AOL has agreed to buy the Huffington Post in the US for a reported $315m in a mostly cash deal.

The Huff Post is is one of the most read news sites in the US and has grown a huge content base on the back of its Citizen Journalism strategy.

By providing a free platform to thousands of freelance journalists and bloggers, the Post built a winning store of content with unparalleled span and breadth. It celebrity focus played well with current consumer trends.

The success of the Post shows that online news can be a winning business model. It also highlights the changing nature of the business with the Post acting as an aggregator and editor not just for traditional journalistic output but also that from many, many amateur or citizen news sources.

This 'democratisation' of the news and nwes agenda is only set to increase.