Huffington Post acquires opinion poll company

The Huffington Post has
acquired Pollster.com, a popular aggregator of poll data for analysis,
as it makes a more aggressive push into political journalism.

The New York Times called the move “something of a coup” for HuffPo, as it gears up for midterm elections in November.

NYT reports:

“It’s going to beef up our political coverage,” said Arianna Huffington, the Web site’s editor in chief and founder. “Polling, whether we like it or not, is a big part of how we communicate about politics. And with this, we’ll be able to do it in a deeper way. We’ll be able to both aggregate polls, point out the limitations of them and demand more transparency.”

“The Huffington Post’s purchase of Pollster, which is owned by YouGov Polimetrix but hosted on NationalJournal.com, comes at a time of intense competition among media outlets vying for influence in Washington’s saturated online media market.

“The Huffington Post, which recently started a newsletter devoted specifically to Capitol Hill, plans to add four new reporters to help cover the midterm elections, Ms. Huffington said.”

NYT notes that Pollster has been a major draw for HuffPo competitor The National Journal.

“Politico and The National Journal have also been adding to their staffs in recent months.

“The National Journal, which recently hired away The Associated Press’s Washington bureau chief to lead a new joint print-online newsroom, is in the process of hiring some 30 people for its expanded operations.

“One particular area of focus lately for many news organizations and Web sites has been polling. The New York Times recently said it would begin hosting the popular blog FiveThirtyEight, which does polling analysis similar to Pollster’s. Talking Points Memo, a blog focused on politics, also recently enhanced its poll aggregator.”