​’Clearly My Name Drives Traffic’ — Stephen A. Smith Takes Shots at Awful Announcing After Michael Wilbon Says He’s ‘Not a Journalist’Michael Wilbon has weighed in on one of the biggest debates surrounding ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith: Is he still a journalist?The longtime “Pardon the Interruption” host addressed that question during an appearance on “Awful Announcing” on Wednesday, offering a candid assessment of Smith’s current role in sports media.Stephen A. Smith Claps Back at Awful Announcing After Michael Wilbon’s CommentsWhen host Brandon Contes asked Wilbon to clarify how he views Smith today, the former Washington Post columnist drew a clear distinction between reporting and commentary.Wilbon argued that journalism requires being on the ground, gathering information, and being accountable to the people being covered.He said that Smith is “not a journalist anymore,” adding that the former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter has become “a show,” who does “a damn good job at it.”Wilbon elaborated further.“When you write that column that’s negative about the first baseman, your [expletive] better be at the cage the next day,” Wilbon said.Following the interview, Awful Announcing published a story expanding on Wilbon’s comments.In that article, Brendon Kleen wrote that Smith frequently references his reporting background whenever he “gets into a feud with an athlete or fellow commentator.” Kleen added that “since he became the face of the ’embrace debate’ era at ESPN, Smith’s bona fides as a reporter have diminished.”A few hours later, Smith responded on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”“Boy, do they make a habit of mentioning me all the time,” Smith said. “I don’t know how many times a day or per week I’m on their website. I do know, and I can easily surmise that clearly my name drives traffic. It keeps their website afloat.”The veteran commentator also directly answered questions about his journalistic background.“When I say to an athlete that will come at me or anybody else in sports that I’m a journalist, I’m talking about by trade and nature. I’m talking about a body of work that spans decades. No, I don’t have to do that anymore. I’ve graduated,” Smith explained.“There are journalists, there are columnists. There’s columnists, and there’s commentators and radio hosts. Everything comes with it, but the point is responsibilities change, but the nature of who you are isn’t.”Unsurprisingly, Smith addressed Wilbon directly, making it clear he understood the context behind his former colleague’s remarks, even if he disagreed with the broader conclusion.“But because I’m not a beat writer anymore in the locker room, folks want to say I’m not a journalist. You don’t get the right to say that. Mike Wilbon does, because Mike Wilbon has done it,” Smith clarified. “And I get where Michael Wilbon is coming from, because he’s speaking in a literal sense ab