The Huffington Post Launches “Reclaim 2012” Election Coverage: Signature Blend of Real-Time News, Opinion and Engaged Community; Enhanced Pollster and Fundrace Offerings; and OfftheBus Citizen Journalism Platform

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On 2011 Election Day, the Huffington Post Media Group announces its 2012 election coverage plan, “Reclaim 2012,” which leverages the company’s unique combination of real-time news, opinion, video, and community; a 24/7 liveblog; upgraded Pollster, Fundrace, and social media monitoring tools; and hundreds of citizen journalists contributing through OfftheBus. The Huffington Post (“HuffPost”) also will partner with Patch, the nationwide network of local sites, to cover issues and candidates from both local and national perspectives. HuffPost Politics, now the top politics destination site,* is the hub for The Huffington Post’s 2012 coverage. HuffPost is also announcing a cooperative arrangement with Factcheck.org, the nonprofit that monitors the factual accuracy of candidates’ statements, to allow HuffPost to republish selected Factcheck.org findings on a timely basis. The announcement was made by Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post Media Group.

“We want our coverage to put what's at stake for real people in these elections front and center, to tell their stories, and to use social media to deepen our understanding of the electoral process”

"We want our coverage to put what's at stake for real people in these elections front and center, to tell their stories, and to use social media to deepen our understanding of the electoral process," said Arianna Huffington. "Working with Patch -- including our 48 early primary and caucus Patches -- we'll give our readers a 360-degree view of the candidates and concerns that matter most to them. Through Reclaim 2012, we plan to obsessively focus on the most pressing and pivotal issues that confront the nation in the election next year.”

Enhanced Election Tracking Tools Integrated Into
HuffPost Politics’ Powerful Platform

HuffPost’s election offerings include dynamic, interactive election tracking tools, a platform for citizen journalists, and a real-time liveblog, Reclaim 2012, that will combine original reporting, breaking news and rapid-fire aggregation, the hallmarks of HuffPost's political coverage.

Pollster, a one-stop-shop for polling data overseen by Mark Blumenthal, senior polling editor of The Huffington Post and co-founder of Pollster, is developing real-time snapshots of key races with an improved design and user interface that will be launching soon. Pollster will have multi-functionality, enabling users to do everything from deep dives into key battleground Senate and Congressional races to electoral map checks of the presidential campaign. Users will be able to choose how they view polling data, including polls around particular issues, data by selected pollsters, and projected electoral maps -- and of course they’ll find the aggregated polls for which the site is well respected.

HuffPost Fundrace, the interactive tool featuring detailed campaign finance information that lets users easily track contributions to candidates, offers detailed, up-to-date information on the contributions of select celebrities, companies, business power players, and more. Fundrace puts information in the hands of readers to connect the dots between political donations and politicians’ actions. Users can find who on their block has donated to which candidate, or parse a candidate’s haul by industry. Fundrace enables visualization of campaign giving by geography and includes Facebook Connect integration that enables users to see which of their friends are giving to which candidates. With more money than ever in politics, Reclaim 2012 will offer a daily Fundrace e-newsletter focused exclusively on this issue. Reclaim 2012 will add features -- including a Twitter real-time tracking module -- through the fall and early winter, with an enhanced election dashboard expected in place before the Iowa Caucuses.

Breadth of National and Local Perspectives on Candidates and Issues

HuffPost Politics’ national coverage is complemented by local news and views provided by Patch and OfftheBus. With 48 Patch sites in early primary and caucus states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida -- local leaflets, robocalls, push polls, gaffes, and triumphs will be closely tracked and reported. Patch has already brought together influential Republicans from these states to participate in the “HuffPost-Patch Power Outsiders Poll,” a weekly survey of the issues that matter most to GOP influencers at the local level in primary states. Patch is also producing the “All Politics is Local” project, which looks at national issues such as infrastructure and education at the local level.

OfftheBus, The Huffington Post’s citizen journalism platform, will enable users to contribute to the campaign by sending tips, photos, video, and more, as well as contribute to distributed reporting projects. OfftheBus has joined with Patch to enable citizen journalists in the primary states to post their pieces via Tumblr. This year, OfftheBus broke the story of the Tuscon Republican Party raffling off a Glock, a weapon similar to the one used that nearly claimed the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. In addition, every Patch site will offer locally-tailored, comprehensive voter guides on candidates and issues. OfftheBus currently has more than 1,000 contributors and is growing. In 2008, it was an OfftheBus blogger, Mayhill Fowler, who recorded and posted Obama’s infamous “bitter-gate” comments that marked a turning point in the campaign.

*comScore, September 2011

About the Huffington Post Media Group:

The Huffington Post is part of AOL’s Huffington Post Media Group ("HPMG"), a leading source of news, opinion, entertainment, community and digital information comprised of a diverse network of destination websites, including The Huffington Post, Moviefone, Engadget, TechCrunch, Patch, StyleList, and Mapquest. HPMG’s sites combine journalism, technology, engagement, and video to reach a global audience on every platform. The Group has over 20,000 bloggers -- from politicians and celebrities to academics and policy experts -- who contribute in real-time on a wide-range of topics making news today. Among them are Nora Ephron, Larry Page, Bill Maher, Robert Redford, Madonna, Alec Baldwin, Scarlett Johansson, Russell Simmons, Bill Gates, and Charlie Rose. The Huffington Post has 35 million unique visitors a month, per comScore, and has an engaged community that posts over 15 million comments a month. The Huffington Post UK and The Huffington Post Canada both launched this year, and Le Huffington Post, in France, is launching soon.

About AOL:

Having helped millions of Americans to get online, AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is on a mission to inform, entertain and connect the world. The home of a world-class collection of premium brands, AOL creates original content that engages audiences on a local and global scale. We help marketers connect with these audiences through effective and engaging digital advertising solutions.