Buzzfeed’s website: Is it the enemy or the future?

For all those gloomy journalists who fear that the internet has sent their noble profession down the drain, Jon Steinberg, the president of the genre-mashing, viral-fuelled website Buzzfeed, has an uplifting message. “Journalism isn’t dead,” he told the financial cable network CNBC recently. “It just needs a reboot.” That might be good news for folks who like their news interspersed with pictures of cute kittens, semi-naked celebs and advertisements, or who choose to understand the complexities of the Iranian nuclear stand-off via scenes from Real Housewives.

But to those who like their information to come in densely written, painstakingly researched packages and sealed with a stamp of old-media approval, Steinberg’s message may be a tad disconcerting. “We started out with the cats and the memes and all the web culture stuff because that really appeals to the younger generation of news consumer,” Steinberg said. “And then we layered on more substantive scoops.”

One of the things that analysts love to say about Buzzfeed is that it has cracked the code of web journalism by creating a mixture of viral web posts, engaging articles and advertising content that’s often as compelling to read as anything else on the site. If that’s true, then the canny alchemist behind the success is the whippet-thin founder and chief executive Jonah Peretti. As a grad student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Peretti, 39, tried to figure out scientifically what made people click on web links and share them with friends.

Now he’s put those theories into practice with amazing success. At the Huffington Post, it was Peretti’s web sorcery that turned the site into one of the top news destinations on the internet, as he created a huge social media audience who eagerly share and comment on HuffPo content.

Then he founded Buzzfeed in 2006 with the aim of building a technology platform to detect and create viral content, and to provide a snapshot, according to a mission statement “of the viral internet in realtime.” Apparently, that means people are intrigued by lists such as “The 24 Greatest Things That Could Ever Possibly Happen To You” and “The 23 Worst Parts Of Studying Abroad In Europe.” But Buzzfeed is also not afraid to give people real news, valuable analyses and scathing political exposes. It was regarded by both political campaigns as one of the most important news sites of the 2012 election.

From an initial staff of six, the company now employs 300 in its trendy Manhattan headquarters. The company’s journalists, headed by Ben Smith, formerly of Politico, scour the web and their own sources for content they believe will go viral. The company’s secret algorithm then goes to work, promoting the posts that are being shared the most. “We feed the winners and starve the losers,” Steinberg said.

Buzzfeed has already expanded to the UK and plans an Australian version. As for Germany, “We will let you know,” Buzzfeed told dpa. Buzzfeed is already profitable, making money through “native advertising.” These are sponsored posts that can be about particular products or anything that might interest a company’s target audience. Recent examples included this gem from Glamour magazine: “11 Pickup Lines To Use During The Government Shutdown,” and this ad for a spicy ketchup from Heinz: “12 Ways To Make Sure Your Day Is Never A Snoozefest.”

The ads are co-created by Buzzfeed staff and sprinkled throughout its regular content. Critics say it’s a violation of old-school journalistic standards. But Steinberg claims its the only way to make web journalism pay since banner ads are so ineffective. His argument may not convince news traditionalists. But Jim Cramer, the resident financial guru of CNBC appears to have been persuaded. “You’re not the enemy,” he told Steinberg. “You may just be the future.-“