Deez Interviews: Ben Smith, on WFH life + his daily media diet
Today’s interview is with Ben Smith, formerly known as @buzzfeedben, now @benyt. We talked about what he’s been reading, watching, and listening to lately in the wake of his new role as the New York Times media columnist and, well, you know, current events.
First, how's the WFH life going for you?
It’s pretty strange. I can’t tell how much of it for me is moving from running a newsroom to a job that’s sort of socially isolating anyway, but I’ve apparently been wandering around the house annoying people to the degree that my daughter yesterday took me aside and said, “We’re FINE” and sent me back to my desk. Which I think is basically how I was as an editor.
You’re two months into your new job at the NYT — how do the deadlines work for a Sunday column?
I had this idea that I’d work Monday to Friday on a single piece, and file perfect copy Friday afternoon. In fact, I spend Monday and Tuesday wasting people’s time, at some point figure out what I want to write, and then just crash out as much reporting as I can toward the end of the week, and wind up ruining my editor’s weekend.
What does a typical day look like for you in terms of where and how you're getting your news?
I had my brain rewired by Twitter around 2010 and that hasn’t changed much. I look at Twitter while I’m walking my dogs in the morning around 7, then again when I take one of them to play with my aunt’s pit bulls at 8:30, and then just kind of stay in the news cycle as long as I’m awake. I’m told this isn’t all that healthy.
How has your media diet changed since the pandemic started?
Well, my job is to consume a bit more media, and I’m using YouTube TV a lot to keep an eye on cable. I’m trying to watch Tucker Carlson’s show, which is probably (yikes) the most influential piece of political media in the country right now when I can.
In terms of reading, I find I’ve been finding my way to The Atlantic a lot lately, and keep coming back to BuzzFeed News and being impressed and jealous about it. I’m also trying to kind of find my way around the Times without working there physically, and am reading it a bit more intentionally than usual and keep running into things I don’t expect, particularly great servicey stuff.
For books, I usually read a lot of fiction but have had trouble focusing; I just read a spy novel Lydia Polgreen recommended, at the risk of outing here here, called The Tourist. Also, I gave in and bought a Kindle.
And I’m doing a fair amount of manual labor and so I’m listening to more podcasts, and am on a bit of a China podcast binge — the excellent Sinica podcast, and I just listened to Jane Perlez’s one-episode “On The Trail of Xi Jinping,” which is really good.
Finally, what’s one thing in your regular media diet that might surprise people?
My kids text me TikToks all day, and have made a few. I don’t think I should share those.
Psssst don’t forget to follow @benyt and have a good weekend!
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Charlie Gunn: Until December I was the editor of NME in the UK (the long-running music mag, now digital only). I am currently setting up a new music publication staffed entirely by female music journalists and photogs, to try and provide an alternate view on music. I'm looking for contributors to pitch me ideas for music op-eds. I have a weekly newsletter already here: AND I'm freelancing myself too so open to commissions!
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