WIKI EXCERPT——BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media and news company based in New York City. The firm is a news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media.[5]BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III, to focus on tracking viral content. Kenneth Lerer, co-founder and chairman of The Huffington Post, started as a co-founder and investor in BuzzFeed and is now the executive chairman as well.
Originally known for online quizzes, “listicles” and pop culture articles, the company has grown into a global media and technology company, providing coverage on a variety of topics including politics, DIY, animals and business.[6][7] In late 2011, Ben Smith of Politico was hired as editor-in-chief to expand the site into serious journalism, long-form journalism, and reportage.[8] After years of investment into investigative journalism, BuzzFeed News had by 2018 won the National Magazine Award[9] and the George Polk Award,[10] and been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize[9][11] and the Michael Kelly Award.[9]
Despite BuzzFeed’s entrance into serious journalism, a 2014 Pew Research Center survey found that in the United States, BuzzFeed was viewed as an unreliable source by the majority of respondents, regardless of age or political affiliation.[12] BuzzFeed News has since moved to its own domain rather than exist as a section of the main BuzzFeed website.[13]
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In January 2017, BuzzFeed released what became known as the “Steele dossier”, an uncorroborated private intelligence report that alleges several salacious accusations of Trump. Margaret Sullivan at The Washington Post wrote of the release, “It’s a bad idea, and always has been, to publish unverified smears”. [107] David Graham at The Atlantic called it “an abdication of the basic responsibility of journalism”.[108] NBC’s Chuck Todd called the release of the document “fake news”.[109] Ben Smith defended the decision to release the document from accusations that it did it out of partisanship arguing that the dossier is of “obvious central public importance.”[110]
MORE AT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BuzzFeed