If you’re an aspiring journalist, unless you’ve had your head in a paper bag (metaphorical or otherwise) since April, you’ll probably be aware of online media leviathon, the Huffington Post, coming to the UK from its native America.

For those of you who’ve had your head in a bag, or exams, or dissertations, or an exciting place abroad, here’s the deal in a nutshell: the Huffington Post is a news and opinion site which was set up by Arianna Huffington (good surname, eh) and a couple of other guys in 2005. Like every other media site, it was set up to offer something different from those that had gone before. One of the most notable ways it wound up being different was that it offered complete nobody bloggers a platform to post their views, alongside news and reportage from professional journalists. As the website grew, this meant that wannabe journalists could have their work read by literally millions of people. This became even more exciting when AOL bought ‘Huff Po’ earlier this year, cementing it as a force to be reckoned with on the online media landscape.

So soon the opportunities will arise for bloggers to write for the Huffington Post in the UK. In fact, they already have for those who have the contacts. But before we all get too excited, perhaps it’s worth questioning what the impact is for wannabes?

Huff Po’s free blogging model has certainly not been free of contention. There’s the rather long, and understandably persuasive, piece on the website to convince people it’s totally fine to contribute for free. There was, notably, the huge law suit that arose after AOL bought the startup in April. And, of course, there’s the thousands of journalists – established and otherwise, although generally those receiving a salary – who totally disregard the model.

The latter’s argument is difficult to disagree with: why should a business allow people to work for free? If any other business operated like that it would be accused of slave labour. Then there’s the quality control argument — how can a media provider remain credible if it has very little curation or editing over its content? Furthermore, shouldn’t people have to do a little more to earn placement on a platform with such influence?

But at the same time, wannabe hacks would have to be mad to turn down the opportunity to have their writing published to such a large readership. Increasingly the internet is becoming the sole platform for young journalists to see their work exposed and as media websites go, the Huff Po isn’t a bad addition to your cuttings book. In fact, it’s a pretty good one: while many young journalists will have applied to have their work uploaded on the site, it shows initiative and an awareness of the brands that are at the heart of cutting edge journalist. At the very least, you may garner a following and perhaps increase your job opportunities and profile as a writer, at the worst, you’ve still got work online to add to a portfolio and maybe a couple of extra Twitter followers. What’s not to like?

I’ve registered interest in the scheme and will probably pitch a post there when I’ve written something appropriate, however I can understand people’s hesitations. If freelancers are overstretched with paid work, why would they want to spend time contributing for free when they could be writing (albeit less interesting stuff) for cash?  Then there’s the argument that the HuffPo is championing a business model which exploits the aspirations and enthusiasm of young writers. If increasing amounts of people are happy to write for nothing, what happens to those who aren’t, and, even more worryingly, those who haven’t been throughout their careers? If we become a generation happy to remain unpaid (which we are, if you hadn’t noticed), then what happens when we start to demand payment? And to the next crop of new journalists?

These are questions to be considered, and certainly not lightly. However, it is undeniable that the Huffington Post is one of the most radical journalism platforms out there. It’s not going to be perfect by its very nature. But there are few, if any, platforms as high profile and easily accessible for wannabe hacks out there. Where else can you share writing you produce for your own blog or student newspaper with an international readership, without deadlines, or curative restraints? Where else can you make it onto the front page of a huge media site with your article about Glee, sandwiched between Ricky Gervais and Stephen Fry? And, for every heavy argument which accompanies, how many aspiring journalists could turn that kind of opportunity down?