Podcasts about traffic genius

On this week's Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Semafor Editor-in-Chief and former founding editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News, Ben Smith, about his book, “Traffic … Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion Dollar Race to Go Viral”. Then, Dr. Peter Diamandis, The Executive Chair of the XPrize Foundation, and host of the Moonshots podcast, about extending your life, with his book, “Longevity… Your Practical Playbook on Sleep, Diet, Exercise, Mindset, Medications, and Not Dying from Something Stupid.”

Has social media peaked? How is media different now compared to the early days of Twitter and Facebook? Are there too many social media options? Zachary and Emma speak with Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Semafor, founding editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed, and author of "Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral." Journalism's recent online progression, social media fragmentation, and the Facebook news evolution are discussed here today. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate. For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org Watch the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theprogressnetwork And follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Given the recent mass layoffs, acceleration of media consolidation, continued decline of local journalism, and rapid uptake of generative AI, the news industry—fundamental to institutional accountability in capitalist democracies—appears to be in deep crisis. Joining Bethany and Luigi to make the case that journalism can not only survive but thrive is Ben Smith, longtime journalist, former New York Times media columnist, co-founder of global digital news publication Semafor, and the author of "Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral."How much of today's state of journalism can be attributed to mistakes and how much to inevitability? Where does the marriage between social media and news go next? How can journalism remain financially viable? Offering a nuanced perspective on the opportunities and pitfalls facing the news industry today, the three of them discuss the future of journalism in the age of clicks and a path back to a media landscape that informs, educates, and holds power to account.

It can feel like the news industry is in a moment of crisis. Over 500 journalists were laid off from news outlets in January 2024 alone, according to a report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. These layoffs are part of a broader trend of seismic changes within the media industry over the past few decades. As disinformation concerns continue to rise and we prepare for another consequential election, why are newsrooms drastically reducing headcount? Ben Smith is editor in chief and cofounder at Semafor, a recently launched digital news platform. He is author of “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” which unpacks the ups and downs of the digital media business. Smith is also a former New York Times media columnist and the former editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News. He joins WITHpod to discuss how we got to this moment, the impact of evolving news consumption habits, changing revenue models and more.

Melissa Perri is the CEO of Produx Labs, a product management training organization; author of the seminal PM book The Build Trap; and a former Harvard Business School professor of product management. Denise Tilles is the CPO at Grocket, Melissa's colleague at Produx Labs, and a seasoned product leader with over a decade of experience. Together they authored the new book Product Operations: How successful companies build better products at scale. In today's episode, they share insights, strategies, and real-world experiences to master all things product ops. We discuss:• What exactly product operations is• The three pillars of the product ops role• The biggest benefits of adding product ops to your organization• Which tasks product managers should offload to product ops and which they need to own• How to help PMs embrace the value of product ops• Examples of companies that have implemented product ops well• Who and how to hire for this role—This entire episode is brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian's new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-operations-melissa-perri-and-denise-tilles/#transcript—Where to find Melissa Perri:• X: https://twitter.com/lissijean• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissajeanperri/• Website: https://produxlabs.com/—Where to find Denise Tilles:• X: https://twitter.com/dtilles• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denisetilles/• Website: https://www.denisetilles.com—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) About our guests, Melissa Perri and Denise Tilles(03:46) How common is the product operations role?(07:41) The benefits of having a product ops person in your organization(09:16) How to help PMs embrace the value of product ops(11:44) The three pillars of the product ops role(15:25) How user research fits in(18:35) Why product ops will be an essential role for product managers to thrive(24:24) Which tasks product managers should offload to product ops and which they need to own(28:58) Project management vs. product ops(29:44) The jobs of a product ops person(37:38) Why the product ops role will never become obsolete(39:31) How many product ops people you need(45:13) First steps in building out a product ops team(47:06) What to look for in your first hire(51:11) Key skills needed for a product ops person(57:29) Who product ops should report to(59:50) An example of rolling out product ops at Athena Health(1:09:35) Lightning round—Referenced:• Product Operations: How successful companies build better products at scale: https://www.productoperations.com/• Produx Labs: https://produxlabs.com• How to create a winning product strategy | Melissa Perri: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-create-a-winning-product-strategy-melissa-perri/• Blake Samic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakesamic/• Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value: https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Build-Trap-Effective-Management/dp/149197379X• Athena Health: https://www.athenahealth.com/• Pendo: https://www.pendo.io/• PopSQL: https://popsql.com/• Understanding the role of product ops | Christine Itwaru (Pendo): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/understanding-the-role-of-product-ops-christine-itwaru-pendo/• Doodle: https://doodle.com/en/• Stephanie Leue on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-leue/• Jira: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira• Dovetail: https://dovetail.com/• Looker: https://cloud.google.com/looker/• Brian Bhuta on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbhuta/• How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/• Thinking beyond frameworks | Casey Winters (Pinterest, Eventbrite, Airbnb, Tinder, Canva, Reddit, Grubhub): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/thinking-beyond-frameworks-casey-winters-pinterest-eventbrite-airbnb-tinder-canva-reddit-grubhub/• Shared services model: https://www.gartner.com/en/finance/insights/shared-services-model• Shintaro Matsui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smatsui/• Tableau: https://www.tableau.com/• Jen Cardello on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jencardello/• Tim Davenport on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-davenport-28249b9/• Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral: https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Genius-Rivalry-Delusion-Billion-Dollar/dp/0593299752• The Art of Action: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Action-10th-Anniversary/dp/1529376963• Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value: https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309• Deutschland89 on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/deutschland-89-a4cf05f7-b4f2-44c7-84a1-4034671944b9• The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81414665• Love Is Blind on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80996601• The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80189221• Dragonboat: https://dragonboat.io/solution/product-operations/• Vistaly: https://www.vistaly.com/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Ben Smith on why he left his media column at The New York Times to launch news startup Semafor with the CEO of Bloomberg Media. His book is Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral.

On today's show, we're re-airing some of our favorite recent interviews:  In the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, Julia Preston, contributing writer for The Marshall Project, traces the crisis at the southern border to its roots in America's broken asylum system. Paula DiPerna, special advisor for CDP, the non-profit global environmental impact disclosure platform, and the author of Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Transformation to Value the Planet, Solve the Climate Crisis, and Protect Our Most Precious Assets (Wiley, 2023), argues that to avoid the "environmental default" of climate change we need to assign a monetary value for the health of the planet. Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semafor, former media columnist for The New York Times, and the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral (Penguin Press, 2023), tells the story of the progressive roots of digital news at companies like HuffPost and Gawker Media (including his own role as the founding editor in chief of Buzzfeed News) and how it went on to become a force in right-wing politics. The new Peacock show "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning" (based on a Swedish concept, and the book of the same name) is not as morbid as it sounds. Katarina Blom, psychologist, Ella Engström, organizer, and Johan Svenson, designer, explain how and why you should declutter your life.   These interviews were polished up and edited for time, the original versions are available here: The Origins of the Border Crisis (June 26, 2023) Pricing Environmental Health (May 30, 2023) The Origin Story of Digital News (May 3, 2023) What 'Swedish Death Cleaning' Is and Why You Should Do It (June 6, 2023)  

If we're in one era of content that goes viral online, we're at the end of another. On Today's Show:Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semafor, former media columnist for The New York Times, and the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral (Penguin Press, 2023), traces the rise and fall of digital media upstarts like HuffPost, Gawker and BuzzFeed.

If we're in one era of content that goes viral online, we're at the end of another. On Today's Show:Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semafor, former media columnist for The New York Times, and the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral (Penguin Press, 2023), traces the rise and fall of digital media upstarts like HuffPost, Gawker and BuzzFeed.

Journalist Ben Smith tells the story of how digital media organisations became addicted to "going viral" in his new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. He was founding editor-in-chief of recently deceased digital news site BuzzFeed News, which along with HuffPost, Breitbart and Gawker Media represented a new world of online media in the early 2000s. His book tells the inside story of how rivals Jonah Peretti of HuffPost and BuzzFeed. and Nick Denton of Gawker Media started the race for virality blamed for the rise of disinformation. Ben Smith is the Editor in Chief of Semafor, a new global news company and a former media columnist for The New York Times.

One could claim, without hyperbole, that Ben Smith helped invent modern digital media. Smith, the co-founder of Semafor News, is a former New York Times media columnist and the founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News. He is also the author of “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” which chronicles both BuzzFeed's rise to fame and Nick Denton, the controversial mastermind behind Gawker. Along the way, Smith tells other tales of the many key players involved in New York City's Silicon Alley. Smith joined NY1's Errol Louis for a lengthy discussion about his book, and his years at BuzzFeed. They also talked about his blog years, the ability to make things go viral, his thoughts on Thread and how he and his colleagues may have misjudged human nature. They also weighed in on the role social media will play in the 2024 presidential election. And they touched on how so many major players in the right-wing media movement came from the same offices and companies that Smith did. Join the conversation, weigh in on Twitter using the hashtag #NY1YouDecide or give us a call at 212-379-3440 and leave a message. Or send an email to YourStoryNY1@charter.com

Co-founder of Semafor, Ben Smith, discusses the digital news revolution, the changing media landscape, and his book, “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion Dollar Race to Go Viral.”

Semafor co-founder and editor-in-chief Ben Smith, after writing miles worth of news articles and columns, has published his first book: TRAFFIC: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. Our ICE House conversation takes listeners on a drive from the nascent days of online media to the current digital landscape, with pitstops at key moments that defined the growth of the internet as both a source of news and place to invest capital. Ben's own journey, from POLITICO to Buzzfeed to the Times, and now to founding Semafor, embodies the books narrative, from the first “viral” posts to putting his thesis for modern journalism to the test with his new entrepreneurial endeavor.  Inside the ICE House: https://www.theice.com/insights/conversations/inside-the-ice-house

Ben Smith, author of the new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, joins the podcast to discuss how the media revolution has changed the political landscape and the implications for the future. Ben and Steve talk about his new book, the historical relationship between media and politics, and the transformation of Facebook from a social platform into a media juggernaut. Ben also shares details about Semafor, the news platform he's building and who on the Left is actually doing media well. REFERENCES: Ben Smith - @semaforben https://twitter.com/semaforben Semafor - https://semafor.com Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral - https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/678592/traffic-by-ben-smith

The news media is driven by clicks more than ever before. Who is winning the war for online attention? Brands like Vice and Gawker initially won the race – but are old-school papers dominating the online space again now? Ben Smith is the former editor-in-chief for Buzzfeed News, runs the news outlet Semafor, and is author of Traffic: Genius, rivalry, and delusion in the billion-dollar race to go viral. He joins Jacob Jarvis in The Bunker. “If you were a journalist covering politics in the mid-'00s, the online space was really exciting.” – Ben Smith “I don't think you were doing anything called ‘going viral' until Twitter came along.” – Ben Smith “The NY Times really absorbed a lot of the lessons and the culture of the internet.” – Ben Smith www.patreon.com/bunkercast  Written and presented by managing editor Jacob Jarvis. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production: Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can insurance save a company from bankruptcy? How does litigation funding work? Why did a lawsuit about a famous wrestler's sex tape become a warning to journalists everywhere about the power of Silicon Valley? Welcome to the Insurance vs History Podcast! In this episode, I talk about a case called Bollea v Gawker, which involved Hulk Hogan's sex tape, and Gawker, one of the first big online news organizations. It also involved tech mogul Peter Theil and a vendetta that resulted in Gawker's demise. This is the story of how insurance could have saved Gawker, but didn't—and the very real issues brought up by the trial, namely, the issue of litigation funding, bad deposition preparation, hubris, the rising power of Silicon Valley, and how much privacy public figures are entitled to today. What's covered by insurance? Where did Gawker go wrong regarding insurance coverage? What does their bankruptcy mean for journalism today? Join me to find out! Selected Sources and Links: 1.       https://jacobin.com/2016/08/gawker-peter-thiel-bollea-torts-lawsuit/ 2.       https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/business/media/hulk-hogan-v-gawker-a-guide-to-the-trial-for-the-perplexed.html 3.       https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/might-an-anti-gawker-benefactor-be-covering-hulk-hogans-legal-bills/ 4.       https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/peter-thiel-vs-gawker-case-highlights-world-litigation-funding-n581726 5.       https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattdrange/2018/01/05/five-things-i-learned-after-meeting-donald-trumps-new-lawyer/ 6.       https://www.newsweek.com/charles-harder-gawker-melania-trump-roger-ailes-people-magazine-509926 7.       https://www.salon.com/2023/03/27/what-does-peter-thiel-want-hes-building-the-right-wing-future-piece-by-piece/ 8.       https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/gawker-acquired-bustle-bryan-goldberg-1202871999/ 9.       https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/19/gawkers-demise-and-the-trump-era-threat-to-the-first-amendment 10.   https://finance.yahoo.com/news/thiel-founders-fund-withdrew-millions-005223787.html?guccounter=1 11.   https://www.irmi.com/articles/expert-commentary/when-does-liability-coverage-exist-for-mental-anguish-without-bodily-injury 12.   “Hulk Hogan and the Demise of Gawker Media: wrestling with the problems of celebrity voyeurism, newsworthiness, and tabloidization, Andrew K Antoniou and Dimitris Akrivos, Journal of Media Law 2016, Volume 8, No. 2, 153-172 13.   “Eat Your Vitamins and Say Your Prayers: Bollea v Gawker, Revenge Litigation Funding, and the Fate of the Fourth Estate” Nicole K. Chipi, University of Miami Law Review, Vol 72: 269 14.   The Gawker Stalker, Jason Zengerle, GQ, Vol 86, Issue 12 15.   The Evolution of Mr. Theil, The Economist, Vol 419, Issue 8992 16.   Vigilante Justice: The Implications of Revenge Suits for Third-Party Litigation Funding, Ann-Marie Elvin, The Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol 30:719 17.   “Sex, Videos, and Insurance: How Gawker Could Have Avoided Financial Responsibility For the $140 Million Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Verdict” Christopher C. French, Southern California Law Review, 6.20.16 Sources with Paywall: 1.       https://www.law360.com/articles/562091/gawker-not-covered-for-hogan-sex-tape-row-insurer-says 2.       Bringing Down a Media Empire - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Books: 1.       Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue: Holiday, Ryan: 9780735217645: Amazon.com: Books 2.       Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral: Smith, Ben: 9780593299753: Amazon.com: Books Music Credits: ·       Boulangerie by Jeremy Sherman, courtesy of NeoSounds: Boulangerie, LynneMusic | NeoSounds music library Contact Me: Website: https://insurancevshistory.libsyn.com Contact me!  Email: insurancevshistory@gmail.com Twitter: @insurancevshist Instagram: @ insurancevshistory Facebook:  Insurance vs History | Facebook

Ben Smith, the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, talks with Azi Paybarah about Silicon Alley, the internet of the early 2000s, and why local politics is less scalable than it used to be.

This is an excerpt from the full episode "The Rise and Fall of Digital Media: With Ben Smith."Ben Smith joins The Michael Steele Podcast to discuss his book, "TRAFFIC: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral." The pair discuss the early days of digital media, the rise and fall of news sites like Buzzfeed News and how controversy drives traffic and virality.If you enjoyed stopping by the beauty shop, leave a review or share it with a friend!Follow Ben Smith @semaforbenFollow Michael @MichaelSteeleFollow the podcast @steele_podcast This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3668522/advertisement

Have clicks, likes, and shares driven media and democracy to the point of disrepair? Sean Illing is joined by Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of Semafor and the author of "Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral." Together, they discuss how newsrooms were transformed by social media and the pursuit of traffic, and what the future of the industry might look like. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: Ben Smith (@semaforben), editor-in-chief of Semafor, author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral References:  Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral by Ben Smith (Penguin Random House, 2023) “How corporations got all your data” by The Gray Area (Vox, Mar. 2023) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by:  Engineer: Patrick Boyd Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comBen is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Semafor, a global news company. He was an old-school blogger at Politico and others, the first editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, and the media columnist for the NYT. His new book is Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. I wrote what he called a “savage and delightful” review of his book, but we remain friends and went at it cordially.For two clips of our convo — on the addictive power of blogging, and Ben's tough call over publishing the Steele dossier — pop over to our YouTube page. Other topics: his early career on the cop beat and in Eastern Europe; getting hooked on blogs after 9/11; his kid throwing his Blackberry in the toilet; the launch of the Daily Dish and its “mass intimacy”; the MSM (and me) “massively screwing up” the Iraq invasion; Ben covering marriage equality due to the Dish; the blog functioning as “Twitter before Twitter”; the Green Revolution in Iran; the Palin debacle and Trig; the torture program; why the Dish left the Daily Beast; the emotional turmoil of ending the blog; the “under-news” of Gawker; its indifference to to gay men's privacy; the role of Jezebel; the redemption of Nick Denton and “20 percent nicer”; Gawker killed by Hulk Hogan and Peter Thiel; Buzzfeed and sponsored content; the Shitty Media Men list; Americans' contempt for the MSM; Steve Bannon; how social media is perfect for right-wing populists and woke mobs; Substack reviving the spirit of blogging; the fall of Buzzfeed News and Vice; Semafor's embrace of dissent; and Ben's thoughts on my “savage and delightful review” of his book.Browse the Dishcast archive for another conversation you might enjoy (the first 102 episodes are free in their entirety — subscribe to get everything else). Coming up: Tabia Lee on her firing as a DEI director, Patrick Deneen on a post-liberal future, and David Grann on an 18th-century mutiny that's a “parable for our own turbulent time.” Please send your guest recs and pod dissent to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

Ben Smith joins The Michael Steele Podcast to discuss his book, "TRAFFIC: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral."The pair discuss the early days of digital media, and the rise and fall of news sites like Buzzfeed News, how controversy drives traffic and virality and Buzzfeed's decision to publish the Steele Dossier.Check out the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Genius-Rivalry-Delusion-Billion-Dollar/dp/0593299752If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to leave a review or tell a friend!Follow Ben Smith @semaforbenFollow Michael Steele @MichaelSteeleFollow the podcast @steele_podcastThis show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/3668522/advertisement

Ben Smith is the co-founder of Semafor, and the author of a brand new book called, ‘Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, And Delusion In The Billion-Dollar Race To Go Viral.' In this conversation, we talk about the state of the media, what is going right, what is going wrong, what he learned from working at BuzzFeed, Politico, New York Times, and now starting his own media company.  ======================= Pomp writes a daily letter to over 235,000+ investors about business, technology, and finance. He breaks down complex topics into easy-to-understand language while sharing opinions on various aspects of each industry. You can subscribe at https://pomp.substack.com/

The media business has been home to experiments ever since the invention of paper. It's hard to make money from those experiments, fuel the experiments with the right blend of content that attracts audiences, and turn those experiments into enterprises that can survive for years. Six prime experiments from digital media's modern era all debuted in close proximity to one another in the early 2000s – Gawker, Facebook, Twitter, HuffPost, Politico and Business Insider. All were trailblazers in an innovative and unforgiving technological ecosystem that ultimately flattened local newspapers and spawned other closely-watched and lavishly-funded media start-ups, Vice Media and BuzzFeed among them. Some of the new entrants have faced the same fates as local news. What makes this so hard? What's at stake? And what have digital media disruptions taught us? Joining Crash Course to make sense of all of this is Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of Semafor and the author of “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.insurgentspod.comBen Smith, co-founder of Semafor and former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, joins Jordan to discuss his new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion In The Billion-Dollar Race To Go Viral. The two discuss how the rivalry between Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed's co-founder and CEO, and Nick Denton, founder of Gawker, shaped the digital news landscape, how p…

On April 20, 2023, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced that BuzzFeed would be closing down its newsroom and laying off 15 percent of its staff. The news came amidst a deluge of headlines about struggles in the media industry, including: layoffs at NBC, Vox, NPR, Spotify, Insider, News Corp, ABC, and Gannett; the closure of MTV news; bankruptcy at Vice. But the end of BuzzFeed News in particular symbolized the end of an era. BuzzFeed's rapid rise and success in the late aughts and 2010s helped define the style and format of digital media. In 2013, BuzzFeed was getting 130 million unique viewers a month. Disney made an offer to buy BuzzFeed for half a billion dollars that same year, which Peretti turned down. In 2016, BuzzFeed was valued at $1.7 billion. And then, last fiscal quarter, BuzzFeed reported $106 million in net losses. In this conversation, Brooke talks with Ben Smith, the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Semafor and author of the new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, about his goals in building a newsroom at BuzzFeed, the lessons he learned, and what he thinks about the future of of news.

On April 20, 2023, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced that BuzzFeed would be closing down its newsroom and laying off 15 percent of its staff. The news came amidst a deluge of headlines about struggles in the media industry, including: layoffs at NBC, Vox, NPR, Spotify, Insider, News Corp, ABC, and Gannett; the closure of MTV news; bankruptcy at Vice. But the end of BuzzFeed News in particular symbolized the end of an era. BuzzFeed's rapid rise and success in the late aughts and 2010s helped define the style and format of digital media. In 2013, BuzzFeed was getting 130 million unique viewers a month. Disney made an offer to buy BuzzFeed for half a billion dollars that same year, which Peretti turned down. In 2016, BuzzFeed was valued at $1.7 billion. And then, last fiscal quarter, BuzzFeed reported $106 million in net losses. In this conversation, Brooke talks with Ben Smith, the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Semafor and author of the new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, about his goals in building a newsroom at BuzzFeed, the lessons he learned, and what he thinks about the future of of news.

Ben Smith is a journalist, author, and co-founder of the global news organization Semafor. He's the former media columnist for the New York Times and founding editor-in-chief of the now-defunct BuzzFeed News. His book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral has just been released. Ben and I discuss the ever-changing news business and the role of digital journalism; the impact of social media on our culture and the political landscape; Donald Trump; the Durham Report; George Santos; as well as a little trip back in time to childhood, his early influences and what he does with his time when he's not working! Got somethin' to say?! Email us at BackroomAndy@gmail.com Leave us a message: 845-307-7446 Twitter: @AndyOstroy Produced by Andy Ostroy and Matty Rosenberg @ Radio Free Rhiniecliff Associate producer Jennifer Hammoud Music by Andrew Hollander Design by Cricket Lengyel

Ben Smith, cofounder and editor in chief of Semafor, joins the podcast to discuss the loss of faith in U.S. news and media and the major industry changes over recent decades that have created today's news environment. Where does the industry go from here? Smith is the author of the new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral.

This week, Jen's guest is Ben Smith, author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. This hot new book takes a close look at the people and the patterns behind the click-bait-journalism-world that helped inflate Donald Trump but also gave us a renewed faith in humanity with an endless supply of baby-animal rescue videos. You know Ben from his role as the founding editor-in-chief for BuzzFeed News where he released the Steele Dossier to the world. Today, Ben is the editor-in-chief of Semafor, a new global news organization that launched last year. Just before that he was the media columnist for the New York Times. Jen and Ben recorded this interview just before Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti announced plans to shutter Buzzfeed News. Contact Booked Up: You can email Jen & the Booked Up team at: BOOKEDUP@POLITICON.COM or by writing to:  BOOKED UP  P.O. BOX 147 NORTHAMPTON, MA 01061 Get More from Ben Smith Twitter | Website | Author of TRAFFIC Get More from Jen Taub: Twitter | Follow the Money Substack | Author of BIG DIRTY MONEY 

The 2010s saw the rise of a number of digital media startups like BuzzFeed News, Gawker Media, Vice, Business Insider and others who were set to usher in a new era of news consumption, displacing legacy outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Now, by and large, that dream seems to have died. Gawker is gone. BuzzFeed News is closed. Vice has filed for bankruptcy. Insider recently had layoffs. So how did it all fall apart and what is the future for upstart media? In this episode, we speak with Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Semafor and the author of the new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, to discuss his experience as the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, and how times have changed so dramatically for online journalism. We also discussed what business models work today, the use of AI, and the future of news consumption.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Smith is the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. He's also the editor-in-chief of Semafor. He joins Ranjan Roy and Alex Kantrowitz for our weekly news recap show. We cover: 1) New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino 2) Tucker Carlson's move to Twitter 3) End of the streaming wars 4) Trump's CNN Interview 5) Lessons from Ben's book, Traffic 6) Mark Zuckerberg's jiu-jitsu prowess. You can find Ben's book here. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. For weekly updates on the show, sign up for the pod newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6901970121829801984/ Questions? Feedback? Write to: bigtechnologypodcast@gmail.com

In the early 2000s, a significant media-business mistake emerged: the belief that website traffic is a commodity like oil, which would generate increased revenue as advertising improved. However, unlike other commodities, traffic lacked scarcity. The internet made traffic virtually infinite, posing challenges for new media-business models. In this podcast, Ben Smith, former founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, former media columnist for The New York Times, and author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion Dollar Race to Go Viral, discusses the rise and fall of new media like Gawker and BuzzFeed, the impact and consequences of megaplatforms like Facebook and Twitter, and the shifting landscape of contemporary journalism. Smith examines the fluctuating trust in legacy news brands and the growing power of individual voices over faceless institutions, drawing parallels to developments in Hollywood, sports, and politics. Smith highlights the recent decline in both social media's influence, and as a destination for news and information, and how this has led to more readers visiting homepages directly. He also emphasizes that conservative media outlets appear to have derived the most valuable insights from the social media era, adapting their strategies to thrive in the changing landscape. Looking ahead, Smith suggests that journalism must help beleaguered consumers navigate the vast information landscape by providing context and a clear voice. He speculates that this may involve a return to some of the principles of print journalism — concision and an editorial perspective — while adapting to the digital era's demands. My conversation with Ben Smith:

In a twist on the standard Remnant formula that nobody asked for, Jonah is joined by noted chicken wing connoisseur Steve Hayes to co-host today's episode. Their guest is Ben Smith, founder of Semafor, former editor in chief of BuzzFeed News, and author of the new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. The book takes us back to the early days of the internet to explore how the rivalry between Jonah Peretti of BuzzFeed and Nick Denton of Gawker paved the way for today's climate of disinformation, and naturally, it raises a number of questions. How has journalism changed since the dawn of the internet? Why does the young right tend to confuse social media with real life? What can we do to fix the media landscape? And will Jonah ever get over the golden age of blogging? Show Notes: - Ben's new book, Traffic - Ben: “Confessions of a Media Chronicler” - Semafor - The Great Moon Hoax - Benjy Sarlin: “Take Donald Trump seriously, not literally, on ‘fake news'” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As BuzzFeed News shuts down this week, former editor-in-chief Ben Smith joins Andy to reflect on BuzzFeed's successes and pitfalls and the end of the first digital era of news. Smith explains how they used metrics and analytics to change journalism, what he learned from his fateful meeting with Steve Bannon, and why the platforms are still bigger than the personalities -- even Tucker Carlson. They also chat about the future of journalism and how it will be funded in a post-click world. Keep up with Andy on Post and Twitter and Post @ASlavitt. Follow @semaforben on Twitter. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium.  Support the show by checking out our sponsors! Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: https://lemonadamedia.com/sponsors/  Check out these resources from today's episode:  Ben's book “Traffic Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral” is available everywhere now.  Read Ben's work at Semafor.  Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/ Order Andy's book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165  Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com/show/inthebubble.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Frank begins the show talking about Trump being found liable for sexual battery in the E. Jean Carroll case and speaks to Dr. Christopher Mott, Research Fellow with the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, international relations scholar and the author of  “The Formless Empire: A Short History of Diplomacy and Warfare in Central Asia,” about Russia-Ukraine war and the implications for national security. After, some AI talk before Ben Smith, veteran journalist, the Editor-in-Chief of Semafor and the author of the new book “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion Dollar Race to go Viral” joins Frank to talk about Semafor, his book, and much more. Then, Frank is joined by Mick West, Writer. Investigator. Coder and the author of the book “Escaping the Rabbit Hole” about the truth about chemtrails. Later, Frank talks about some sports, and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frank Morano interviews  Ben Smith, veteran journalist, the Editor-in-Chief of Semafor and the author of the new book “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion Dollar Race to go Viral” about Semafor, his book, and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the continued cutbacks and collapses of digital media companies. Support Past Present on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pastpresentpodcast Here are some links and references mentioned during this week's show:   ·      Buzzfeed is the most recent company to announce massive layoffs. Natalia cited Derek Thompson's Atlantic newsletter, and Niki referred to media columnist Ben Smith's new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. We all drew on this New York Times article about the future of media.     In our regular closing feature, What's Making History: ·      Natalia shared Joshua Travis Brown's Chronicle of Higher Education essay, “The Ethical Poverty of Dorms for the Rich.” ·      Neil recommended this episode of the Slate Culture podcast and Aaliyah Wright's Capital B article, “Once An ‘All-Black Utopia,' Eatonville Residents Say New Development Could Erase History.” ·      Niki discussed Claire McNear's Ringer article, “The Search for the Lost Jeopardy Tapes is Over. The Mystery Behind Them Endures.”

Ben Domenech is joined by Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith to discuss his new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A man drove his SUV into a crowd of people outside a shelter for migrants in Brownsville, Texas, Sunday morning. The driver killed 8 people and injured 10 others. Gaige Davila, a reporter for Texas Public Radio's Border and Immigration Desk, joins us. And, are we coming to the end of the digital media era? Ben Smith, author and former editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News, joins us to talk about his new book "Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral" and why he thinks the age of digital media is ending. Then, more than 700 child care providers are shutting down for the day in at least 20 states. They're rallying for better pay for educators and more affordable care for families. We speak with BriTanya Brown, the owner of a child care business in Stamford, Texas, and advocate Latoya Gayle.

This is the book I've been dying for someone to write! This is how digital media happened for 20 years! Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. Yay to finally having Ben Smith on the pod!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ben Smith is the co-founder of Semafor and author of the forthcoming book Traffic joins Erik Torenberg and Antonio Garcia Martinez for a discussion about the hostility between tech and media, what digital media startups got wrong, analysis of institutions like The New York Times, and what the future of media holds. Also, check out the debut of Erik's long-form interview podcast Upstream. He most recently interviewed Joe Lonsdale and David Sacks. Subscribe here: https://link.chtbl.com/Upstream RECOMMENDED PODCAST: The HR industry is at a crossroads. What will it take to construct the next generation of incredible businesses – and where can people leaders have the most business impact? Hosts Nolan Church and Kelli Dragovich have been through it all, the highs and the lows – IPOs, layoffs, executive turnover, board meetings, culture changes, and more. With a lineup of industry vets and experts, Nolan and Kelli break down the nitty-gritty details, trade offs, and dynamics of constructing high performing companies. Through unfiltered conversations that can only happen between seasoned practitioners, Kelli and Nolan dive deep into the kind of leadership-level strategy that often happens behind closed doors. Check out the first episode with the architect of Netflix's culture deck Patty McCord. https://link.chtbl.com/hrheretics REFERENCES: Ben's new book: Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral Semafor: https://www.semafor.com/ TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Intro (4:00) Ben Smith's book “Traffic” (9:00) Buzzfeed's cultural impact (11:00) Regrets around the Steele Dossier (16:00) Sponsors: Secureframe | MarketerHire (17:30) Objectivity vs subjectivity in journalsim (21:00) Left wing vs right wing journalism (26:20) Tech media (30:00) Cambridge Analytica bullshit (34:00) Buzzfeed Uber controversy (37:30) Tech and media fall out (50:30) The root of tech vs media dissonance (1:06:00) Free speech (1:13:00) “The book is a eulogy to a rotting corpse that got what was coming to it” (1:16:30) Ads vs subscription (1:21:00) Future of media TWITTER: @MOZ_Podcast @semaforben (Ben) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @antoniogm (Antonio) More shownotes released in our Substack: https://momentofzen.substack.com/ Please support our sponsors: Secureframe | MarketerHire - Secureframe: https://secureframe.com/ Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention MOZ during your demo to get 20% off your first year. - MarketerHire: https://marketerhire.com/moz MarketerHire is one of my favorite resources for growing startups looking to hire marketers. With 1000s of pre-vetted marketers across a dozen roles, whether you need help with growth, marketing, SEO, lifecycle, content, or any other aspect of growth marketing strategy. Over 5,000 companies already use MarketerHire to hire expert marketers on demand, ranging from top venture-backed startups to the most well-known Fortune 500s. Go to marketerhire.com/moz and use code MOZ to get your $1,000 credit for your first hire. Thank you Graham Bessellieu for production.

Subscribe to The Realignment to access our exclusive Q&A episodes and support the show: https://realignment.supercast.com/.REALIGNMENT NEWSLETTER: https://therealignment.substack.com/PURCHASE BOOKS AT OUR BOOKSHOP: https://bookshop.org/shop/therealignmentFoundation for American Innovation: https://www.thefai.org/posts/lincoln-becomes-faiBen Smith, author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral and Editor in Chief of Semafor, joins The Realignment. Ben, Saagar, and Marshall discuss the end of the social media-fueled digital media, the end of BuzzFeed News and the collapse of Vice, and why the next era of online journalism won't be anything like the 2010s.

Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semafor, former media columnist for The New York Times, and the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral (Penguin Press, 2023), tells the story of the progressive roots of digital news at companies like HuffPost and Gawker Media (including his own role as the founding editor in chief of Buzzfeed News) and how it went on to become a force in right-wing politics.

The past few weeks have seen news headlines dominated by people who usually deliver them, with the unexpected exits of big-name TV hosts, Twitter clashing with media outlets, Fox News settling a $787-million dollar lawsuit and Buzzfeed News bidding adieu. Ben Smith, the former Buzzfeed News editor-in-chief and former media columnist for the New York TImes joins Piya Chattopadhyay to weigh in on the fallout. In his new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, Smith looks back at the forces that shaped the media moment we're now all living through.

Ben Smith is the former and founding editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News, the founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, and the author of a new book called Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, which is about the rise and fall of the social platform age in media, through the lens of Gawker Media and Buzzfeed and, in particular, their founders, Nick Denton and Jonah Peretti. I say the fall of the social platform age pretty literally: just before we spoke, Buzzfeed actually shut down Buzzfeed News, saying it just wasn't making enough money, Facebook and the rest are all in on vertical video, and the chaos at Twitter means a lot of baseline media industry assumptions are now up for grabs. Ben and I talked about a lot – where do journalists build their brands now? Where does traffic even come from anymore? What's next? Of course, we talked about Semafor as well. Ben and his co-founder, Justin Smith, raised $25 million and launched a news website, newsletters, and events covering the US and sub-Saharan Africa, with plans to expand into other regions. I wanted to know what lessons from Buzzfeed Ben brought into Semafor and, honestly, how he's thinking about building an audience instead of just trying to get traffic.  This is a good one. The book's great, too. Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23470662 Links: Traffic by Ben Smith What Colors Are This Dress?  TikTok - The Verge Is Substack Notes a ‘Twitter clone'? We asked CEO Chris Best - The Verge MyPillow CEO's free speech social network will ban posts that take the Lord's name in vain - The Verge Former Facebook Workers: We Routinely Suppressed Conservative News Cambridge Analytica: understanding Facebook's data privacy scandal - The Verge 28 Signs You Were Raised By Persian Parents In America Here's The Powerful Letter The Stanford Victim Read To Her Attacker More Than 180 Women Have Reported Sexual Assaults At Massage Envy Macedonia's Pro-Trump Fake News Industry Had American Links, And Is Under Investigation For Possible Russia Ties Watching Silicon Valley Bank melt down from the front row, with Brex CEO Henrique Dubugras - Decoder, The Verge  Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott with help from Hadley Robinson and it was edited by Callie Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's our first four-way pod, featuring BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti, Gawker founder Nick Denton, and Semafor founder (and former editor-in-chief of the recently shuttered BuzzFeed News) Ben Smith, who wrote a book about them both. Peter Kafka talks to all of them in conjunction with Smith's new book “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral.” What lessons did Smith learn from Peretti and Denton's mistakes? If Disney offers to buy you out for hundreds of millions of dollars, should you take it? And is TikTok our last, best hope? Featuring: Jonah Peretti (@peretti), Founder of BuzzFeed Nick Denton (@nicknotned), Founder of Gawker Ben Smith, (@semaforben), Editor-In-Chief of Semafor Host: Peter Kafka (@pkafka), Senior Editor at Recode More to explore: Subscribe for free to Recode Media, Peter Kafka, one of the media industry's most acclaimed reporters, talks to business titans, journalists, comedians, and more to get their take on today's media landscape. About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The blitzscaling funding model failed news companies. Vice Media — which raised more than $1 billion from the likes of TPG, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Disney — is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy. BuzzFeed — which raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, General Atlantic, and NBCUniversal — just shut down its news division and has watched its stock price sink 95% since going public via a SPAC.Meanwhile, Gawker, which successfully avoided the cash-burning approach, was brought down in a lawsuit funded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel. This episode of Newcomer is brought to you by VantaSecurity is no longer a cost center — it's a strategic growth engine that sets your business apart. That means it's more important than ever to prove you handle customer data with the utmost integrity. But demonstrating your security and compliance can be time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Until you use Vanta.Vanta's enterprise-ready Trust Management Platform empowers you to:* Centralize and scale your security program* Automate compliance for the most sought-after frameworks, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR* Earn and maintain the trust of customers and vendors alikeWith Vanta, you can save up to 400 hours and 85% of costs. Win more deals and enable growth quickly, easily, and without breaking the bank.For a limited time, Newcomer listeners get $1,000 off Vanta. Go to vanta.com/newcomer to get started.In his new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, former BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith takes stock of the heady days of media spending and snarky online writing. (Of course, for all his insistence that that spendy era of media is over, Smith is the co-founder of Semafor, a company that raised $25 million — including about $10 million from Sam Bankman-Fried — to build a new digital media business.)I invited Smith on the podcast to talk about his new book. I started the discussion by going back to David Carr's 2012 profile of BuzzFeed. Carr wrote at the time:[W]ith the addition of Mr. Smith and his new hires, BuzzFeed is growing some serious news muscles under a silly, frilly skin, and added the header “2012” for election coverage. (More traditional news verticals will be rolled out in the coming months.) It's gone well so far, with comScore showing 10.8 million unique visitors in December, more than double that of the same month in 2010.Its business model, in part, capitalizes on the mix of high and low content; instead of banner ads, BuzzFeed works with companies like Pillsbury to create content ideal for sharing, including “10 Things You Never Knew You Could Do With a Crescent Roll.”If it is successful, BuzzFeed will generate the kind of traffic that will rival behemoths like, yes, The Huffington Post. Mr. Peretti says that BuzzFeed makes a profit some months, but given the level of investment and growth — there are now 78 people in its Flatiron offices — the burn rate on that new chunk of capital is significant. “It's fun to watch them make all these hires,” said Choire Sicha, the founder of The Awl site and a veteran of the New York Web scene. “But it's important that they don't overspend. Web ad rates are what they are and that isn't going to change.”Then I turned the conversation to former Gawker editor Max Read's review of Traffic. Read writes: In the end, only one character in “Traffic” can really be said to have any vision. In 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger offered to buy BuzzFeed for $650 million. In the book's strangest and funniest scene, a nightmare blunt rotation of Smith, Peretti, BuzzFeed video chief Ze Frank and BuzzFeed president Jon Steinberg get high on a hotel balcony in Los Angeles and discuss the offer. Frank and Smith urge an ambivalent Peretti to turn down the offer, worrying that “Disney's corporate culture would stifle” Buzzfeed's creativity. Not so much Steinberg, the company's money man, who gets “down on his knees on the balcony to plead with Jonah to take the deal.”Frank and Smith would go on to win the argument; they and Peretti saw BuzzFeed's monster traffic as the key to their dreams of a burgeoning, independent media empire. As we now know, they were wrong. Steinberg is far from a genius — after leaving BuzzFeed, he joined the Daily Mail's U.S. operation, and then founded the cosmically annoying CNBC-for-millennials brand “Cheddar,” whose videos can be found on gas pumps across the country — but he alone managed to see that traffic for what it really was: the “pump” phase of a pump-and-dump scheme that Peretti never had the vision to complete.In my conversation with him, Smith, the former media columnist for the New York Times, also offered his thoughts on the upcoming presidential primary and Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News. Give it a listen.Find the Podcast Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe

The blitzscaling funding model failed news companies. Vice Media — which raised more than $1 billion from the likes of TPG, Technology Crossover Ventures, and Disney — is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy. BuzzFeed — which raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, General Atlantic, and NBCUniversal — just shut down its news division and has watched its stock price sink 95% since going public via a SPAC.Meanwhile, Gawker, which successfully avoided the cash-burning approach, was brought down in a lawsuit funded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel. This episode of Newcomer is brought to you by VantaSecurity is no longer a cost center — it's a strategic growth engine that sets your business apart. That means it's more important than ever to prove you handle customer data with the utmost integrity. But demonstrating your security and compliance can be time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Until you use Vanta.Vanta's enterprise-ready Trust Management Platform empowers you to:* Centralize and scale your security program* Automate compliance for the most sought-after frameworks, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR* Earn and maintain the trust of customers and vendors alikeWith Vanta, you can save up to 400 hours and 85% of costs. Win more deals and enable growth quickly, easily, and without breaking the bank.For a limited time, Newcomer listeners get $1,000 off Vanta. Go to vanta.com/newcomer to get started.In his new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral, former BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith takes stock of the heady days of media spending and snarky online writing. (Of course, for all his insistence that that spendy era of media is over, Smith is the co-founder of Semafor, a company that raised $25 million — including about $10 million from Sam Bankman-Fried — to build a new digital media business.)I invited Smith on the podcast to talk about his new book. I started the discussion by going back to David Carr's 2012 profile of BuzzFeed. Carr wrote at the time:[W]ith the addition of Mr. Smith and his new hires, BuzzFeed is growing some serious news muscles under a silly, frilly skin, and added the header “2012” for election coverage. (More traditional news verticals will be rolled out in the coming months.) It's gone well so far, with comScore showing 10.8 million unique visitors in December, more than double that of the same month in 2010.Its business model, in part, capitalizes on the mix of high and low content; instead of banner ads, BuzzFeed works with companies like Pillsbury to create content ideal for sharing, including “10 Things You Never Knew You Could Do With a Crescent Roll.”If it is successful, BuzzFeed will generate the kind of traffic that will rival behemoths like, yes, The Huffington Post. Mr. Peretti says that BuzzFeed makes a profit some months, but given the level of investment and growth — there are now 78 people in its Flatiron offices — the burn rate on that new chunk of capital is significant. “It's fun to watch them make all these hires,” said Choire Sicha, the founder of The Awl site and a veteran of the New York Web scene. “But it's important that they don't overspend. Web ad rates are what they are and that isn't going to change.”Then I turned the conversation to former Gawker editor Max Read's review of Traffic. Read writes: In the end, only one character in “Traffic” can really be said to have any vision. In 2013, Disney CEO Bob Iger offered to buy BuzzFeed for $650 million. In the book's strangest and funniest scene, a nightmare blunt rotation of Smith, Peretti, BuzzFeed video chief Ze Frank and BuzzFeed president Jon Steinberg get high on a hotel balcony in Los Angeles and discuss the offer. Frank and Smith urge an ambivalent Peretti to turn down the offer, worrying that “Disney's corporate culture would stifle” Buzzfeed's creativity. Not so much Steinberg, the company's money man, who gets “down on his knees on the balcony to plead with Jonah to take the deal.”Frank and Smith would go on to win the argument; they and Peretti saw BuzzFeed's monster traffic as the key to their dreams of a burgeoning, independent media empire. As we now know, they were wrong. Steinberg is far from a genius — after leaving BuzzFeed, he joined the Daily Mail's U.S. operation, and then founded the cosmically annoying CNBC-for-millennials brand “Cheddar,” whose videos can be found on gas pumps across the country — but he alone managed to see that traffic for what it really was: the “pump” phase of a pump-and-dump scheme that Peretti never had the vision to complete.In my conversation with him, Smith, the former media columnist for the New York Times, also offered his thoughts on the upcoming presidential primary and Tucker Carlson's departure from Fox News. Give it a listen.Find the Podcast Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe

Veep's Dave Mandel tells us about his fantastic new show, HBO's The White House Plumbers. Semafor's Ben Smith details his new book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. NBC's Jon Allen walks us through the latest details of the debt ceiling battle between the parties.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Smith is one of the most influential media and politics reporters today. Smith was one of the first reporters at politico and went on to become the founding editor of Buzzfeed News. He was a must-read media columnist at the NY Times and is now co-founder of global media outlet, Semafor.Smith is out with a new book, Traffic – Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion Dollar Race to Go Viral. It chronicles the rise and decline of Buzzfeed and Gawker and the online ascent of right-wing populist figures like Andrew Breitbart and Ben Shapiro.In this conversation we talk about the ways the race for clicks turned up the noise in the media and amplified the most bombastic voices. And we explore what's next in media and where you can turn for trustworthy information as a media consumer.Ben Smith➤TwitterSemafor➤TwitterYou can follow Jessica Yellin here:➤Instagram➤Twitter➤Facebook➤YouTube➤NewsNotNoise.com➤NewsletterJessica Yellin is the founder of News Not Noise, a channel dedicated to giving you news with real experts and providing facts, not panic attacks. Jessica is a veteran of network news, traveling the globe, covering conflict and crisis. A former Chief White House Correspondent for CNN, she reported from around the world and won awards. Now, Yellin uses her voice to break down the news, calmly and clearly for you -- free of punditry, provocation, and yelling.

The media world over the last few week has been rocked by major disruptions: Fox ousts Tucker Carlson, CNN fires Don Lemon, BuzzFeed News is shutting down, Twitter has become a less reliable resource, and Vice Media shutters its flagship program “Vice News Tonight.” Over the last two decades, the media landscape has transformed with the advent of social media, and signs of another evolution are surfacing. This week on Deconstructed, Ryan Grim is joined by Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of Semafor, to talk about his new book "Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral.” They discuss the role social media played in transforming media and politics over the last 15 years, and how one of the most viral moments in history alarmed Facebook.If you'd like to support our work, go to theintercept.com/give, where your donation, no matter what the amount, makes a real difference.And if you haven't already, please subscribe to the show so you can hear it every week. And please go and leave us a rating or a review — it helps people find the show. If you want to give us additional feedback, email us at Podcasts@theintercept.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A song featuring A.I.-generated versions of Drake and the Weeknd went viral — before being taken down by streaming services. Is censorship of A.I.-generated songs the way forward? Or can singers benefit from synthetic voices, as some artists like Grimes are suggesting?Then, HatGPT: Kevin and Casey pull headlines out of a hat and generate their own takes on the news.And Ben Smith, the former BuzzFeed News editor, discusses the end of the 2010s digital media era.On today's episode:Ben Smith is a journalist and co-founder of the digital media company Semafor. He was a New York Times media columnist and the first editor in chief of BuzzFeed News.Additional reading:An A.I.-generated song made to sound like Drake and the Weeknd went viral before being taken down by streaming services.Grimes invited fans to make songs using A.I.-generated versions of her voice.Snapchat saw a spike in one-star reviews after users criticized its “My AI” feature.Taylor Swift did not invest in FTX, the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange company.Researchers turned a goldfish into a cyborg.The Republican National Committee released an A.I.-generated ad slamming President Biden.The U.K. blocked Microsoft's $69 billion bid for the video game company Activision.Ben Smith's book, “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,” is an origin story of digital media.A BuzzFeed article set off a viral debate on the color of a dress.

This week in Washington – more so than anytime in Joe Biden's presidency – the news has been all about… the news. To start, it's the weekend of the White House Correspondents Association Dinner. But outside of the brunches and parties, a different type of media intrigue has been dominating politics.  BuzzFeed News, the colossus of yesteryear's viral reporting and the entity that published the infamous Steele Dossier about Donald Trump, announced that it was shutting down for good. On Monday, Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, their top-rated host. Within an hour, Don Lemon announced he was parting ways with CNN, where he had worked for 17 years.  On Thursday, Vice News, another struggling pioneer of 21st century digital news, became the latest media company to lay off some of its best known reporters.  These are all isolated events with circumstances specific to each newsroom. But in an excellent new book called Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral,  Ben Smith argues that we are indeed at the end of an era in media, but that the next one might be something to look forward to.  That's a forceful prediction coming from Ben, who was a longtime reporter at POLITICO, the top editor at BuzzFeed News, a New York Times media columnist, and now is the editor-in-chief of Semafor. He's also this week's Playbook Deep Dive guest. Ben's book and this interview with Deep Dive Host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza do their best to answer the questions we all have about why our political culture is so fragmented, and whether there is any hope that we can return to a place where Americans agree on simple things — like facts. Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO. Ben Smith is the editor-in-chief of Semafor. Afra Abdullah is an associate producer for POLITICO audio. Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.  Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio. Jenny Ament is the executive producer for POLITICO audio.

With barbecues, the annual Air Force flybys and other festivities - Israel celebrated its 75th birthday, but not without a noticeable rift in the nation, as well. Yonit and Jonathan talk recent updates as the status of the judicial overhaul remains unclear, and revisit Netanyahu's foreign press campaign. And, we are joined by Semafor and BuzzFeed co-founder, Ben Smith, to discuss the seismic sacking of Fox News' controversial host Tucker Carlson, and whether the abrupt dismissal indicates even Murdoch's network felt its biggest star was becoming a liability.  Plus, a homage to the 17-year-old who moved Israelis to tears at the annual torch lighting ceremony.  Pre-order Ben Smith's book, Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/678592/traffic-by-ben-smith/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're back with one long episode in two cracking segments. First up, Welch and Moynihan (Ed. note: Kmele is currently peering through a telescope on the South Side of Chicago or something) catch up on all the stupid news of the last week, including…* The news of certain…errrr……media layoffs* Defenestrations at Fox News and CNN* The “they-ificaton” of Tucker Carlson * The bizarro world of Robert F. Kennedy Jr* Lil' Bobby: Prosecute people I disagree withAnd then it's an hour with return guest Ben Smith (his third appearance, we think?), editor-in-chief of Semafor, former editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed News, and author of the new book Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral. No explanation needed. It's good. You'll like it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wethefifth.substack.com/subscribe

Ben Smith is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, and the author of Traffic: Genius, Rivalry, and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral (available for preorder now). He joins Big Technology Podcast for a discussion of social media's divorce from the news industry, and what it means for the platforms and publishers. We talk plenty about Semafor, including how it's working to build an audience, distribute its work, run a business, and get scoops. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss Elon's Twitter, chatbots, the lab leak hypothesis, and Trump's potential in 2024. Yes, we cover a lot. Hit play for a fun listen!