Buzznet

Buzznet, that upstart social-network-slash-pop-culture-content-hub based in Los Angeles, has made headlines for acquiring blog properties in a Rodeo Drive-worthy spree. But on Wednesday, the company announced the hire of an editor in chief--and it's straight from "old media."

The new head editor at Buzznet will be Jeff Leeds, who comes from a job as a music writer for The New York Times since 2004, and before that, the Los Angeles Times.

"It's hard not to be thrilled by the possibilities that arise when you blend the best practices of traditional reporting and criticism with the … Read more

Three Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who have been barred by a court order from discussing subway card vulnerabilities are now free to say what they want.

The University of Michigan released its annual ACSI scores for the PC industry, and Apple took top honors for the fifth straight year.

Plus, it isn't your usual Nokia jingle, but a campaign to promote condom use in India sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is off to a strong start.

Today's stories:

U.S. mobile-phone sales take a hit

Android security team appeals to bug hunters… Read more

Social site Buzznet, whose CEO makes it clear that he's hoping to compete with the likes of MySpace and MTV on the pop culture front, has nabbed a new executive from TMZ.com. Alan Citron, former general manager of the AOL-owned entertainment site, will become head of "special projects" at the company.

In the world of celebrity news, saying you've hired a TMZ alum is kind of like saying you've hired a Googler. But it's not a completely serendipitous catch: before TMZ, Citron was senior vice president of marketing at Movielink, which also counted … Read more

Buzznet, the social network whose CEO told CNET News.com in April that he'd like to build "the next Viacom," has launched a sister site: Celebuzz, a community for enthusiasts of celebrity news and gossip. It's been in private beta for some time now.

Already dominated by the likes of Perez Hilton, Popsugar, and the AOL-owned TMZ.com, celebrity gossip is a niche of the Web that some might say doesn't need another outlet. But Celebuzz general manager Karina Kogan told CNET News.com that it doesn't matter. Research showed that celebrity gossip fans … Read more

Universal Music Group has invested an undisclosed amount in pop-culture social network Buzznet.

Beyond the financial investment, this means that Universal artists will post promotional blogs on Buzznet, and the social site will have access to the label's music and video catalog.

Last week, Buzznet CEO Tyler Goldman told CNET News.com to expect a partnership announcement that would bring more audio content to the site.

According to a release from the two companies, this is "one of the first times that a music company will be directly involved in developing editorial programming for a social-media site, with … Read more

Buzznet.com CEO Tyler Goldman doesn't want people to think of his company as a social network. No, what Goldman says he's running is a music- and pop-culture-focused community site.

"We definitely wouldn't view ourselves as a social network, and we probably wouldn't disagree with folks that say the world doesn't need another social network," Goldman, a former executive at Movielink and founder of Broadband Sports, said in an interview. His preferred jargon? "Socially programmed communities." Buzznet, in other words, wants to be the 1980s-era MTV of the social-media age: an … Read more