I rated the $5 million venture funding of The Huffington Post earlier this month by Softbank Capital and Greycroft Partners and noted how difficult it is to make money from dispensing political news. My colleague, Paul Bonanos, put this and other points to Softbank Capital managing partner Eric Hippeau and wrote about it today in The Deal.

Here are some of Hippeau's comments:

"We view this as an investment in a news site. We think the news of the future will look like the Huffington Post. It includes breaking news, instant commentary, blogs and community, with a comments section that can be almost like a mini-blog."

"We were interested in news sites that are not involved with a legacy brand. We view the Huffington Post evolving as a media company, to build an audience and sustain its value. We think people will use it as a primary source of news. We want to build a franchise."

There is "clearly an opportunity to diversify" the Huffington Post's revenue stream through syndication and subscription-oriented products, said Hippeau.

This is going to be worth watching. Successful media companies will be born out of the shift in the way information is being consumed. For now, though, I'd place my money on entertainment sites like CollegeHumor.com, and commerce-oriented sites like Engadget.

Tags: huffington+post, softbank, vc, venture capital.