Ben Smith (journalist)

Benjamin Eli Smith is an American journalist who is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of '' Semafor'', a news website he formed with Justin Smith in early 2022. He was previously a media columnist at ''The New York Times'' from 2020 to 2022. From 2011 to 2020, he was the editor-in-chief of ''BuzzFeed News''.

Early life and education

Benjamin Eli Smith was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the son of author (née Goldston) and attorney Robert S. Smith, an associate judge on the New York Court of Appeals. His mother was Jewish and a Democrat. His father was a Christian and conservative. He admired his grandfather, a novelist who ghostwrote for Mickey Mantle and Tommy John, and his grandmother, a Mark Twain scholar. He attended Trinity School (New York City) on the Upper West Side. He graduated with a B.A. '' summa cum laude'' from Yale University in 1999, where he wrote for '' The Yale Herald'' and '' The New Journal'' magazine. (notes Smith's Yale graduation year as 1999) He was a resident of Morse College. Smith first became interested in journalism during junior year of college as an intern at ''The Forward''.

Career

Smith's first professional reporting job was the crime beat for ''The Indianapolis Star''. He then moved to Latvia to take a position at '' The Baltic Times'' and also began reporting for '' The Wall Street Journal Europe'' (until 2001).Rothstein, Betsy. (11 November 2011)
FishbowlDC Interview with Politico's Ben Smith
''FishbowlDC'' Smith has also written for ''The New York Sun'' (2002–2003), ''The New York Observer'' (2003–2006), and the ''New York Daily News'' (2006–2007)(3 January 2007)
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
, ''The New York Sun'' (reporting that Smith was leaving the ''Sun'' to join ''Politico'') Between 2004 and 2006, Smith also started three New York City political blogs: ''The Politicker'', ''The Daily Politics'', and ''Room Eight''.

''Politico''

Smith wrote for the news outlet ''Politico'' from 2008 to 2011, joining as that site expanded. Joining ''Politico'' from the ''New York Daily News'' in 2007, Smith covered the Democratic presidential primary for ''Politico'' in 2008. He covered controversies including Barack Obama's contacts with former Weatherman Bill Ayers and conspiracy theories about Obama's citizenship and Barack Obama religion conspiracy theories. Smith reported erroneously during that 2008 campaign that John Edwards would be dropping out of the race before the press conference at which Edwards announced that his wife Elizabeth had cancer. Smith later posted an apology and retracted the story. In 2010, he reported on a confidential Republican National Committee fundraising presentation counseling the party to capitalize on fear.

''BuzzFeed News''

In December 2011, he was named editor-in-chief of ''BuzzFeed News''. Stelter, Brian (12 December 2011)
BuzzFeed Adds Politico Writer
''The New York Times'' Smith explained that he would be leaving his ''Politico'' blog but he would still write for the publication weekly. While working at BuzzFeed, Smith focused on strengthening the organization's investigative journalism unit.

Smith interviewed Barack Obama in early 2015 for BuzzFeed's first presidential interview.

In January 2017, Smith, as the editor of ''BuzzFeed News'', published the Steele dossier, a 35-page dossier about Donald Trump, which major news organizations, including ''The New York Times'' and NBC News, refused to publish due to lack of credible evidence. Smith defended his decision by saying, "We have always erred on the side of publishing."

''The New York Times''

In January 2020, he was named media columnist for ''The New York Times'', replacing Jim Rutenberg.

On May 17, 2020, Smith published an article titled "Is Ronan Farrow Too Good to Be True?" arguing that some of Farrow's journalism did not hold up to scrutiny. In response, Farrow said that he stood by his reporting. In a ''Slate'' piece, Ashley Feinberg described Smith's report as an "overcorrection for resistance journalism" and opined that his approach showed "broad-mindedness, sacrificing accuracy for some vague, centrist perception of fairness."

Smith reported in late September 2021 that Ozy, a media company, had attempted to deceive investors and advertisers. After Smith's media column appeared on September 26, the story led to a flurry of additional investigation and reporting by multiple sources including Smith, culminating in Ozy's board of directors announcing their intention to shut the company down on October 1.

''Semafor''

In early January 2022, Smith announced he would be leaving ''The New York Times'' to start a global news venture aimed at the 200 million college-educated English readers. Justin B. Smith would lead the business side of the new venture and Ben would be the top editor. The news site says it will break news and offer nuance to complex news stories. Justin Smith described a new company that would "reimagine quality global journalism" aimed at what he said was an "English-speaking, college-educated, professional class" that had "lost trust in all sources of news and information." The name of the new venture, ''Semafor'', was announced in March 2022.

Recognition

In 2012, ''Fast Company'' placed Smith on its "100 Most Creative" list.

In 2016, he and Buzzfeed co-founder Jonah Peretti were listed as two of the most powerful people in the media by ''The Hollywood Reporter''.

In 2017, he and fellow Jewish journalist Andrea Mitchell were awarded ''The Jewish Daily Forwards Distinguished Journalism Award.

Personal life

Smith married Latvian publisher Liena Zagare in 2002.(October 6, 2002)
WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Liena Zagare, Benjamin Smith
''The New York Times''Bazilian, Emma (April 29, 2011)
Patch Hires Brooklyn Blogger Liena Zagare
'' Adweek'' He and Zagare have three children and were living in Brooklyn in 2014.

Works

* ''Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral''. Penguin Press,

See also

* New Yorkers in journalism

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Ben
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American bloggers
American male bloggers
American male journalists
American political writers
Jewish American journalists
BuzzFeed people
The Indianapolis Star people
Jewish bloggers
Journalists from New York City
The New York Times columnists
People from the Upper West Side
Politico people
21st-century American Jews