EXCLUSIVE: Victim of Modi govt’s new policy on FDI for digital media? HuffPost India shutters down

HuffPost India, the India face of HuffPost, an online news and lifestyle website, has closed down following a recent deal between Buzzfeed and HuffPost which brings together two of the most high-profile digital media firms.

HuffPost India’s editor-in-chief Aman Sethi posted on Twitter:

‘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) Thank you everyone for reading our stories and supporting our journalism’

The Wire founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan posted:

‘Modi Diktat on FDI for digital media claims first scalp. @HuffPostIndia shuts shop. When @BuzzFeed bought @HuffPost, it kept Brazil & India out of deal. India was no go because of new FDI cap and regulatory uncertainty. 12 jobs lost to atmanirbhar policy.’

When National Herald visited the website, it simply displayed a message: ‘As of November 24 HuffPost India will no longer be publishing content’.

Many users took to the microblogging platform to express their disappointment at the development:

As per a BBC report, seller Verizon Media will become a minority shareholder in Buzzfeed as part of the deal and invest in the combined company.

The two firms will also join up for advertising and sharing content, a partnership they said would "create new revenue opportunities".

Buzzfeed chief executive Jonah Peretti will lead the combined business. He co-founded HuffPost, formerly known as the Huffington Post, in 2005 with publisher Arianna Huffington and started Buzzfeed a year later.

HuffPost rose to prominence during the George W Bush presidency as a site for liberal bloggers, many of whom contributed for free.

Buzzfeed made its name creating content like listicles and quizzes, which drew young audiences. It also brought on reporters for its news site.