Rake, meet face! BuzzFeed's Ben Smith accidentally admits his site's guilty of lazy 'journalism' [screenshots]

Sarah D | 1:47 PM on January 18, 2019

BuzzFeed editor in chief Ben Smith is having a terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad day. And we’ve gotta say, it’s pretty much all his fault.

After running full-throttle with a sketchy report based on evidence that its co-authors may or may not have seen (depending on whom you ask), Smith pitched a snit-fit decrying all the criticism he and BuzzFeed are getting today:

.@BuzzFeedBen on Trump supporters' attacks on BuzzFeed News and its reporters: "That is the last and weakest resort when you don't have anything else to say." pic.twitter.com/yjxgqhZPlH

— AM2DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) January 18, 2019

Actually, it’s not just Trump supporters who are calling BuzzFeed out today. Even CNN’s Oliver Darcy — yes, that one — is pointing out that report co-author Jason Leopold has a pretty significant credibility problem:

—@JasonLeopold and @a_cormier_ have scored a number of scoops for BuzzFeed on the Trump Tower Moscow project. But the intense attention has also resurfaced Leopold's checkered past. My story: https://t.co/yuIXpkM2Vg

— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) January 18, 2019

Well, given Smith’s pissy mood, it should come as no surprise that he took offense at Darcy’s choice of words as well:

"Resurfaced" is really the laziest word in journalism. This is an … adequate clip job, but CNN should change the headline and go do some reporting. https://t.co/gz7tNhUvzS

— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) January 18, 2019

And if anyone knows about lazy journalism, it’s the editor in chief of BuzzFeed. Has he read his site, like, ever?