The Final Alyona Show

We’ve got a great last show for you tonight. Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher will join us to talk about Wikileaks, Bradley Manning, and the assault on protesters across the country. From Occupy to Anaheim, they’re facing a militarized police force. Then, Michael Hastings will join us to talk about the investigation into a military hospital in Afghanistan. Not only was there a cover up by a US General, but photographs have now emerged of the horrible conditions. So how big could this scandal get? We’ll have all that and more for you tonight, including a dose of Happy Hour. It’s our last show, so you won’t want to miss it.

So, this was the final Alyona Show on RT. Miss Minkovski employed her Facebook page to bid her fans a final farewell:

‘Hey guys, this is Alyona.

As you know, yesterday [, 30 August 2012] was our final show. I’m moving on to join HuffPost Live, a new online network that launches on August 13th. I’d just like to thank everyone that’s supported the show along the way. It would not have been the same without the incredible guests we’ve had, the participation of the viewers, and the dedication of the crew. I’d also like to thank RT for providing a platform where a program like this could thrive.

We’ve shared a lot of laughs, but most importantly, I hope that we’ve opened some eyes and brought much needed attention to stories that don’t normally make it onto tv. I’d prefer not to think of it as the end, but as the beginning of a new chapter. My passion for highlighting the stories that are undercovered and having open and honest discussions about the world has not changed. I hope you continue to follow me onto this next step. Thanks again!’.[1]

What will this mean and what will now happen???  Throwing light into the dark, Ariana Huffington states that “HuffPost Live, our new live streaming network, is launching August 13. One of our goals is to create the most social video experience possible. And that’s why we’re putting you, the HuffPost community, front and center in everything we do, including having you join us live on the air — an integral part of the dynamic, ongoing conversation that is the heart and soul of HuffPost Live. The days of media gods sitting up on Mt.Olympus telling us how things are have been over for a while. But now we have reached a critical mass where millions of people have a seat at the table and can join what has become a global conversation. People are tired of being talked at; they want to be talked with. The news is no longer about a few people telling everyone else what happened — it’s about everyone telling everyone what’s happening right now. And now. And now… This shift from presentation to participation is what fuels HuffPost Live. It took the Huffington Post six years to reach 100 million comments — all pre-moderated to ensure a non-toxic atmosphere. And that was amazing. But just six months later, we had reached 150 million comments — and we are now on track to hit 200 million after just another three months. The HuffPost community is growing exponentially and HuffPost Live will take it to another level. Looked at another way, at HuffPost we average about five comments every second of every day (and, at the height of our traffic spike following the Supreme Court’s health care ruling, we were averaging 32 comments per second!). Drilling into our stats, we saw that 70 percent of all comments being left on our site are responses to other comments. So you are not just commenting on HuffPost. You are having conversations — and forming communities around your passions and interests. We decided to double down on engagement and make those conversations the focus of HuffPost Live. It became the North Star that we followed in making every subsequent decision — from our editorial approach, to the hiring of our hosts, to our tech platform, to our design, to how we’ve decided to launch the new network”.[2]

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[1] https://www.facebook.com/#!/TheAlyonaShow.

[2] Ariana Huffington, “HuffPost Live: We Need You!” The Huffington Post (10 July 2012).  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/huffpost-live-we-need-you_b_1657824.html?utm_hp_ref=live321&ir=HuffPost Live 321.