CNN Hires "Buzzfeed Andrew" And His K-File Political Research Team

Kaczynski & co. start at CNN tomorrow (!) He says the network offers “unparalleled” resources & promotion for the team’s work https://t.co/VJ3OOxlFt8

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 3, 2016

Huff Po — BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski and his scoop-driven political research team are joining CNN during the final, frenetic stretch of the 2016 election and beyond.

Kaczynski, 26, has been one of the standout reporters of the campaign season as his K-File team has consistently broken news through deeply mining candidates’ past statements and actions. Three other members of the team ? BuzzFeed deputy politics editor Kyle Blaine and reporters Nate McDermott and Christopher Massie ? are making the jump with him.

The hiring of Kaczynski and company is a major coup for CNN and follows a recent spat between network chief Jeff Zucker and BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith.

Interesting hire for CNN. And interesting loss for Buzzfeed, especially with a month left in the election. This stretch is the Super Bowl for political coverage.

Andrew Kaczynski is essentially famous for digging up old video of politicians contradicting themselves. That’s what he does. That’s his bread and butter. In 2012, he uncovered numerous video of Romney supporting the individual healthcare mandate, something he opposed as a presidential candidate.

On TV and radio, Kaczynski’s meh. Kind of a weirdo. A square. A squid. He’s clearly more comfortable behind a keyboard than in front of a camera or microphone (says the full-time blogger).

Here he is being told he’s a dick by Curt Schilling on Schilling’s show.

It sounds a lot like CNN is doing for Andrew and his team (The K-File) basically what Chernin did for Barstool — paying for them and then providing anything and everything they’ll need to be the absolute best at what they do. So essentially Portnoy created CNN.

The addition of four BuzzFeed reporters follows on CNN’s deep investment in 2016 election coverage and ambitious plans for digital operations going forward. The K-File team should get its own dedicated page on the site after the election. 

“We think in hiring this team we’re hiring a really unique investigative reporting unit that has shown a clear record of breaking news and really smart reporting,” Morse said. “We’re going to set them up to do what they do best.”

Here’s this fierce crew.

This move plays right into CNN’s position as an entertainment news site. Attacking digital is key and, coming from Buzzfeed, this crew knows digital. But again, they’re Buzzfeed. What they do is very Buzzfeed-ey. For example, the first Kaczynski story I found is a September 30th piece about how Trump appeared in a 2000 Playboy softcore porn video (which, if you read the story, may make it move).

I think it’s a smart move from CNN, but not a move that will silence any critics of their coverage. In fact it will only add volume and depth to the criticisms hurled from CNN’s most staunch haters that they’re more entertainment than journalism — from hiring former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski a few months ago to now hiring the Buzzfeed K-File.