Most of BuzzFeed’s output, however, was well short of book-length. The challenge Smith issued to his newsroom was to distill their stories down to the snappiest possible kernel. They would avoid doing hackneyed, straight-ahead news. Their election coverage was run-and-gun, anything goes. Just like BuzzFeed itself, the new unit’s reportage evinced the dangerous mentality, often associated with start-up culture, of being willing to try anything once.
