Buzzfeed strategy chief: ‘Traditional publishers are like leaky boats’

Hernandez speaking this morning

Buzzfeed’s head of strategy said today that traditional publishers are like boats with holes, struggling to plug disappearing revenue streams and keep up with digitally native publishers.

Keith Hernandez, executive director of international strategy for the social content site told his audience at Mumbrella360 this morning: “Old publishers are stuck. They’re losing revenue from one end, like a boat with holes. They’re spending their energy trying to fill in those holes, whereas we’re not beholden to old revenue streams.”

But Hernandez admitted that pressure was on BuzzFeed too, a site known for lists and funny cat videos rather than breaking news, an area that it wants to expand in to. BuzzFeed recently hired a breaking news journalist to bolster the news output from its Sydney bureau.