Last month you announced your own media aggregator, Stop the N.R.A. Are you applying the BuzzFeed model to your campaign against the National Rifle Association?
I actually did the Web site 12 years ago. We just posted our first piece of original content. We looked at the 2012 U.S. Senate campaigns in which the N.R.A. ranked one candidate over the other; and in 26 races, 20 candidates with the lower N.R.A. rating won. All you have to do is put a crack in the wall, and the wall could come tumbling down.
Why do you think gun-control measures post-Sandy Hook failed in Washington?
Because the perceived or real power of the N.R.A. — I'm going to argue it's perceived — is unmatched in D.C., and when push came to shove, a handful of senators were afraid to go up against them.
How would you grade President Obama on the issue?
Until Newtown, you can't even grade him, because he didn't even have an effort. So a D, an F. And I think since Newtown, you'd have to give him somewhere between a B+ and an A for effort. We'll see what the new grade is when something passes.
You were an executive at AOL, and I'm curious what you think of the brand today. It just seems so old. I think of the Tom Hanks movie or something.
Actually I was in that Tom Hanks movie. Nora Ephron was a friend, and she called me up and said, "Hey, I want to talk to somebody at AOL, because I want to do this movie, and if you don't give it to me, I'm gonna call MSN." So I said, "I'll arrange for you to have AOL if you put me in the movie." She said, "Deal." I have a tiny cameo with no lines and not even my face. But I think that AOL has a long way to go.
People thought Tina Brown's Daily Beast would go head to head with Arianna and The Huffington Post, which you founded together. But that hasn't really happened. Is it a disadvantage to have an editor from the old media days of town cars and huge salaries?
I know Tina well, and she can be hungry when she wants to be. We spent a million dollars the first year of The Huffington Post. My guess is that they spent at least 10 times that the first year. So it doesn't mean that Tina spent so much, it just means that maybe she raised too much money. Sometimes it isn't good to have all that money, especially with a start-up. They don't have particularly great technology, and they haven't built a community.
What about us old-media people? Do we need more slide shows of animals that look as if they need a hug?
I don't think so. You have to protect the current brand, but you need to go all in more. I have a 31-year-old and a 28-year-old, and neither of them have picked up a print magazine in I don't know how many years. And they don't watch NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC or Fox. Those brands are somewhat meaningless to them and their peers.
Your son's Web site, Thrillist, is fun. How did he pitch you on that?
I invested in Daily Candy. He came to me and said, "Hey, Dad, I have this idea: I want to basically do a Daily Candy for guys." And I said, "Don't quit your day job."
I heard that your daughter has a Web venture for pets in the works.
We're going to start a Web site in the fall called The Dodo. It's going to be everything from your pet at home to not having elephants in circuses because it's inhumane.
Won't that compete with BuzzFeed's animal slide shows?
I don't think we're going to compete with them, but if it does, I'll have to give Ben Smith a run for his money. Family first.
Does nepotism bother you?
It doesn't. What could be better than working with your children?
That's what Rupert Murdoch says.
It appears that I have a better relationship with my children than Rupert Murdoch. If you can't help your kids, who can you help?
INTERVIEW HAS BEEN CONDENSED AND EDITED.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: July 12, 2013
An earlier version of this interview misstated the age of one of Ken Lerer's children. His son is 31, not 33.
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