BuzzFeed Nabs POLITICO's Ben Smith: If 11 Other Pop Culture Blogs Hired Journalists (PICTURES)

The announcement that BuzzFeed hired POLITICO journalist Ben Smith in the new position of editor-in-chief shocked many in the media world. After all, BuzzFeed (with whom, it should be noted, we share a founder and maintain a fun partnership) is known mostly for its entertaining lists and social media mastery, not for hard-hitting news coverage. It's tough to envision the marriage of BuzzFeed and Smith: As Reuters' Anthony De Rosa tweeted, could the bedfellows of journalism and viral strategy result in scenarios such as "MR PRESIDENT, BEN FROM @BUZZFEED, WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TEN HONEY BADGER MASHUPS?"

But perhaps this means that light, clicky pop culture blogs like BuzzFeed are growing up. What if other respected journalists infiltrated the world of blogs that are more interested in Ryan Gosling than Paul Ryan? We'd love to see any of these 11 happen. Maybe they're not as far off as we think.