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Once upon a time in the world of online journalism, something extraordinary happened. In 2014, BuzzFeed was the rising star of Silicon Valley, having established itself off the back of listicles and weird news that proved virally popular with under-25s. But just as it got a grip on the most valuable and elusive audience in the online news business, BuzzFeed announced it was going to do something that made no sense whatsoever: it was going to invest heavily in serious reporting.
At the time, mainstream newsrooms were slashing their budgets, especially for anything that carried a whiff of long-form newsgathering or investigation. Not only was BuzzFeed now planning to buck this trend, it was going to prioritise the exact opposite of the kind of content that had seduced its venture capitalist backers.