‘Copycat’ Doesn’t Have to Precede ‘Crime;’ Huffington Post Executive Editor to Discuss News Outlet’s Focus Sept. 7 in Free 3BL Media Webinar

Ariana Huffington pledged in early 2015 to dedicate more editorial space to positive stories on her namesake news site, hoping stories about solutions rather than problems would inspire copycat acts of kindness.

Now that entrepreneurial media mogul is stepping down from her post, news industry observers are keen to see how the highly trafficked portal will evolve in a post-Arianna regime.

We will be providing some insights into the editorial direction of the Huffington Post on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at noon ET when Jo Confino, executive editor, Impact & Innovation and editorial director, What's Working, addresses corporate social responsibility and sustainability communicators during a 3BL Media webinar. To attend this free event, register here.

“Our decision not to show all the news and to focus mostly on bad news -- crises, rapes, mayhem -- is having real consequences,” Huffington said in a February 2015 interview with NPR. “We talk about copycat crimes. How about if we actually put the spotlight on solutions and what is working and generate copycat solutions?”                       

Huffington, 66, announced on Aug. 10 she will leave the Huffington Post to focus full-time on a health and wellness startup, Thrive Global.

Her vision to use the massively popular Huffington Post – which has 110 million monthly visitors – as a vehicle for good news appears to be in good hands with Confino.  The former chairman and executive editor for Guardian Sustainable Business, Confino joined Huffington Post in 2015 and has outlined plans for a “What’s Working” focus on social impact topics.

"’What's Working’ is a global HuffPost editorial initiative to double down on our coverage of people coming up with solutions to the very real challenges we face. While we will continue to cover the stories of what's not working as relentlessly as we always have, we’re going beyond "If it bleeds, it leads” to shine a light on the stories of creativity, innovation, ingenuity and compassion the media too often overlooks,” Confino wrote in a blog post launching “What’s Working.”

3BL Media is pleased to welcome Confino to our next webinar.  I’ll be the moderator for this event, which is shaping up to be a gathering of hundreds of corporate, nonprofit and agency practitioners.  We encourage attendees to pose questions during our Q&A session.  An archive will be provided for those unable to listen live.