Buzzfeed chief Ben Smith leaves for NY Times columnist job

BuzzFeed’s longtime editor-in-chief, Ben Smith — who helped build the site into a serious news outlet from one focused on quizzes, listicles and cute cat commentary — told staffers Tuesday he is leaving for The New York Times to be a media columnist.

The big question now is who will BuzzFeed Chief Executive Jonah Peretti pick to succeed Smith, who had steered the news side since his arrival in 2011 from Politico.

The company said the search will be mounted both internally and externally and that publisher Dao Nguyen will be aiding Peretti in the search.

In his farewell note to staffers, Smith seemed to single out “Sam,” or Executive Editor Samantha Henig, previously with The New York Times, and “Ginny,” or Virginia Hughes, his deputy editor since mid-2019.

“It’s been an incredible 8 years,” Smith wrote on Twitter as well as in a letter he sent to staff, saying he longed to return to full-time writing. He said he’s sticking around until early March.

His resignation comes as the site, like many others in the digital publishing world, has been trying to figure out new revenue streams to sustain a profitable business model. In January 2019, the company cut 200 people. Editorial staffers the following month opted to affiliate with the NewsGuild of New York.

Smith published the infamous Steele document by an ex-British intelligence agent that contained unsubstantiated allegations about Donald Trump in Russia.

At the Times, Smith will be trying to resurrect a column that was lately written by Jim Rutenberg, who has been on book leave.

The Times said he is returning, but on the political and investigative beat.