I'm not sure that that should insulate them from criticism? In fact I think much of the criticism towards Buzzfeed is precisely around how good they were at the

I'm not sure that that should insulate them from criticism? In fact I think much of the criticism towards Buzzfeed is precisely around how good they were at the medium, and what they used that medium for/what that medium could be used for at all (to take the McLuhan angle). To put it more obnoxiously and splashily, Goebbels was also a master of his medium. And it's a shame Buzzfeed news needed that substrate to survive on.