Are we talking about the same Buzzfeed here? Also, I wouldn't say that Buzzfeed is the only website using Reddit to find content. I've certainly seen parts of reddit being cited/quoted by the NYT and the BBC, for instance. I also think the article (like the one it cites) is trying to make a news story from very little. It cites a quote from Ohanian from 1.5 years ago that clearly (in hindsight) didn't play out. Like so many reddit initiatives, Upvoted had some good ideas behind it, but was ultimately not very well thought-out. With that being said, I really don't expect that anyone (not even Ohanian himself) thought that it would be the website's "savior". Buzzfeed also does stellar original journalism in politics and business and technology
Buzzfeed has always been about positivity