BuzzFeed v CNN: How One Snarky Comment Ignited a Fight Over the Future of News

When CNN chief Jeff Zucker told a reporter earlier this month he didn’t think BuzzFeed and Vice were “legitimate news organizations,” BuzzFeed had a spiky rebuttal: If BuzzFeed is so bad, why is CNN always lifting its scoops?

This isn’t just the usual fight between two news outlets battling over stories. It’s about the future of news. BuzzFeed is a young site that balances listicles and cat videos with political news breaks. CNN is a decades-old goliath that almost singlehandedly created the 24-hour news cycle. Now they’re fighting over the coveted millennials who will decide, through page views, clicks and swipes, what will become of journalism.