Fineman On Newsweek, Huffington Post and Fox News

After spending 30 years at Newsweek, Howard Fineman is leaving for Huffington Post. His move from the traditional weekly magazine to the leader of online news and opinion is itself a mark of the change afflicting media coverage today.

Fineman, 61, points out he is more than twice as old as most of the Huffington Post staffers. But he says his move and the expected addition of other "traditional" reporters to the website are part of Huffington Post's effort to add original news to its growing world of content.

In an interview with Media Matters today, just hours after his new job choice became public, Fineman said he believes Newsweek will continue to thrive, but predicted its print edition would likely end within five years. He also said Huffington Post will be able to offer fair and accurate reporting even with its liberal traditions, noting that is not the case at Fox News, which mixes its ideology too much with reporting.

"It is not a new development; in the old days, newspapers had candidates. But what is startling about Fox is that TV never used to do that," Fineman told me Monday. "Fox and [Chairman Roger] Ailes came out of the closet and said, 'Hey, we are basically the Republican channel.' Ailes has a project he is pursuing."

Fineman said that, even with her liberal leanings, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington does not cross that line. "She is not Roger Ailes, she wasn't advising Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush. It is not partisan in a party sense."

He said he is departing Newsweek -- the latest in a string of the magazine's top writers leaving that includes Michael Isikoff and Fareed Zakaria -- more for the opportunity than any negative views of Newsweek.

"Sidney Harman is a smart guy and a friend of mine," Fineman said of the pending new Newsweek owner. "I don't know entirely yet what his vision will be. You have to give him time to see how he will fashion it."

But he said Newsweek is not going to be the same magazine in the future: "My guess is that there will be several years of a fond embrace of the traditional magazine. But that stuff is going because the economics are too difficult. He also has to build a great website."

Asked how long the print edition will last, Fineman said: "I am saying five years for now, at the outset."

As for Huffington Post, which Fineman formally joins on Oct. 11, he said his move and more new reporters on the way mark an increase in original reporting there. "She realizes the next step she has to take is to hire more people to do original content and she is tapped into something new here, what is a combination of a social networking site and a news site," Fineman says of Huffington. "The question is whether that can be a tool of newsgathering. How do you apply journalism as we know it to that?"

He adds, "It is beefing up the site, bringing in more reporters. She's got other hires she is going to make and they will be important in terms of using traditional people."

But Fineman stressed Huffington Post can provide objective reporting despite its liberal bent, noting it will not become a Fox News of the left type of operation.

"I believe in the idea of objectivity, but everyone brings their own assumptions and background to everything they do," he said. "But what is fascinating about Fox is that Fox is now part of the [political] story. It is being played out on the stage sets of Fox. We have to cover Fox like any other part of the political landscape."

Fineman defended Arianna Huffington's personal opinions, noting she is clear about them and open, but stops short of doing what Fox does: "Yes, she's progressive and yes, she is tolerant socially, but she doesn't think she is a queen-maker or a king-maker of political parties or candidates."

He also offered some advice to Ailes: "It would be better if Roger Ailes did what she did, wrote all the time what he thinks. Everyone sees behind the curtain."

Fineman said he will continue to appear on NBC and MSNBC, but cannot write for MSNBC.com anymore. "It is considered a rival of HuffPost," he said.

He credited NBC with allowing him to move to the new website and still appear on its channels: "They see what Arianna is trying to do to make HuffPost more of a news site."

And will part of that include beefing up its media watchdog elements, including those that critique Fox? "I think there will be lots of watchdog," he answered. "Fox is a story, there is no question, in terms of media. I wouldn't deny the fact that Fox is one heck of a story. But Fox is not the only story. The rest of the media has not done a great job either."