The launched on Tuesday with no less an ambition than reinventing the news story.
Semafor is the brainchild of Ben Smith 鈥� former media reporter for The New York Times and, before that, former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed 鈥� and Justin Smith, ex-CEO of Bloomberg Media. Since both men 鈥� who are not related 鈥� quit their previous jobs in January, Semafor has raised $25 million and hired more than 50 staff members.
Semafor鈥檚 website, with a distinctive yellow-tinged backdrop that looks like a newspaper left out in the sun, went live shortly after 6 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, with eight newsletters in place as well as an events business.
鈥淲e see, and are very excited about, a big opportunity to create a new and high-quality, independent global news brand that is obsessed with solving a number of big consumer frustrations that we see in the news business, primarily polarization,鈥� said Justin Smith, the new company鈥檚 CEO.
The founders also believe people suffer from information overload. While another media organization may seem an odd way to deal with that issue, they envision Semafor helping consumers make sense of all that鈥檚 out there.
Stories contain separate sections that present the news, the author鈥檚 analysis, a counter to that viewpoint, perspective on how the issue is seen elsewhere in the world and a distillation of other stories on the topic.
鈥淩eally good reporters do analysis all the time,鈥� said Gina Chua, executive editor, a post she formerly held at Reuters. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 great in a story but oftentimes readers don鈥檛 know where the facts stop and the analysis begins. What we鈥檙e doing is very clearly separating them out.鈥�
It鈥檚 probably the highest-risk move Semafor is making, said Ben Smith, the organization鈥檚 editor-in-chief.
Among the stories Semafor offered at launch: a previously unreported accident at SpaceX that injured a rocket technician, by Reed Albergotti, formerly of the Washington Post; and an investor group鈥檚 campaign to force Coca-Cola into the garbage business, by Liz Hoffmann, formerly of the Wall Street Journal.
Ex-Washington Post writer David Weigel interviewed Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman and Ben Smith looked at his old shop, with a story about an identity crisis at The New York Times.
Ben Smith鈥檚 story was Semafor鈥檚 centerpiece on Tuesday morning, next to a welcome to readers that he also penned. A series of clocks on top of the site showed the time in various cities, including Washington, Dubai and Beijing. A map of the world sat in the upper right corner.
A breaking news column ran down the left side of the site and, on the right, readers were encouraged to sign up for various newsletters.
Ben Smith will author a newsletter on the media, and others will center on business, technology and climate. Semafor Flagship, the day鈥檚 main newsletter, will be written from London, while Semafor Principals will look at Washington鈥檚 power players.
The latter is currently considered the turf of Politico 鈥� another of Ben Smith鈥檚 former homes 鈥� and Axios, two of the century鈥檚 most successful media startups.
Events will also be a big part of Semafor鈥檚 business, and 11 have already been held. They include a series on trust in news, sponsored by the Knight Foundation, that featured Ben Smith鈥檚 interview with Tucker Carlson.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an extension of our journalism, it鈥檚 very very popular with clients and an important way to monetize news,鈥� Justin Smith said.
Another event is planned for December, when many African leaders will be in Washington. Semafor is anticipating worldwide expansion, making Africa the first area overseas where it is investing in reporting.
At its start, the company is looking to make money through advertising and brand partnerships, said Rachel Oppenheim, chief revenue officer.
The news site, , will be available for free initially. After a year, the company will look for ways to charge for its service, Justin Smith said.
鈥淯ltimately, we believe we will have subscriptions over time,鈥� he said.
鈥擠avid Bauder, The Associated Press
