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.”
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.”
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.”
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.”
“Thank you for the journalism,” news anchor Faye D’Souza tweeted.
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