Two queens of American media are joining forces. The Huffington Post Media Group will launch an Oprah Winfrey section on Huffingtonpost.com in August. The announcement was made by Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group, and Erik Logan and Sheri Salata, presidents of Winfrey's OWN TV network.

The Huffington Post's Oprah channel (which won't be called HuffPO) will offer “practical advice and resources encouraging people to discover their best selves and to lead happy, fulfilling lives by taking steps to attain their goals. Topics covered will include personal growth, spirituality and aspects of physical and mental health.”

While that vertical may sound like what readers can find now in Oprah's O magazine and Discovery-backed cable TV channel, the content will be created and curated by writers and producers from OWN and Oprah.com, enhanced with conversations from HuffoPo’s vast network of bloggers in “a mix of articles, blogs and interactive content that will connect with the audience on an emotional and spiritual level.” It could be the answer to Winfrey's prayers.Continue reading...

The 2012 Pulitzer Prize award winners signal a crossing of the divide to a new landscape as Huffington Post alum Jose Antonio Vargas tweeted: “There's no old media v new media--just simply media. And we've got a changing of the guard. #Pulitzer @HuffingtonPost @politico”

The Huffington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for veteran reporter David Wood’s 10-part series Beyond the Battlefield, a “riveting exploration of the physical and emotional challenges facing American soldiers severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan during a decade of war.” The series combined reporting with video, infographics, photography, and expansive social media in this first Pulitzer for both HuffPo and AOL from their senior military correspondent.

It's a big accolade for the HuffPo brand's journalistic credibility, as founder Arianna Huffington has been striving for since its launch seven years ago when she boldly called her eponymous brand an “Internet newspaper.” Continue reading...

Spotify, the free music sharing service that has gone viral over Facebook, just launched an embeddable Play Button so that any Spotify music can live on any website.

"Today we’re giving every blogger and web editor the ability to light up the internet with music. Adding a personalized soundtrack to your website or blog has never been this easy,” wrote chief product officer Gustav Söderström. “You want to give your fans access to any song, album or playlist of your choosing and in its entirety, while ensuring people stay glued to your site. The Spotify Play Button does all of this for free, while making sure artists get paid for every play."

In a strategy similar to what they did on Facebook, moving from mobile to stereo to social, jockeying for position as "the operating system for music" on all digital platforms, Spotify has now pushed its client web-ubiquitous.

“In many ways, the Spotify Play Button is akin to Facebook’s 'Like' button. It’s a way of integrating service across the greater web, while also offering users additional value," writes Mashable's Christina Warren. "This all brings Spotify one step closer to becoming the online hub for music.” Continue reading...

Social media bested the President last night as Twitter user Sohaib Athar live-tweeted about the raid on Osama bin Laden seven hours before Obama made the announcement on television.

The Pakistani IT consultant (Twitter handle: ReallyVirtual) didn't realize he was observing (and reporting) the US operation that resulted in bin Laden's death when he tweeted, “Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event),” followed by “Go away helicopter – before I take out my giant swatter :-/”Continue reading...

Brands beware – you are now subject to consumer rankings on performance and values.

Launched in March, Brandkarma.com is the brainchild of Craig Davis, Publicis Mojo Australia chief creative officer and co-chairman. At the heart of the site is the Brandkarma flower, with five petals emblematic of how a brand treats its customers, employees, investors, suppliers and the planet.

More than 300 brands are included so far, including Starbucks, Disney, the BBC, The Huffington Post, Whole Foods, Google, Apple, Tesco, Toyota, Nokia, McDonald’s and Nestle.

The brands are rated by consumers with comments and color grades, from red (bad) to green (good). Each has its own ‘karma flower’ which is color-hued according to the number and ranking of responses. The site also includes rss news feeds and a ‘hot or not’ style voting tool.Continue reading...