Mathew Ingram sostiene che, in fin dei conti, il New York Times e BuzzFeed non siano così diversi negli intenti e nei mezzi. C’è tanta pomposità nel mondo di presentarsi nel primo, e tanti gattini nel secondo, ma in realtà BuzzFeed produce pezzi di qualità a sua volta, reportage e tanto materiale inedito — ha uno staff di 1000 persone sparse per il globo che se ne occupano.
Here’s the thing, though: If you look at the most-read items the New York Timespublished last year, do you see any investigative journalism or long features about important issues? No. You see a photo essay, a couple of quizzes and a travel guide. That sounds a lot more like BuzzFeed than many on staff might like to admit. If the paper’s online audience is indeed continuing to grow by 20 percent — as a recent memo from executive editor Dean Baquet says it is — then those kinds of items are partly to thank.
But the New York Times is much more than just photo essays and quizzes, you will protest. That’s true — and so is BuzzFeed. Judging BuzzFeed based on a listicle or a photo gallery is a little like judging the New York Times because it has a fashion section, or a comics section, or classifieds. Or because some of its columnists are irritating and frequently wrong. Or because it does trend stories about things that aren’t trends.
