CNN’s PR Team Acts Antagonistic Toward Buzzfeed After Securing Most Millennial Readers (UPDATED)

It looks like congratulations are in order for CNN. They topped a list of media companies with the most Millennial readers. Because they are a massive news company and generally do things very well, you might not think that this is news, but it is news for a few reasons. The first reason this is news is because they beat out other companies that are focused almost exclusively on the Millennial demographic, like Mic and Buzzfeed. The second reason this is news is because they and Buzzfeed made it news thanks to a tiff over who interacts best with young people.

The back-and-forth between the two companies spans a few weeks now, but most notably, Buzzfeed’s editor-in-chief Ben Smith tweeted this yesterday…

“The median age for CNN viewers this year was 61…” https://t.co/wISaPfD3ks https://t.co/yqZNPLns6v

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) August 16, 2016

…in response to this:

CNN’s Zucker: “There’s a lot of talk about BuzzFeed, Vice and Vox. The place that owns millennials in this space is CNN.”

— Gerry Smith (@gerryfsmith) August 16, 2016

Here is what the PR department tweeted after Politico dropped the list that refuted Smith’s claims yesterday:

Hey @BuzzFeedBen –> https://t.co/IbwZ41oFrJ pic.twitter.com/8zp2Y7NtEW

— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) August 16, 2016

They doubled down today:

CNN Digital Posts All-Time Highs, Remains #1 In Every Metric. @BuzzFeed Down Across the Board https://t.co/H6zUU2fltm

— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) August 17, 2016

Clearly, the PR team was ready for the beef!

Not everyone was interested in what they were serving, though:

@CNNPR @BuzzFeedBen You’re really buying into the brave new era of Trumpish childish bullying, aren’t you CNN?

— The Dirty Commie (@dirtycommie) August 17, 2016

@CNNPR @BuzzFeedBen Really weird, CNN.

— SpikerIsAwesome (@SpikerIsAwesome) August 17, 2016

Of course, as mentioned, this isn’t the first time CNN exchanged barbs with Millennial-focused brands. Jeff Zucker said earlier this month that Buzzfeed and Vice aren’t “legitimate news organizations.” Smith responded in Politico with a sassy remark about Zucker being friends with Donald Trump and some veiled shade about how the true test of a news organization is how it handles this year’s election.

Today, after CNN’s PR team touted their success, Smith retweeted this:

Grab some popcorn and settle in because this fight is going to continue for at least the next 82 days.

UPDATE — 6:22 p,m. EST:

An earlier version of this post did not include Smith’s original tweet about the median age of CNN viewers.

[image via screengrab]

Lindsey: Twitter. Facebook.