In 2016, Smith became a senior national correspondent for MTV News, hired alongside writers and editors including Ana Marie Cox, Jessica Hopper, Charles Aaron, Meredith Graves, Doreen St. Félix and Ira Madison III as part of a significant expansion of MTV News programming. Among other on-air appearances for MTV, Smith served as a co-host, with Charlamagne Tha God, Marc Lamont Hill and Franchesca Ramsey, of the joint MTV-BET townhall "What Now", following the police shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile and the shooting of police officers in Dallas that all took place in the first week of July 2016. At MTV, Smith also hosted "The Racket," a YouTube series on politics, especially the US Presidential campaign. He also appeared on the MTV News podcast "The Stakes," including hosting an episode commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.