Ethan Smith joins Ankler Media as news and features editor

Ethan Smith

Ankler Media announced this morning the appointment of Ethan Smith as news and features editor. He joins after more than two decades at The Wall Street Journal, where he most recently edited the paper's weekend business section, Exchange, and previously served as LA bureau chief. He has also worked at The Industry Standard and New York Magazine.

In his new role, Smith will help shape The Ankler’s editorial pipeline: conceiving and editing enterprise stories and shaping coverage across personalities, deals, studios and streamers, and the new power and money transforming Hollywood and the business of entertainment. He’ll also contribute to Ankler Media's broader editorial work, including live events, video and podcasts. He will report to Ankler Media’s editor in chief, Janice Min.

“Ethan is exactly the kind of editor we want helping shape Ankler Media’s next chapter: deeply experienced, journalistically rigorous and fluent in the power that drives Hollywood and media,” said Min. “As we continue building beyond our newsletter roots into a broader independent platform, Ethan will help us deliver the urgent, ambitious business journalism our subscribers rely on.”

His appointment comes at a defining moment for The Ankler, with a recent move off of Substack onto its own independent platform. In just four years, Ankler Media has grown from a single standout newsletter into a fully integrated media company spanning 15 newsletters, longform, podcasts, video and a sophisticated slate of live events.

About Ankler Media:

Ankler Media is an independent, multi-platform media company covering the business of Hollywood and the evolving ways entertainment, media and technology intersect. Its reporting goes beyond headlines to provide context and perspective on the forces shaping an industry in transformation, offering readers insider insight and analysis into why key decisions are made — and what they mean for the future.

The Ankler, the company's flagship publication, was founded by veteran reporter Richard Rushfield in 2017 as a sharp alternative to traditional trade reporting. It has become an essential read for dealmakers, decision-makers and creative leaders across Hollywood, as well as the next generation of professionals navigating a career in the industry.