‘HuffPost’ shuts down its Indian edition after six years
The website’s Editor-in-Chief Aman Sethi said that the content was being migrated and would be back soon.
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Huffpost India, the Indian arm of United States-based digital media company HuffPost, shut down its operations on Tuesday after six years. None of the articles published by Huffpost India are currently accessible though they are expected to soon be available on the main Huffpost.com site.
A message on the news website’s homepage told viewers that it would no longer publish content. “For more great global content, please visit HuffPost.com,” it said. “We thank you for your support and readership.”
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HuffPost India Editor-in-Chief Aman Sethi took to Twitter to announce that the website had closed down. “Today [Tuesday] is HuffPost India’s last day,” he said. “Pound for pound, story for story, reporter for reporter, this is the greatest newsroom I have worked for; (and I still can’t quite believe I had the privilege to lead) Thank you everyone for reading our stories and supporting our journalism.”
Today is @huffpostIndia’s last day. Pound for pound, story for story, reporter for reporter, this is the greatest newsroom I have worked for; (and I still can’t quite believe I had the privilege to lead)
— Aman Sethi (@Amannama) November 24, 2020
Thank you everyone for reading our stories and supporting our journalism
Sethi clarified that HuffPost India’s content had not been wiped out. “It is being migrated and should be back soon,” he said. “I’ll share favs [favourites] once the links are working again.”
The reason for the website’s closure is not clear yet. The Wire, however, reported that the closure was a result of the Centre’s decision to cap foreign direct investment in digital media at 26%.
An unidentified official from American media company Buzzfeed, which recently bought HuffPost, told The Wire that it would have been impossible to operate in India, given the FDI restrictions. The new acquisition deal had left out the HuffPost sites in India and Brazil.
Several journalists said on Twitter that they were saddened by HuffPost India’s closure. “Thank you Aman Sethi and all the brilliant reporters and contributors to Huff Post India,” journalist Aruna Chandrasekhar tweeted. “This is a shock to the system. It was a privilege to write and learn from you.”
Thank you @Amannama and all the brilliant reporters and contributors to @HuffPostIndia. This is a shock to the system. It was a privilege to write and learn from you.
— Aruna Chandrasekhar (@aruna_sekhar) November 24, 2020
Columnist Rituparna Chatterjee, who was one of the website’s founding editors, said the closure felt like a personal loss to her. “I quit HuffPost in 2018. But found extraordinary love and friendships here,” she said. “Hope everyone in the team finds work. And yes, everyone’s bylines are restored, migrated.”
We were the founding batch of editors. Exactly six years ago a bunch of us started working here with big dreams. It feels like a personal loss. All of my bylines, stories I did, wiped out as well. Like I never worked here. Don't know if there's a way to restore those. pic.twitter.com/IBaPrxB78O
— Rituparna Chatterjee (@MasalaBai) November 24, 2020
“Thank you for the journalism,” news anchor Faye D’Souza tweeted.
Thank you for the journalism. @Amannama and @HuffPostIndia
— Faye DSouza (@fayedsouza) November 25, 2020