Ben Reininga is the VP of Audio and Video at Politico, a role in which he works with teams in the US and Europe to build out a portfolio of shows and connect new audiences with Politico’s journalism.
He’s also a Fellow at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. He spent the prior year in-residence as the 2024/5 Nieman Berkman-Klein Fellow for Journalism Innovation at Harvard, a joint post focused on journalism and technology. His work researches the rise of creator journalists on social platforms, identifying responsible ways to harness growing audience interest while maintaining credibility. He’ll be continuing this work as an affiliate at the Berkman-Klein Center.
In prior professional roles, he spent 5 years as the head of editorial at Snapchat, where he led a team focused on creating high-quality content for tens of millions of users. He built partnerships with major news outlets like The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NBC, The Guardian, Axel Springer and others; set policy to ensure accuracy and credibility; and launched products to create better ways for users to get news and information. Reininga previously led a 50-person video team at Gizmodo Media Group and held managing roles in the newsrooms at NowThis News and Refinery29 among other outlets. He holds a BA from Columbia University in Comparative Literature and lives in Brooklyn with his husband and their tiny dog.
