Meet Shani Hilton, BuzzFeed’s Newsmaker in Chief

"Nobody knows anything," Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman famously wrote of the movie business. BuzzFeed’s executive editor of news Shani Hilton has a slight twist on that for the media world: Nobody knows anything for longer than six months.

Just a few years out of college, Hilton finds herself in a fascinating role: Managing a staff of more than 100 people producing BuzzFeed’s "real" news (as in, no cat pictures). In an interview with Peter Kafka on the latest episode of "Re/code Decode," she said even successful and growing media startups shouldn’t assume they know the right ways to approach content and distribution.

"We’re still in a state of figuring things out," she said. "We’re into change, we’re used to it, we’re down with it. The bigger we get, the harder it is to get people to realize: We don’t have to do things the way we’ve done them for the last six months."

Amelia Krales for Re/code

Hilton also discussed how she, in her 20s, came to a senior role at the growing media company, and how BuzzFeed is trying to differentiate itself from the print and broadcast giants of the past. She disputed Mic CEO Chris Altchek’s claim that millennials need a different type of news.

"Millennials are interested in the same things that other people are," she said. "‘Tell me something I don’t know. Tell me something I care about.'"

Listen to or download the episode in the player above, or click here to subscribe to "Re/code Decode" on iTunes; you can also find "Re/code Decode" right here on TuneIn.

Asa Mathat

And here’s something special: In this week’s podcast, Peter explains how you can get a free ticket to the Code/Media Conference next month in southern California. We’re giving away a free ticket to the conference — a $3,000 value — to one winner who follows the instructions he lays out. The winner must cover her or his own travel and lodging.

Kara Swisher will be in this space on Monday to talk with Lyft president John Zimmer, and Peter Kafka will be back next Thursday to talk to Gawker’s Nick Denton.

If you like this show, don’t miss our newest podcast, "Too Embarrassed to Ask." It’s a bigger and better version of Lauren Goode and Kara Swisher’s weekly Q&A segment from "Re/code Decode." Click here to subscribe to the new show on iTunes right now. And you should also check out "Re/code Replay," an archive of audio content from our events and interviews by Kara Swisher, Walt Mossberg, Peter Kafka, Ina Fried and more. To subscribe to that, click right here.

You can follow @Recode on Twitter for the latest on upcoming guests.

If you like what we’re doing, please write a review on iTunes — and if you don’t, just tweet-strafe Kara and Peter. You can also suggest guests for the show on Twitter and we’ll do our best to nab them for a Red Chair interview.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

We have a request

Vox's journalism is free because we believe that everyone deserves to understand the world that they live in. That kind of knowledge helps create better citizens, neighbors, friends, parents, consumers and stewards of this planet. In short, understanding benefits everyone. You can join in on this mission by making a financial gift to Vox today. Reader support helps keep our work free, for everyone. Will you join us?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$95/year

$120/year

$250/year

$350/year

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $120/year

Yes, I'll give $120/year

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via