Ben Smith | Observer

By Kat Stoeffel 12/19/11 8:59am

BuzzFeed Hires Andrew Kaczynski, ‘Oppenheimer’ of Political Videos

On Howard Kurtz’s Reliable Sources yesterday, political video prodigy Andrew Kaczynski announced he will be joining Ben Smith‘s team at BuzzFeed, beginning January 1.

A 22 year-old history student at St. John’s University, Mr. Kaczynski is as cubby as they come. But he’s already made a name for himself on the 2012 campaign beat with unseen video footage of primary candidates spouting hypocritical views, which he digs out of C-SPAN’s massive online archive. Read More

By Kat Stoeffel 12/12/11 8:35am

Hires

Politico's Ben Smith to Teach BuzzFeed How to Report

A major editorial expansion is in the works at BuzzFeed, the viral content aggregator best known for its panda slideshows, and it will be led by an unlikely figure.

Ben Smith, Politico senior writer and longtime New York politics reporter, has been named editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, the company announced today.

According to the release, Mr. Smith will help the site get into the business of original editorial content, hiring new reporters and launching new content sections.

BuzzFeed’s content sections are currently limited to “lol”, “cute”, “win”, “fail”, “omg”, “geeky”, “trashy”, and “wtf?”. The site recently snagged two writers from Gawker Media, Jezebel’s Whitney Jefferson and Gawker’s Matt Cherette. There are whispers of a redesign early next year. Read More

By Azi Paybarah 4/22/11 2:42pm

Media

New York Times Profiles New York Post’s Fred Dicker

New York Post State Editor Fred Dicker gets profiled on the front page of the New York Times this morning. Dicker declined to participate in the interview, but on his radio show, said he thought there were a few errors, but overall, it was fair, and Read More

By Zeke Turner 5/05/10 2:37pm

With Expanded Web Presence, Washington Post Veers Left

The MSNBC-ification of the Washington Post is underway.

The paper, which just last week launched a

By Azi Paybarah 4/07/09 7:04pm

Weiner Says the Poll Means Bloomberg Will Get ‘Very Nasty’

On a conference call from Haiti, where he is on a trip with other members of Congress, Anthony Weiner told reporters he’s been the victim of push-polling conducted by Michael Bloomberg's mayoral campaign, and that it indicates the mayor is “preparing to do some mudslinging” and get “very nasty” in order to get re-elected. Read More

By John Koblin 11/19/08 1:06am

Foggy Bottom, Top

Andrea Mitchell started it.

It was she who told viewers of NBC’s The Nightly News With Brian Williams on Thursday, Nov. 13, that Hillary Clinton “is under consideration to be secretary of state.”

Since then, nobody seems to have known what to think. But that hasn’t ground Read More

By Matt Haber 10/31/08 3:00pm

Reporters Bumped From ‘O Force One’?

This morning, Matt Drudge reported that Barack Obama’s campaign had barred critical reporters from the senator’s plane. According to Mr. Drudge, reporters from the New York Post, The Washington Times, and The Dallas Morning News (all papers whose editorial pages endorsed Senator Obama’s rivals, John McCain and Sarah Palin) were told that:

Despite Read More

By Azi Paybarah 7/15/08 12:47pm

Bronx D.A. Withdraws Bizarre Subpoena

As the New York Times reported today, the office of Bronx district attorney Robert Johnson subpoenaed Ben Smith and Gur Tsabar, the co-founders of Room Eight, looking for someone who wrote unflattering posts about D.A. Richard Johnson and forbidding the recipients from making public the fact that they had been subpoenaed.

The Read More

By Azi Paybarah 7:21pm

History Shmistory

I’m at a Personal Democracy Forum conference about technology and politics right now at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Ben, Ana Marie Cox and a few other folks were discussing the impact technology had on journalism and politics this year.

Ben got a hearty-ish laugh from the audience with a counter-intuitive analysis of this Read More

By Choire Sicha 6/09/08 11:43am

Notes on a Hillary Concession

Outside, in line, BOILING. 11:22 a.m.

"Lanny, what now?" reporters ask Lanny Davis one by one. "We’re going to take the White House" is his talking point today.

And here’s a reporter who’s been covering Hillary for the whole shebang. What’s next for him? "Gonna take a week off."

Inside. There are 10 American flags Read More

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BuzzFeed Hires Andrew Kaczynski, ‘Oppenheimer’ of Political Videos

Politico's Ben Smith to Teach BuzzFeed How to Report

New York Times Profiles New York Post’s Fred Dicker

With Expanded Web Presence, Washington Post Veers Left

Weiner Says the Poll Means Bloomberg Will Get ‘Very Nasty’

Foggy Bottom, Top

Reporters Bumped From ‘O Force One’?

Bronx D.A. Withdraws Bizarre Subpoena

History Shmistory

Notes on a Hillary Concession

Across the Wire

The Feature Well vs. Featurewell.com

On the Market: Will SUNY Tax Breaks Spur Development? Unlucky Developer Will Try Again In the Flatiron; Ben Shaoul Sells Upscale FiDi Rental

Permission to Splurge: Whole Foods Isn't Just About Where You Buy Your Food; It's About Who You Think You Are

Post Stalks Photographer Who Secretly Snapped Photos of Neighbors

Andrew Cuomo Shares Fred Dicker’s Private Email With All His Competitors