Former Spin Editor to Run BuzzFeed\'s Long-Form Coverage

The Web site BuzzFeed gets plenty of attention for its news aggregation, political coverage and pop-culture catnip like “Proof That ‘Gangnam Style' Is Really Just Illuminati Propaganda” and “7 Photos of Syrian Rebels Hanging Out With Cats.”

But it has also been steadily building its cultural coverage, and the site expanded that staff on Monday with the appointment of a former editor of Spin magazine, Steve Kandell, to oversee its move into long-form journalism.

Mr. Kandell, who was Spin's editor until its most recent sweeping of the ranks in July, will join a growing team of journalists at BuzzFeed who were hired from other well-known publications. Last December, the site brought in Ben Smith of Politico as its editor, and has hired Doree Shafrir from Rolling Stone and the music writer Matthew Perpetua.

Mr. Kandell said in BuzzFeed's announcement, which appeared as a blog post on the site: “Even though print itself is becoming less prevalent, the conversation-provoking long-form journalism and profiles that have long been a staple of magazines are as vital as they've ever been, and I'm thrilled to help make this kind of writing a working part of the social web at BuzzFeed.”

BuzzFeed, which was founded in 2006, has collaborated with The Times on video coverage of 2012 campaign.