Ben Smith | |
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.jpg) Smith in 2012 | |
| Born | Benjamin Eli Smith New York, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Yale University (BA) |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents |
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Benjamin Eli Smith is an Americanjournalist who is the co-founder and editor-in-chief ofSemafor, a news website he formed withJustin Smith in early 2022. He was previously a media columnist atThe New York Times from 2020 to 2022. From 2011 to 2020, he was theeditor-in-chief ofBuzzFeed News.
Benjamin Eli Smith was born and raised in theUpper West Side ofManhattan, the son of author Dian (née Goldston) and attorneyRobert S. Smith, an associate judge on theNew York Court of Appeals. His mother wasJewish and a Democrat. His father was aChristian and conservative.[1] He admired his grandfather, a novelist who ghostwrote forMickey Mantle andTommy John, and his grandmother, a Mark Twain scholar.[2] He attendedTrinity School (New York City) on the Upper West Side. He graduated with a B.A.summa cum laude fromYale University in 1999, where he wrote forThe Yale Herald andThe New Journal magazine.[3] He was a resident ofMorse College.[4] Smith first became interested in journalism during junior year of college as an intern atThe Forward.[5]
Smith's first professional reporting job was the crime beat forThe Indianapolis Star. He then moved toLatvia to take a position atThe Baltic Times and also began reporting forThe Wall Street Journal Europe (until 2001).[6] Smith has also written forThe New York Sun (2002–2003),The New York Observer (2003–2006), and theNew York Daily News (2006–2007)[7] Between 2004 and 2006, Smith also started three New York City political blogs:The Politicker,The Daily Politics, andRoom Eight.[citation needed]
Smith wrote for the news outletPolitico from 2008 to 2011, joining as that site expanded. JoiningPolitico from theNew York Daily News in 2007, Smith covered the Democratic presidential primary forPolitico in 2008. He covered controversies includingBarack Obama's contacts with formerWeathermanBill Ayers[8] andconspiracy theories aboutObama's citizenship[9] andBarack Obama religion conspiracy theories.[10] Smith reported erroneously during that 2008 campaign thatJohn Edwards would be dropping out of the race[11] before the press conference at which Edwards announced that his wife Elizabeth had cancer. Smith later posted an apology[12] and retracted the story. In 2010, he reported on a confidential Republican National Committee fundraising presentation counseling the party to capitalize on fear.[13]
In December 2011, he was named editor-in-chief ofBuzzFeed News.[14] Smith explained that he would be leaving hisPolitico blog but he would still write for the publication weekly.[15] While working at BuzzFeed, Smith focused on strengthening the organization's investigative journalism unit.[16][17]
Smith interviewed Barack Obama in early 2015 for BuzzFeed's first presidential interview.[18]
In January 2017, Smith, as the editor ofBuzzFeed News, published theSteele dossier, a 35-page dossier about Donald Trump, which major news organizations, includingThe 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."[19]
In January 2020, he was named media columnist forThe New York Times, replacingJim Rutenberg.[20]
On May 17, 2020, Smith published an article titled "IsRonan Farrow Too Good to Be True?" arguing that some of Farrow's journalism did not hold up to scrutiny.[21] In response, Farrow said that he stood by his reporting.[22] In aSlate 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."[23]
Smith reported in late September 2021 thatOzy, 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.[24]
In early January 2022, Smith announced he would be leavingThe 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.[25][26] 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."[27] The name of the new venture,Semafor, was announced in March 2022.[28]
In 2012,Fast Company placed Smith on its "100 Most Creative" list.[29]
In 2016, he and Buzzfeed co-founderJonah Peretti were listed as two of the most powerful people in the media byThe Hollywood Reporter.[16]
In 2017, he and fellow Jewish journalistAndrea Mitchell were awardedThe Jewish Daily Forward's Distinguished Journalism Award.[30]
Smith marriedLatvian publisher Liena Zagare in 2002.[31][32] He and Zagare have three children and live inBrooklyn.[16]
I grew up in a household where my parents disagreed on pretty much everything and it makes it hard for you to be a real ideologue or to sort of -- you know, or to see the opposing side. To see these two sides is irreconcilable enemies. She's a Democrat and he's also fairly Christian. She's Jewish.
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