How star reporter’s Syria podcast sent New York Times into crisis

Caliphate, an insider's story of Isis, caused a sensation. But with its credibility in doubt, questions are raised about the media

Ben Smith of the New York Times is not known for pulling his punches. The former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, who revealed the dossier on suspicions that the Kremlin held kompromat on Donald Trump, is on a new beat - the US media.

Smith's most recent column was a bombshell, his target the practices of his own employer as well as one of its brightest stars, Rukmini Callimachi, an award-winning correspondent who covered the rise and fall of Islamic State.