The latest buzz in India

New York-based social news giant BuzzFeed has gone viral, with offices and editions all over the world. It has come to India too, hoping the country will bring users by the droves. Scott Lamb, vice president, international, BuzzFeed, and Mumbai-based BuzzFeed India editor Rega Jha spoke to Fortune India about what’s in store. Edited excerpts:

How are you preparing for the next wave of Internet users in India, coming via mobile and not fluent in English?
Scott Lamb: We are trying to figure out post-literate content. Language is a thorny bush as there are way too many options. The traditional way to do it in India would be to start with Hindi and build from there. But we are more interested in bypassing language altogether.

Can you give us an example of how you plan to do this?
SL: Our new initiative, BuzzFeed Distributed, deals with video- and photo-sharing platforms such as Instagram, Vine, SnapChat, and WeChat. Right now, video is the primary bet.

Globally, BuzzFeed has evolved from trivia to serious journalism. What’s your path in India?
Rega Jha: My dream is it will take the same trajectory—spending time building an audience, using humorous viral content, and lots of Bollywood and cricket. Down the line, we’ll have long-form writers and editors, and serious investigative reporting. There are many stories to be told in India.

Scott, you once said acquisitions were possible in India. Is that still so?
SL: Right now, we are happy with the team here. We don’t have partnerships anywhere, but that could happen later. Buzzfeed hasn’t done editorial acquisitions, but that too is a possibility.

Recently, when Deepika Padukone found an online Times of India headline sexist, the daily said it was playing by Internet rules. Rega, you have been speaking out on this issue.
RJ: It’s misguided to say that there are different ethical codes online. There’s a constant battle between wanting traffic and credibility, but if you sacrifice the latter for the former, you are in trouble.

John Oliver was sharp in his take on BuzzFeed and native advertising on Last Week Tonight.
SL: It was super funny. There are reasons for scepticism; but readers can tell the difference between branded content and the rest. We do have discussions so that readers don’t feel tricked about our content.

Will the criticism lead to a sharper demarcation of branded content?
SL: Possibly, but I doubt it. Figuring it out will be tricky.

Coming back to serious journalism, do you feel Buzzfeed’s work in this area isn’t getting the attention it deserves?
SL: It is a branding and perception issue that people know us for our cute cat lists...

Does that annoy you?
SL: (Laughs) No, I am really proud of our cat lists! But we are also building credibility as a news brand. That’s a long-term proposition.