Ben Smith is the co-founder of Semafor and author of the forthcoming book Traffic joins Erik Torenberg and Antonio Garcia Martinez for a discussion about the hostility between tech and media, what digital media startups got wrong, analysis of institutions like The New York Times, and what the future of media holds.

Also, check out the debut of Erik's long-form interview podcast Upstream. He most recently interviewed Joe Lonsdale and David Sacks. Subscribe here: @UpstreamwithErikTorenberg

LINKS:
Traffic by Ben Smith www.amazon.com/Traffic-Genius-Rivalry-Delusion-Billion-Dollar/dp/0593299752/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OQEONBQ16K8N&keywords=ben+smith+traffic&qid=1683392645&sprefix=ben+smith+traffic%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-1

Semafor: www.semafor.com/


TIMESTAMPS:
(00:00) Intro
(3:00) Ben Smith’s book “Traffic”
(8:00) Buzzfeed’s cultural impact
(10:00) Regrets around the Steele Dossier
(15:00) Sponsors: Secureframe | MarketerHire
(16:30) Objectivity vs subjectivity in journalsim
(20:00) Left wing vs right wing journalism
(25:20) Tech media
(29:00) Cambridge Analytica bullshit
(33:00) Buzzfeed Uber controversy
(36:30) Tech and media fall out
(49:30) The root of tech vs media dissonance
(1:05:00) Free speech
(1:12:00) “The book is a eulogy to a rotting corpse that got what was coming to it”
(1:15:30) Ads vs subscription
(1:20:00) Future of media

TWITTER:
@MOZ_Podcast
@semaforben (Ben)
@eriktorenberg (Erik)
@antoniogm (Antonio)

More shownotes released in our Substack: momentofzen.substack.com/


Please support our sponsors: Secureframe | MarketerHire

- Secureframe: secureframe.com/
Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention MOZ during your demo to get 20% off your first year.

- MarketerHire: marketerhire.com/moz
MarketerHire is one of my favorite resources for growing startups looking to hire marketers. With 1000s of pre-vetted marketers across a dozen roles, whether you need help with growth, marketing, SEO, lifecycle, content, or any other aspect of growth marketing strategy. Over 5,000 companies already use MarketerHire to hire expert marketers on demand, ranging from top venture-backed startups to the most well-known Fortune 500s.

Go to marketerhire.com/moz and use code MOZ to get your $1,000 credit for your first hire.



Thank you Graham Bessellieu for production.