Digital Publishing

Vertical publishing is everywhere these days, and now Huffington Post is on the bandwagon with The Scope — its new editorial brand focused on health. Although housed on HuffPo, The Scope is a niche pursuit that’s decidedly different from HuffPo’s highly generalized, scale-focused content strategy. There are definitely benefits of vertical publishing and are eager to see how The Scope measures up. Vertical Publishing Delivers Related information in one place One advantage of verticals like The Scope is that readers get a wide variety of category-specific content in one convenient location. Four regular staff writers will be producing around four stories daily; in addition, The Scope will feature reports and news gleaned from various sources that include Live Science and Reuters. What you’re not going to see is the opportunity for contributors to create new stories for The Scope. Editor Meredith Melnick said recently that’s simply not something the brand needs or will be seeking out. According to HuffPo itself, you’ll see a wide range of health-centric features on The Scope, such as: Neuroscience innovations and news Reporting on the opioid epidemic Dangers of drug-resistant infections Commentary on caretakers’ rights Women’s health issues in Trump’s America Meredith also said that "We will explore all subjects ― from foreign policy to art to social justice ― with an eye toward the role health plays in each of them." It appears as though The Scope will be covering a wide range of health issues so that readers get a good range of information daily, although whether current Huffington Post readers will flock to the brand remains to be seen. The Scope’s social media strategy Despite its recent launch date, HuffPo’s new vertical already has a notable social media presence on Facebook and Twitter by piggybacking on the success of Huffington Post Health, which has approximately 800,000 Facebook fans and 340,000 Twitter followers. Melnick believes that starting the Scope from the platform of social media will give the brand a firm understanding of how people are responding to it. What’s next for Huffington Post? Huffington Post is already trying two more verticals — Tomorrow, Inshallah, a brand geared towards Millennial Muslims, and Canceled Plans, a brand designed to appeal to introverts. If the current verticals prove to be successful, SODP believes that Huffington Post will soon roll out more niche brands. Do you prefer targeted verticals or large-scale publications? Let us know what you think of the Huffington Post's move in the comments.

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