Washington Post, media critic Howard Kurtz points out that much of the astounding success of the Huffington Post, a group blog that features all sorts of generally Democratic commentary and content (including mine), has come from the ability (and willingness) of its editors to go beyond the now-standard “most read story” gizmo in the corner and actually bring popular articles to the front page, top center. Editors hate this because it means that readers are making placement and prominence decisions and mixing commentary with news. Advertisers love it because it makes the site the sites that do this (Daily Kos and Google News are other examples) all the more popular. Check out Kurtz’s piece here: The Huffington Empire.