Buzzfeed, The New York Times team up for 2012 convention video coverage

Validictorian, meet the class clown. 

This morning The New York Times announced it will be teaming up with Buzzfeed for joint video coverage of the 2012 national conventions. 

Buzzfeed, a website dedicated to curating some of the weirdest, wildest stuff on the Internet, announced in February that it would be introducing original reporting to its user-generated site. The first addition was political coverage. The website hired Michael Hastings, a best-selling author and contributor to GQ and RollingStone, to head up its 2012 election coverage. 

According to a press release by The New York Times, the convention video coverage will include segments featuring Ben Smith, editor in chief of BuzzFeed, and members of his political team. "Additionally, The Times will collaborate with Smith and his staff on segments for TimesCast Politics in the months leading up to the conventions."

As part of the announcement this morning, The New York Times Tweeted: 

We're excited to work w/ @buzzfeed during the political conventions this summer, expanding @nytimes video coverage: bit.ly/LwFv64

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 18, 2012

In true Buzzfeed style, it replied:

Jim Roberts, assistant managing editor of The New York Times, said in the release, “We think BuzzFeed’s energy and keen ear for how political stories play out in the social sphere will be a valuable and interesting contribution to The Times’s video presence."

“We are thrilled to work with such a respected news organization as The New York Times, and one that understands and values online reporting,” Smith added.