Ben Smith on BuzzFeed's Fall, Bob Iger's Streaming Test and Picking Your Team for AI

["Traffic" author Ben Smith]( [WaxWord: Ben Smith Talks Digital Media’s Death Dive – ‘You Could Feel That Moment Coming to an End’ | Video]( By Sharon Waxman With Vice facing down bankruptcy, BuzzFeed News going up in smoke and too many digital media companies to count in the media graveyard, it’s clear that an era has ended. Ben Smith has been handmaiden to and chronicler of the digital media revolution in this century. The rise of the Huffington Post, Breitbart.com, Drudge and most importantly BuzzFeed, where he was editor in chief, led to his book out this week, “Traffic: Genius, Rivalry and Delusion in the Billion-Dollar Race to Go Viral.” He’s now also the editor-in-chief of Semafor, a new digital media company focused on global politics and financial news. “You could feel that moment coming to an end,” he said of the pioneering days of digital media and his impulse to write “Traffic.” At his heart, he remains a media junkie, and talked to WaxWord about it all, including what he calls what “will be looked upon as like the dumbest decision in the history of digital media” — not selling BuzzFeed to the Walt Disney Company for $600 million. [Read The Full Story Here]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [disney abc signature wga writer strike]( [Disney’s Streaming Profitability Is Wall Street’s Top Concern – Not the Hollywood Writers' Strike]( By Lucas Manfredi [Read The Full Story Here]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [A picketer wearing a robot costume works the picket lines at Universal Studios on Monday, May 6, 2023.]( [Hollywood, Are You Team Human or Team AI? It’s Time to Choose | PRO Insight]( By Peter Csathy [Read The Full Story Here]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [MTV News Shuttered]( [Endeavor Earnings]( [Endeavor Sees Sports Revenue Surges]( [directors-guild-of-america-dga]( [DGA Committee Warns of ‘Conflict’ in Studio Talks]( [Writers struck over emerging tech issues in 2008. Could they strike again in 2023?]( [Fox ‘Well-Positioned’ to Deal With Writers’ Strike]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Wrap Pro logo] Discover why entertainment executives and professionals rely on the WrapPRO platform daily for exclusive coverage, analysis, deeper reporting, and access to VIP events & screenings throughout the year. [Subscribe Today]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( TheWrap | 2034 Armacost Ave Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](