‘I Was Shocked by How Fast It Happened’: NY Times’ Ben Smith Reacts to Ozy Media’s Collapse Days After His Exposé

New York Times media columnist Ben Smith broke down the repercussions of Ozy Media’s collapse in the aftermath of his exposé on the company’s deceptive practices.

It’s been just under a week since Smith published his article saying the company allegedly grossly inflated their audience engagement, attempted to scam investors, and engaged in other questionable activities. The report came after Ozy spent months portraying itself as a successful emerging media outlet, but the scandalous revelations led to the company shutting itself down in a matter of days.

Smith joined Brian Stelter on Sunday to talk about “the big mirage” as the CNN anchor put described Ozy on Reliable Sources. Smith assessed that “there’s a lot of hazy claims made about digital media,” but Ozy caught his attention when he learned that their chief operating officer, Samir Rao, impersonated a YouTube executive and tried to sell the company to Goldman Sachs.

Smith continued by saying that inflating engagement is a kind of “puffery” that digital outlets partake in, though Ozy took it to “a much more extreme degree” than typical. When asked if he expected Ozy to fall apart so quickly after his report, Smith admitted “I was shocked by how fast it happened.”

“I think part of it is things just happen faster now,” he said. “But I think part of it was advisers and their investors felt misled, and it’s pretty hard to come back from that.”

Watch above, via CNN.