Ben Smith, a pioneering political blogger and editor-in-chief of the news and entertainment site BuzzFeed, will be the commencement speaker at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s ninth graduation ceremonies on Dec. 18th at TheTimesCenter, 242 W. 41st St.
Since joining BuzzFeed in January 2012, Smith has built a newsroom of about 250 reporters and editors covering world politics, business, entertainment and investigative stories. The site’s traffic has grown to more than 200 million monthly unique visitors.
The New Republic called Smith “one of the most talented and admired scoop-mongers in the game,” Fast Company named him one of its “Most Creative People in Business,” and Fortune featured him on its 2013 list of “40 Under 40.” His Twitter account – @BuzzFeedBen – boasts more than 220,000 followers.
Prior to joining BuzzFeed, Smith was senior political writer for Politico from 2007 to 2011. Before his Politico stint, he wrote a column and a blog for the New York Daily News; started New York’s first political blog, The Politicker, for The New York Observer; co-founded the political site Room Eight, and worked as City Hall bureau chief for the New York Sun.
Smith has also written for The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, the New York Post, and The New Republic.
Born and raised in Manhattan, he is a Yale University graduate and lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Corner Media Publisher Liena Zagare, and their three children.
Smith becomes the latest commencement speaker for the J-School, following, among others, now-New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet, New Yorker Editor David Remnick, “This American Life” host Ira Glass, and Emmy-winning journalists Christiane Amanpour and Bill Moyers.
For more information, contact Simon Heathcote, executive director of communications and marketing at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, at or .