ben-smith

The New York Times Refuses to Release Recording of Donald Trump’s (Off-the-Record) Comments on Immigration

J.K. Trotter · 02/29/16 03:28PM

BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith has an inside baseball report about a January 5 meeting between Republican frontrunner Donald Trump and the editorial board of The New York Times. According to Smith, many Times employees believe Trump conveyed to the paper—during a portion of the meeting deemed off-the-record —that his extreme policy positions on immigration are more flexible than he’s publicly admitted. Still, the Times refuses to release a transcript of the meeting, or even discuss Trump’s off-the-record comments:

Site Glitch Reveals Who Nominated Themselves For Pulitzer Prize

J.K. Trotter · 04/17/14 04:00PM

As part of its secretive judging process, the Pulitzer Prize committee closely guards the names of outlets and reporters who submit their work for consideration. But a loophole in the Prize’s online submission website inadvertently revealed that BuzzFeed and The Daily Beast sought but did not win journalism’s highest honor.

Angry Birds: A Bang-Up Buzzfeed-Blumenthal Brawl

Hilary Sargent · 11/15/13 12:04PM

Angry Birds is a new feature in which ChartGirl's Hilary Sargent takes a look at the ruffled feathers in the latest Twitter flaps. Today's: labor journalist Mike Elk vs. Buzzfeed political reporter Rosie Gray, engaged in a feud over Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal, his son Max, and Max's new book about Israel.

Politico's Most Respected Writer Leaves for Wacky Video Site

Hamilton Nolan · 12/12/11 09:12AM

Political blogger Ben Smith's career is a series of progressively wackier job moves. He was at the NY Daily News, covering state politics, and was more respected than the average tabloid writer. He moved to THE POLITICO, where he's been blogging about politics and media for the past five years, managing to stay more respected (by us!) than his micro-horse-race-obsessed paper as a whole. Now, he's off to an even weirder destination!

Is an AOL Email Address a 'Status Symbol?

Adrian Chen · 09/09/11 01:33PM

We all have a laugh whenever an email from an @AOL.com address shows up in our inbox, usually because it comes in blue Comic Sans. But Politico's Ben Smith today tries to make the case that AOL email addresses are a "status symbol".

Your Sleepy Summer Outrages

John Cook · 08/20/09 04:55PM

It's August 20th: our RSS feeds have slowed to a crawl and everyone else is at the beach. But the political-media outrage machine carries on. ABC's Jake Tapper, MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan, Touré and Malcom X all need a vacation.

"The Idea Of Bloggers In Their Pajamas In Basements Has Just Sort Of Collapsed"

Moe · 09/17/08 03:06PM

So says Politico blogger Ben Smith, who wore a suit to appear — looking nothing like his illustration, albeit kind of cute! — on Martha this morning.* The lifestyle queen invited political bloggers to her show today because she thinks it's scary the nation might elect a president who doesn't know how to read them and also probably because the more topical subject of complex financial shenanigans is not her specialty, oh wait just kidding. Personally I have always thought not being addicted to the internet was John McCain's most attractive quality since being tortured, but it raises a good point: I do not want presiding over this perilous economy one of those people who asks "You actually get paid to do that?"Like, for god sakes, yes motherfucker I majored in personal electronics assembly but there just weren't a lot of opportunities in that.

Media Invited To Meet Real Americans At Applebee's

Hamilton Nolan · 02/07/08 01:37PM

Let's see, how to get press for Applebee's dreary Middle American cuisine? How about... invite members of the national political press corps to plop their ass down in the restaurant for a week while they talk to REAL Americans, eat Baja Potato Boats, and blog about it? What reporter could resist the combination of boneless buffalo wings and a private booth? Sadly, this is an actual idea that a professional at Rubenstein PR was paid money to come up with. Full pitch to Politico's Ben Smith (who declined the offer) after the jump. [Politico]

CNN, 'LATimes' And Politico To Host January Debates

Maggie · 12/03/07 03:10PM

The final two presidential debates before Super Tuesday will be co-hosted at the end of January by CNN, the Los Angeles Times and Politico. Apparently, nobody relayed news of this partnership to LA Times media critic Tim Rutten, who, over the weekend, called CNN "corrupt" and "incompetent" for botching last week's "debacle masquerading as a presidential debate." Awkward! Also, we think it would make some damn fine television if Politico reporter Ben Smith was allowed to ask Rudy Giuliani a question on live TV, such as "How much do you hate me for writing about your mistress slush fund and exposing the blueprints for your presidential campaign?" [LAT]

MerchantCircle gets new funding to continue spam campaign

Tim Faulkner · 11/07/07 05:21PM

MerchantCircle has secured an additional $10 million in series B funding from past investors Rustic Canyon Partners, Scale Venture Partners, and Steamboat Ventures (Disney's VC arm), as well as new investors including Barry Diller's IAC and Square 1 Bank. The press release claims, "the investment validates the company's 'merchant-first' business model." I'd say, rather, it confirms that investors who should know better will sink cash into a disreputable business.

Can Auren Hoffman's reputation get any worse?

Tim Faulkner · 09/18/07 03:28PM

Silver-tongued entrepreneur Auren Hoffman was able to extinguish a growing wave of criticism directed at his people-search company Rapleaf with a single blog post. He promised to mend his ways and bring fixes to Rapleaf's privacy practices. We didn't have much faith in Rapleaf's reform — Hoffman's post was mostly rhetoric, little change. A week later, Hoffman has gone out of his way to prove our doubts by partnering with MerchantCircle. MerchantCircle, of course, is the local merchant directory we've criticized before. Of course, Rapleaf and MerchantCircle are in some ways a perfect match.