Dr. Peter Rost - now "fired" from the Huffington Post!

Dear Jack,

Arianna Huffington’s online newspaper, the Huffington Post, terminated my access to the site late yesterday after I wrote an investigative article about an anonymous heckler who had been stalking my blog (who had actually challenged me to write about him). The heckler turned out to be Huffington Post’s own technology manager.

In the article I had stated, “In order for the Huffington Post to maintain its credibility, the site needs to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest or rigged rankings.”

The Huffington Post first shut down access to my blog post; later in the day allowed the post to be viewed again, and then terminated my access to the site. The full article with reader comments can be viewed here: http://peterrost.blogspot.com/2006/06/troll-inside-huffington-post.html. You can also view the HuffPo post with comments here, (unless it has been shut down again): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-peter-rost/a-troll-inside-huffingto_b_23387.html

The Huffington Post wrote in a letter to me, “You have not been "fired" but rather asked to refrain from posting as our editorial staff felt that your recent blogs were not in line with the mission of our site.” HuffPo added, “this was not an Arianna call. Ultimately, the decision was an editorial one - not one person to be held responsible -- really.”

I was terminated without any investigation of the statements in my blog post, all of which were referenced using independent sources on the net. Arianna Huffington’s newspaper decided to shut down the whistleblower and proved that her online magazine is no more ethical than the people and organizations she criticizes on a daily basis. This is a sad day for online journalism.

I will continue to blog on: http://peterrost.blogspot.com/

Regards,
Peter