Aim: to be in the top 5 news sources in India.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW DELHI: Huffington Post, the US-based news aggregator that has become one of the most visited online news sites globally, launched its India edition on Monday, in collaboration with the nation’s largest English language newspaper, The Times of India.
Huffington Post’s Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Maymann was on hand in New Delhi to launch its newest edition, Huffington Post India. According to Maymann, the site would like to become a top-five news source in India within the next five years, and expand from eight local journalists to 15 by the end of 2015.
The Huffington Post has ample company amongst media conglomerates building websites specifically for Indian readers. The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed and Quartz have all begun making inroads to the Indian market, which is projected to reach 302 million internet users this month according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, surpassing the United States as the second largest online population behind China.
Huffington Post is no stranger to international expansion and global collaborative partnerships. It is a strategy the site has already utilized in a dozen other places, including Japan and Greece.
“I’m delighted to launch HuffPost India, which will be our 13th edition since we began our international expansion three years ago,†wrote resident and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington on the site. “The launch comes at a moment when India is facing huge and unique challenges, but also when India’s spiritual traditions have taken their place at the center of a global conversation about what it means to live a good life. It’s in looking back to these ancient traditions and tools that so much of the wisdom and strength needed to build the future will be found. I’m thrilled that HuffPost India will be there to chronicle this story and – just as important – help Indians tell their stories themselves.â€
Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet, which is the digital arm of The Times of India, co-announced the Indian edition of The Huffington Post: “We are very excited to launch Huffington Post India. Huffington Post is the first real digital-first news success story globally, and their impact is seen across the world. They’ve coupled a best-in-class technology platform with a fresh way of approaching the world’s issues today. They have been a pioneer in doing a great mix of contemporary news coverage alongside great lifestyle, health and positive uplifting content. We look forward to bringing HuffPost’s conversational approach to news to a large section of Indian audience.â€
Launched in 2005, HuggingtonPost.com is the 77th most visited website in the world, ahead of titans such as the New York Times (98th) and The Wall Street Journal (273rd), according to Alexa. Today, it is a subsidiary of AOL, which acquired the site in 2011for $315 million.