T H E - H U F F I N G T O N - R O S T

2006-07-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

Delivering news and opinion on the developing Huffington Post scandals.

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THE ROST POSTS
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The following is a list of online articles and blog posts about The Huffington Post firing Dr. Peter Rost for discovering that their technology manager was posting negative comments on his blog.

Some of my favorite quotes about The Huffington Post include: "anonymous heckler", "troll and mole controversy", "attempted to manipulate bloggers", "scandal", and the best off all, "Shenanigans".

Further down in the post, you will find links to The Huffington Post staff trying to defend itself, Peter Rost's "offending" posts, HuffPost's unethical viral marketing campaign, and HuffPost's farce of a comment policy.

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A Blogger Is Bounced From The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post, the popular news and blogging Web site, again found itself the subject of commentary last week when one of its bloggers was fired after accusing a site staff member of posting negative comments on his blog entries.
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Huffington Post blogger blocked
Influential website the Huffington Post tried to ban one of its bloggers after he discovered an anonymous heckler on his blog was actually the Post's technology manager.
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Organ Grinder: I'll huff and I'll puff...
Love it, loathe it or ignore it (as I do), in the blogging world the Huffington Post is hot. Which is what makes the current "troll and mole" controversy, that engulfed the site and led to the Post banning its own blogger Peter Rost, such a doozy.
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Shenanigans at Huffington Post
I don't know how many have followed the recent "scandal" over at Huffington Post about an invited blogger who was revoked his blogging privilege after revealing that an engineer at the site was actually a troll.
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HuffPost Scandal Reveals Poor Command of Language
So it seems there’s a little scandal brewing at the Huffington Post.
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The Huffington Post Controversy
The Guardian newspaper has reported on alleged suppression of Huffington Post blog writer Peter Rost after he found evidence of harassment by Post technology manager Andy Yaco-Mink.
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Blogger Gets Banned For Outing Troll
Influential website the Huffington Post tried to ban one of its bloggers after he discovered an anonymous heckler on his blog was actually the Huffington Post's technology manager.
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From the Dept. of "Can Dish It Out..."
The Huffington Post let go one of its contributors, Dr. Peter Rost, for complaining that a HuffPo staff member posted negative comments on Rost's blog.
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Boring Blogger Fired From Huffington Post
An otherwise uninteresting (to me) story about Peter Rost’s ouster from HuffPo after getting into a squabble with the site’s tech staff, contains this explanation from Arianna Huffington:
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Huffington Post Blogger Shut Down For Narcing
If we had a "tech department" (which we don't) we can imagine that we wouldn't want one of its members to post comments on how much our site sucks.
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Huffy at the Huffington Post
I confess I’ve never been to The Huffington Post - I didn’t even know that Arianna Huffington was a real person until recently.
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Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid
The Whistle Blows for Thee
The Left loves whistle-blowers, just so long as they blow their whistles on Republican politicians or greedy capitalists.
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Arianna Huffington: Troll & Mole Scandal
Last week, Dr. Peter Rost, former vice president of Pfizer Pharmaceutical, was banned from The Huffington Post - a website that he regularly contributed to - for exposing the site’s technology manager as a clandestine troll who manipulated the site’s poll results.
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Babylon Tea Party: Disillusioned Once Again
There's been all this drama going on with the Huffington Post lately (again). Basically, Pfizer whistleblower Dr. Peter Rost blew the whistle on a troll, who turned out to be a HuffPo techie employee, and got "fired" for it.
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Peter Rost fired again?
After writing a post questioning the scoring of comments at his blog home the Huffington Post, in which he exposed a "troll" as being the Huff Post's technology manager, Rost was fired from writing at the Huff Po this morning.
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On Pharma
Puff n’stuff: Peter Rost is off the Huffington blog, at least for now
Just learned that he's no longer blogging there, but also the details of why— a convoluted Internet whodunnit that suggests that the Huffington blog isn't all that it pretends to be.
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THE HUFFINGTON POST DEFENDS ITSELF
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It is interesting to note that all The Huffington Post blogs about Peter Rost support The Huffington Post's "version" of events, except for Greg Gutfled's post. All the independent articles and blogs tend to support Peter Rost, and many question the ethics of The Huffington post.

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Arianna Huffington
Setting the Record Straight: On Trolls, Moles, and Dis-Invited Bloggers
We disabled his password for one reason and one reason only -- his refusal to act as part of our online community.
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Greg Gutfeld
Nuts About The Huffington Post!
This place is nuts. Not just funny nuts but wacky nuts -
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James Love
The Freedom to Blog on the Huffington Post
I just think that at the end of the day, it's better to accept that editors exist at Huffpo, and they have some power.
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Jonah Peretti
Peter Rost's Accusations
I decided to ignore Rost's accusations because they were trivial, uninteresting to most HuffPost readers, and not accurate.
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James Love
Free Andy Yaco-Mink
I can't see why Andy Yaco-Mink or any other Huffpo employee should not feel free to comment on the Huffpo blogs.
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EXPOSING THE TROLL
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These blog posts from Peter Rost at The Huffington Post started the chain of events. Click here for a further list of Peter's posts, with an analysis of The Huffington Post's technology manager's negative comments.

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Dr. Peter Rost
A Troll* inside Huffington Post?

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Dr. Peter Rost
Hurrah! I'm Back On HuffPo!

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After The Huffington Post fires Dr. Peter Rost, he continues posting on this issue at his own blog. The first Peter Rost post above, and the last one below are the most entertaining.

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Dr. Peter Rost
Huffington Post FIRED Me!

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Dr. Peter Rost
I Really Tried to Reason with HuffPo. Really.

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Dr. Peter Rost
Arianna Huffington is a Lying Liar. Here's the Proof.

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JWT VIRAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN
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JWT has created commercials that they like to call mini art films, advertising them on The Huffington Post. This campaign was promoted by The Huffington Post using a viral marketing campaign along with some questionable tactics.

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MaxPower
Huffingtonpost and JWT Astroturfing — Viral Marketing Foie Gras
I have to admit that it is very ’suspicious’ that an intern from the Huffington post emails me out of the blue to recommend an advertisement currently running on the huffingtonpost proper.
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MaxPower
Huffington Post Astroturfs for dollars, trolls, and loses credibility, loses Rost
... the pattern is clear, staff at THP have attempted to manipulate bloggers and the public by appearing as independent voices online.
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Huffington Post and JWT: How (Not) to Manipulate Bloggers
If Johah is such a viral guru, he should know that attempts to manipulate the blogosphere can turn things around quickly.
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Huffington astroturfing? Surely not??
... it looks like Jonah Peretti and the guys from the Huff Post are the ones behind the spamming ...
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Ad Hurl: JWT + Huffington Post = Astroturf!!!
... they are only posting 3% of the comments received, leaving you to think that maybe the other 97% are less than favorable.
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JWT Puts a 'Roadblock' on Huffington Post
JWT, the oldest advertising agency in the United States, has purchased all the ad space on The Huffington Post home page for one week ...
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JWT buys out Huffington Post ad space
America's oldest and largest advertising agency JWT Worldwide has burst through the barrier between brands and blogs by buying all the ad space on the Huffington Post for one week.
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JWT Sets up HuffPo Roadblock, Hopes for Viral Outbreak
JWT has teamed with HuffPo cofounder and viral media pioneer Jonah Peretti ...
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HUFFPOST'S COMMENT POLICY
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The Huffington Post's comment policy states that they "only delete those comments that are abusive, off-topic, use excessive foul language, or include ad hominem attacks". From experience I have learned that this is clearly not the case. HuffPost also censors comments that are too critical of them on certain issues.

The Lonewacko Blog: Huffington Post is scared
Mike's Thoughts: Dr. Rost, Wakko-Yako and a Huffy Post
Antichrist: Is HuffPost lying about their Comment Policy?

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DISCLAIMER
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If you want your logo, picture, or post off this page, then leave a comment. If you have more posts that I missed let me know and I will add them. I'm looking for one from the Wonkette, but have not found one yet.

And here is the star of the whole show, Andy Yaco-Mink, HuffPost's technology manager. Hey Andy, would you care to leave a comment?

HuffPost's Yaco-Mink Exposed as Big Pharma Shill

2006-06-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Andy Yaco-Mink, the technology manager at The Huffington Post, has recently been caught posting negative comments on the blog of HuffPost's big pharma whistleblower, Peter Rost. Yaco-Mink's comments tended to be either pro-big pharma, or anti-Peter Rost, exposing Yaco-Mink's and possibly HuffPost's support for big drug companies.

Here is an example of Yaco-Mink encouraging Peter Rost to keep his mouth shut about big pharma:

$10,000 Fine If I Talk by Dr. Peter Rost
If you just go ahead and don't reveal the confidential information, you can pretty much stop worrying about the fine.
By: yacomink on May 23, 2006 at 02:48pm

A week later Yaco-Mink starts to get sarcastic:

Don't Trust Your Television News by Dr. Peter Rost
You can't trust your local news!?!?! Alert the presses!!!
By: yacomink on May 30, 2006 at 12:02pm

And the next week, Yaco-Mink is somewhat excited although at a loss for words:

My Blog in the News by Dr. Peter Rost
!!!
By: yacomink on June 06, 2006 at 11:06am

Things start heating up as Peter Rost gets suspicious of military think-tanks that are stalking him:

Am I Crazy Paranoid . . . ? by Dr. Peter Rost
You're upset because someone in the office of a PR firm is reading your weblog? Is that right?
By: yacomink on June 12, 2006 at 12:09pm

The next day, Yaco-Mink enourages Peter Rost to write a blog exposing him as a paid troll:

How a Public Relations Firm Helped Start the War by Dr. Peter Rost
Wow. I can't beleive all these people are spying on your weblog. It should be illegal for people to read things you post on the internet. It's a huge invasion of your privacy. Do you have lengthy articles on any of your other readers you'd care to share with us?
By: yacomink on June 13, 2006 at 03:01pm

Again the next day, Yaco-Mink continues with the same thoughts, and gets voted "best of" by the "users". This"best of" status makes it easier for Peter to notice Yaco-Mink's comments:

Now I'm REALLY freaking out! by Dr. Peter Rost
Are you insane? This is a public website. If there are people you don't want reading your blog posts, don't put them on a public website. If you think what you're saying is of any importance, isn't it a good thing that people from the government are reading it? Would you prefer that people you don't agree with only read things that _they_ agree with?
By: yacomink on June 14, 2006 at 12:10pm

Then comes Yaco-Minks next "best of" comment, in a further attempt at getting noticed by Peter Rost.

Are Many Companies Criminal Enterprises? by Dr. Peter Rost
Do you not know how to read polls? Is that the problem?Also, what do the results of an informal poll on companies 'spying' on employee email have to do with a 2005 study on employees observing co-worker's misconduct? Nothing. That's what.This thing reads like a 6th grader's first attempt at a research paper.
By: yacomink on June 16, 2006 at 02:02pm

That was Yaco-Mink's last comment, at least under the name yacomink. Next comes the blog that gets Peter Rost fired:

A Troll* inside Huffington Post? by Dr. Peter Rost

Being true to form, Peter writes an indepth whitleblowing post about Yaco-Mink trolling his blog without disclosing his identity as the HuffPost Technical Manager. Yaco-Mink has suceeded in getting Peter Rost to expose him as a HuffPost paid troll. HuffPost then felt they had cause to fire Peter, paving the way to future big pharma advertising on HuffPost.

Is HuffPost lying about their Comment Policy?

2006-06-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

The Huffington Post's comment policy states that a comment will not be posted if it is "abusive, off-topic, uses excessive foul language, or includes an ad hominem attack". I've tried to post comments critial of HuffPost on topics such as Peter Rost's firing, their JWT advertising compaign, and Arianna's trip to the "Cannes Marketing Festival", but these comments never got posted. They conformed to HuffPost's comment policy, but the censors there chose not to post them.

The firing of Peter Rost for exposing a troll on the HuffPost staff is a touchy subject for them, and they seem to want to limit how much is said on the issue.

JWT is creating commercials that they like to call mini art films, and hopes people will pass them around (and then buy the products of course). One of these commericals featured a still picture of a child smoking a cigarette on the home page of HuffPost. They removed it his weekend, possibly because I kept insisting.

Arianna Huffington has been in Cannes for the past few days attending a marketing conference. She was included in a discussion panel hosted by the Chief Creative Officer of JWT. JWT recently bought up all of HuffPost's advertising (although JWT is gone from their home page now). They brought Arianna along to Cannes so that she could write positive blog posts about them. Her review of the marketing festival and JWT is positively glowing.

At the conference and in one of Arianna's posts she proudly endorses JWT advertising philosophy by exclaiming "Make coitus interruptus the real intercourse." This curious statement seems to mean that a commerical should be the show itself.

Not only has HuffPost not posted most of my comments, they have now banned me from ever commenting again.

Here is an example of a comment HuffPost does allow: "I think the public experiment of justifying "Faggotness" has failed. Time to go back in the Fucking Closet you fucked up beings. By: cruises101 on June 25, 2006 at 01:03pm". I guess HuffPost thinks this comment is not abusive and lacks foul language.

UPDATE:
Here's a link to a MaxPower blog about The Huffington Post's new JWT viral marketing campaign, provided by a reader.

Huffingtonpost and JWT Astroturfing — Viral Marketing Foie Gras

And a quote from MaxPower's latest blog:
"... staff at THP have attempted to manipulate bloggers and the public by appearing as independent voices online. They have anonymously posted comments and sent emails to promote their product in an attempt to orchestrate a viral contagious marketing initiative. On their own site, THP, they censor critical comments refusing to publish them — contrary to their clients wishes (if you believe the adweek quote). I have no proof, but comments on THP blog within the JWT advertising section also appear to be written by marketers posing as you or me in an attempt to get us to endorse their product. There is a credibility problem at The Huffington Post. Who are they trying to fool — the public, or the advertisers willing to pay six figures a week for fake superlative feedback?"

Huffington Post Astroturfs for dollars, trolls, and loses credibility, loses Rost

Superman is NOT gay!

2006-06-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

Last night (June 23), Bryan Singer (the director of Superman Returns, X-Men, X2, and The Usual Suspects) was on Larry King Live, along with the stars of the movie, Brandon Roth (Superman), and Kevin Spacey (Lex Luther). When Larry asked Bryan what he thought of the idea of Superman being gay, they all seemed shocked and offended, especially Bryan. Bryan dismissed the idea completely, claiming Lois Lane as his proof. He said that Superman Returns is the most heterosexual movie he has ever made. This statement was followed by a couple seconds of silence on everyones part, while Bryan looked amused at his own comment. "It is" he claims after a moment.

Faster than bullets, yes. But Superman, gay? No way
'How Gay Is Superman?'

Larry later asks Bryan what he thinks about the idea of Superman as Jesus. This he agrees with, also comparing Superman to moses.

Jesus Christ Superman

I thought Superman was a fictional character. He can be anything a script writer wants him to be. I think Bryan's protests say more about Bryan than they do about Superman.