Adam Smith
Peter Schorsch hunkers down with former Tampa Bay Times Political Editor Adam Smith. Smith now serves as senior Vice President of Mercury Public Affairs, a bipartisan public strategy firm. Smith talks about the current state of journalism as reporters faced increased workload yet shrinking newsrooms. The daily flow of news has turned into a flood amid the COVID-19 pandemic and journalists are on the frontlines keeping up. But with advertising revenue dropping as businesses and industries shutdown, newsrooms are facing layoffs. Smith speculates whether some will survive the pandemic. Smith also weighs in on an idea U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan floated the month, suggesting a federal bailout for local media. Smith weighs the merits against the potential ethics and conflict of interest questions it would raise. On the ‘when did it get real’ question, Smith jokes it was when he went from laughing at people worried about running out toilet paper to realizing we were actually running out of toilet paper. The two also dive into one of Peter’s favorite topics, the Baltimore crime series The Wire. And what’s Adam watching? British police procedurals. Tune in to find out what the heck that is. And don’t worry, he promises he also enjoys trashy television. Special Guest: Adam Smith.