This Grandma, now retired, has the time daily and I read the local newspaper, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. On line, I read Apple News and Flipboard and most of the news articles published daily, PBS and BBC
News. On TV, I watch the NBC nightly news and CNN the rest of the day in the background when home. Weekly, I watch Sixty Minutes and Meet the Press. For a take on the news with humor, I truly miss Jon Stewart, but watch the monologues (recorded, and the next day) by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
Does that make me someone with too much time on my hands or not enough hobbies to keep me from a compulsion on the news?
I know I seek newshounds (definition: a news journalist who is exceptionally aggressive, vigorous, or persistent in the pursuit of a story or its details). But, after all the news I seek on a daily basis, I feel unfulfilled. Even BBC, getting an international view of the news, does not satisfy that nagging feeling in my gut that the news I am getting is not right for me. Something is wrong, either with me or the news fed to me, but until today I could not put my finger on it.
I usually would skim over a Business Section article on page B2 titled, “Media Columnist is Leaving the Times for a Global News Start-Up,” by David Gelles, New York Times, January 5, 2022.
However, the picture of Ben Smith with the caption that “Ben Smith joined The New York Times in 2020 after eight years as editor in chief of BuzzFeed,” intrigued me to read the entire article. On Apple News, I like BuzzFeed’s reporting. According to the article, Ben Smith is credited “with turning BuzzFeed from a digital news start up into ‘a world-class, global news organization in less than a decade.’ BuzzFeed News was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting in 2018 for its work investigating operatives with apparent ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia engaging in targeted killings in Britain and the United States.”
Media Columnist Ben Smith’s impressive resume takes up most of the article, well worth reading. I think he qualifies as a newshound extraordinaire. He is 45 years old and will be the top editor for the news start-up. The other Smith is Justin Smith, age 52, who will lead the business side. There are no details yet, but I know that we Boomers have been waiting for the exciting New Global News Organization to be started by Ben Smith and Justin Smith.
Ben Smith’s quote in the article is so us Boomers!
“There are 200 million people who are college educated, who read in English, but who no one is really treating like an audience, but who talk to each other and talk to us. . . . That’s who we see as our audience.”
“Ben Smith said that he and Justin Smith had been discussing the fractured state of the news media for years . . . .The new venture, he said, would aim to break news and offer nuance to complex stories, without falling into familiar partisan tropes.”
Another quote by Ben Smith:
“The pressures of social media and polarization have a lot of news organizations talking down to their audience.” . . .
Another quote in another newspaper:
2“My plan is to launch a premium news business that serves unbiased journalism to a global audience and provides a high-quality platform for the best journalists in the world.”
Justin Smith is equally impressive. He is Bloomberg Media Chief Executive Officer. Michael Bloomberg is quoted as saying, “Justin helped transform Bloomberg Media into a modern, digital, media industry leader.”
Yes, I am very excited! I may not have to spend all day deciphering what I think is newsworthy from many news sources. I will enjoy discussing and debating what I read with friends and colleagues, but now maybe I will find the news from the Smiths to be more trustworthy.
Ben Smith and Justin Smith said they know their audience wants news that treats them with respect.
I know that we Boomers have been waiting for the exciting New Global News Organization to be started by Ben Smith and Justin Smith.
If you are a Boomer grandma like me, it was most important for me to know who were the parents who raised these two dynamos. Disappointed, I found out that they are not related, according to the news.
Maybe they should do 23 and Me or Ancestry.com.
Joy,
Mema
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