaller pictures that run:

• Along the center column
  
  
• At the very top of news story threads

Below are some examples of "teasers," in the context of a recent news thread about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

Note: Also conisder HuffPost's photo-choice here, to depict Ahmadinejad as a smiling, seemingly benevolent figure, rather than the genocidal, American-murdering, terror-exporting madman that he is. See here for some other examples of photos HuffPost could have used to match with the headline, "Blasts US..." etc. --- and how it consistently employs the worst-possible pictures of Ahmadinejad's nemesis, Israel's Netanyahu.

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(4) "Blogs"

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Returning to the "Front Page Anatomy" graphic at the top of this article, as noted, the left margin of the front page is devoted to "blogs."

This term refers to articles by writers who, collectively, comprise HuffPost's official "bloggers" --- including politicians and entertainers, and other individuals whom HuffPost decides are notable for some reason. You can see a directory of all HuffPost official bloggers here.

"Blogs" usually consist of political, cultural and lifestyle commentary, analysis and humor.



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