The State of the Fourth Estate Part III: NYT’s Ben Smith

Here’s what happens when you interview a once-in-a-generation journalist to discuss the wildly divisive industry he helped to create. 

Ben Smith is a journalist’s journalist and has been described as one of the most powerful men in media. He was on the front lines as Politico turned political journalism upside down, eating The Washington Post’s lunch until Jeff Bezos rescued them. Then as Editor-in-Chief of Buzzfeed News, he converted the Startupy brand from a receptacle for listicles into a legitimate journalistic institution. Today, Smith is the Media Editor for The New York Times and this week’s guest on The Media Roundtable.

The scope of this episode is wide and consequential. As a changemaker and working reporter, Ben holds court on a number of topics, including cancel culture (or “bad faith” when spoken by liberals), holding brands accountable for living their values, the future of content moderation, including Zuckerberg’s “Star Trek global court…sitting around a glowing table in robes”, how corporations are “constantly getting baited” by social media to have an immediate response to cultural issues rather than a more methodical process for addressing concerns, adding that this is not just from customers but also feeling rising pressure from their own employees. 

Similar to our earlier episode with former CNN Washington Bureau Chief, Frank Sesno, Ben provides a true State of the Fourth Estate. You’ll not only hear perspectives from one of the leading minds in the industry; he does it in a way that is easy to listen to and understand. 

Listen to the Episode HERE