BuzzFeed L.A. bureau brings in familiar names: Richard Rushfeld, Kate Aurthur (who's leaving Tina Brown)
Buzzfeed founder Jonah Peretti.
11:19 am Oct. 22, 2012
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The clip at which BuzzFeed has been announcing new hires and expanded areas of coverage is reminiscent of the post-AOL-merger Huffington Post circa 2011, when it seemed like there was a new press release every other week about some big-name writer that had been poached from such-and-such publication.
The latest chapter in BuzzFeed's evolution story is the creation of a Los Angeles bureau to be helmed by two veterans of the entertainment beat: Richard Rushfeld and Kate Aurthur.
Rushfeld, former entertainment editor of The Los Angeles Times, has been named bureau chief. Aurthur, the west coast editor of Newsweek and The Daily Beast, meanwhile, becomes the latest high-profile employee to flee Tina Brown's soon-to-be digitized and downsized media fiefdom. At BuzzFeed she will "return to writing daily about television, movies and celebrity as BuzzFeed’s Chief Los Angeles Correspondent," according to a press release.
Additionally, Michael Hastings, who's been writing on politics and national security for BuzzFeed since February, will move to L.A. as correspondent-at-large.
“Richard and Kate are perfectly positioned to combine the best traditions of honest, lucid entertainment coverage with today’s changing web," said BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith in a statement. "Michael Hastings will be invaluable in helping us shake the foundations of entertainment journalism in 2013 as we did with politics in 2012. It’s the right year to do this and there’s an audience primed and ready for first rate entertainment content built for the social web.”
In other news...
New York Times staffers are considering a byline strike. [Jim Romenesko]
News Corp. denies that it has held talks to acquire The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune. [Bloomberg]
Simon Dumenco pushes back on the "magazines are dying" narrative. [Ad Age]
On a similar note, Felix Dennis "is intent on proving there is still life left in print," writes David Carr. [The New York Times]
Noreen Malone profiles Felix Salmon, "The Critic Wall Street Loves to Lunch With." [The New Republic]
The "Huffington Post mafia" takes Manhattan. [PandoDaily]
