the co-founder and CEO of BuzzFeed, the viral news and blogging site, is the 2012 Media Person of the Year, according to the 11th annual online contest held by I Want Media.
Visitors to I Want Media suggested candidates for the week-long Internet-based competition to the name the year's "most significant" figure in the media industry.
Peretti was overwhelmingly the most popular figure, capturing a dominating 39% of the vote. The first runner-up, at 23%, was the New York Times's election data "nerd" Nate Silver. Other contenders included Newsweek's Tina Brown and CNN's Anderson Cooper. (Among the top write-ins: Brian Leveson, the judge behind this year's inquiry into the British press.)
Peretti and his BuzzFeed team attracted much press coverage in 2012, as they aspired to create a new model for Internet journalism. Peretti, a co-founder of the Huffington Post, described his site's model as social publishing — one that mined the growing number of people sharing news and other content on sites like Facebook and Twitter. "Whether it's serious or substantive content, things spread through social channels now," he said during an appearance on "Charlie Rose."
Best known for viral fluff like "50 photos of cat heaven," BuzzFeed this year made moves into serious reporting and took an ambitious plunge into longform journalism. The site was one of several young digital news services — such as NowThis News and HuffPost Live — aiming to create a next-generation media company.
"BuzzFeed had a great year," Peretti said when learning of his Media Person of the Year honor. "Now we are focused on building a great, enduring company. Our goal is to build the defining media company for the social age."
"2013 will be the year the social web and mobile web combine to power big, profitable media businesses," Peretti predicted. "New opportunities will emerge as social and mobile fully mature."
This year's finalists:
TINA BROWN. One of the most talked-about magazine editors of her era announced plans to end the print edition of Newsweek after 80 years, declaring that the print/digital "tipping point" is upon us. "When I look back on it, taking over Newsweek, it just seems completely insane," said Brown, citing a horrific advertising climate and the $42 million cost of the printing process alone. "The boundaries of print feel incredibly old-fashioned now."
ANDERSON COOPER. Although the 2005 Media Person of the Year honoree saw his daytime talk show get canceled, the CNN newsman scored a personal victory by coming out as gay, after many years of speculation about his sexuality. ABC "Good Morning America's" Sam Champion also revealed that he was gay — in the middle of a same-sex wedding announcement for MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts. "Visibility is important," said Cooper.
CLARK KENT. Like Tina Brown, Superman's journalist alter ego also decided to abandon print media in 2012. Kent resigned from his long-time job at the Daily Planet newspaper — per the comic book from Time Warner's DC Comics — and headed straight for the blogosphere. The mild-mannered reporter was expected to "start the next Huffington Post or Drudge Report" and "come into his own, speaking an unvarnished truth."
MARISSA MAYER. The former Google exec was appointed CEO of Yahoo, the Internet pioneer's first female top boss. At 37, Mayer became the youngest CEO in the Fortune 500. And she was probably the most famous CEO to juggle a big corporate turnaround challenge with a newborn. Mayer vowed that Yahoo would focus on news and other content to win on mobile devices. Her own priorities: "God, family and Yahoo — in that order."
RUPERT MURDOCH. The phone-hacking scandal? That was last year. The News Corp. chief saw his company's stock soar in 2012, largely because the scandal forced him to jettison his troublesome newspapers into a separate unit, pleasing investors. Plus, Murdoch helped rehabilitate his image by opening a much-talked-about account on Twitter. Despite (or because of) a few tweeting missteps, the 81 year old was "captivating" online.
JONAH PERETTI. The co-founder and CEO of BuzzFeed emerged as the "it" guy in online media, as his social content outlet garnered lots of, well, buzz as a new player in the news business — as well as scorn for its "disregard for copyright and Internet etiquette." According to the Huffington Post co-founder (as he stated at I Want Media's summer media panel): "Social's really become the new starting point for media businesses."
NATE SILVER. The polling guru behind the New York Times's FiveThirtyEight blog was a clear winner in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Silver correctly forecast Barack Obama's chances of winning the vote, as well as every state outcome, unlike many pollsters and TV pundits. Most notably, he drew "huge traffic" to the Times online. 2004 Media Person of the Year honoree Jon Stewart dubbed him "god of the algorithm."
MARK THOMPSON. Soon after the departing director general of the BBC was named CEO of the New York Times, the newspaper company got its own "Murdoch moment" — a messy media scandal that even stirred scrutiny from its own journalists. Past allegations of sexual abuse at the BBC led to many questions for the new newspaper boss. But top editor Jill Abramson said she has "every confidence" in him. "He's full of ideas."
JEFF ZUCKER. Maybe it's too early to honor the former CEO of NBCUniversal as Media Person of the Year. But if he succeeds in reviving the U.S. ratings of CNN when he takes control in 2013, the new president is sure to be remembered. Rival news networks began safeguarding their on-air talent even ahead of his appointment, anticipating a big TV news shakeup. CNN, said Zucker, will become "relevant, vibrant and exciting."
