News + Consequences

BuzzFeed vs. Trump

BuzzFeed News pushes further than its competitors. Can it handle the consequences?

by Ben Popper and Peter Kafka Feb 7, 2017, 8:00am EST

Illustrations by Justin Renteria

Despite Trump’s attacks and condemnation by fellow journalists, Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News, seemed confident that the decision to publish the dossier in full was the right one: he defended it on cable TV shows, Twitter, and in an op-ed in The New York Times. Speaking with Reliable Sources host Brian Stelter, Smith suggested that the move to publish the dossier wasn’t a one-off decision, but a different, more modern approach to journalism. Unlike traditional organizations that start by asking why they should share documents, Smith said BuzzFeed starts at the inverse position: “Why should we suppress this?"

Smith says that News has plenty of resources and that his group will continue to do the aggressive reporting that’s garnered accolades. BuzzFeed News has hired more than 20 journalists since November, putting its head count above where it began in 2016.

 

After Trump’s victory in November, BuzzFeed senior staff conferred with their legal team as they considered the risks of publishing hard-hitting stories under a new administration. Peretti thinks the company is buffered by money, good counsel, and the law. He also thinks that writing stories Trump doesn’t like can be a good thing for his business.

“If you actually want to reach young people, you have to have a voice,” he said. Young readers, and the brands that want to market to them, will respond to a publication with some spine. “Having a little swagger, having a point of view, being willing to do things that seem risky, is less risky than being the lapdog of the administration.”