Traffic: Ben Smith On How The Media Got Hooked On Traffic

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
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Semafor
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Jessica 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.