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A Q&A with Semafor founders Ben and Justin Smith on the outlet's second birthday

The media executives spoke to Status about what they have gotten right — and wrong — two years after founding Semafor.

Justin Smith and Ben Smith. (Courtesy of Semafor)

Semafor is now two years old.

Founded by Ben and Justin Smith, Semafor celebrated its second birthday on Friday with a number of successes under its belt. Over the past two years, the publication has expanded to a team of over 80 staff members, amassed 750,000+ newsletter subscribers, averaged 3 million to 6 million monthly unique visitors, produced more than 100 global events, and forged advertising partnerships with 65 companies.

We chatted with the Smiths for an in-depth discussion about Semafor's journey and the current state of the news media industry. Below is the Q&A, lightly edited for clarity.

It's been two years since Semafor launched. Has the vision for it evolved since its inception? Initially, it seemed like your goal was to compete with global outlets such as the Associated Press and Reuters.

BEN: If I recall correctly, our original, somewhat grandiose goals were to compete with The New York Times, the BBC, and CNN. This is still our long-term goal. Right now, we’re thrilled to be picking off the most sophisticated — and by the way, commercially valuable — ”top of the pyramid” — the world’s leadership class across the private and public sector, with reporting that speaks to a highest-common denominator that needs facts they can trust alongside diverse, honest, global perspectives on the news.

JUSTIN: Semafor today has exceeded even our most ambitious expectations. We launched with vision to build the most transparent, intelligent, impartial, global news product for leaders across the world. Today, we’re in three global territories— the U.S., sub-Saharan Africa and the most recently launched in the Gulf. We’ve amassed over 750,000 newsletter subscriptions with 65 global advertising partnerships and our live journalism business has produced over 100 events to date. Naturally I don’t sleep anymore, but it’s absolutely worth it...

What do you believe to be your greatest achievement thus far?

JUSTIN: Our culture: We have a talent-driven, hyper-competitive, execution-obsessed, but deeply human culture —on both the editorial and commercial sides. To succeed, you need incredibly high talent standards, sky-high metabolism, and an enormous amount of respect and trust. It’s incredibly important to Ben and me that the values of our company are expressed across everything we do — from our products to our people to how we work together and collaborate. I describe our culture as “No drama. No gossip. No ego.”

Hindsight is 2020. But, over the course of the last two years, is there something you wish you could have a redo on?

JUSTIN: Letting Ben pick our first office above a clam restaurant on Mulberry Street in Little Italy — big mistake. No natural light, mystery smells, and Max Tani doing interviews from the cleaning closet. Lesson learned: never let Ben handle real estate again.

It's a tough landscape for publishers. Who do you believe is getting it right in the current climate? Who is way off base?

JUSTIN: I admire the trajectories of POLITICO, Axios, and Punchbowl for sure and think that The NYT has been the most deft of the scaled news publishers, while the FT’s brand is stronger than ever. RIP The Messenger!

What is the greatest opportunity in media right now?

JUSTIN: The premium international news market presents a massive opportunity for aggressive, new entrants like Semafor. The global news market was defined 250 years ago during the colonial era and is ripe for disruption. Early on, we declared “the era of the foreign correspondent as over” and are now redefining international newsgathering through regional editorial hubs powered by expert journalists from within those regions.

Semafor seems to be leaning in on events. What’s the backstory there?

JUSTIN: Live journalism has been a constant thread throughout my career, from my work at The Economist, The Atlantic to Bloomberg. When we built Semafor, I wanted events to be at the heart of our mission and business model. What sets us apart is that we anchor our events in the heart of our newsroom with our most senior, star journalists accountable for building events across their areas of expertise. Events are as important as articles. Looking ahead to next year, we’re doubling down with bold plans to expand, anchored by our flagship platform, The World Economy Summit — our answer to Davos here on U.S. soil.

Paywalls are going up everywhere (CNN, Reuters, The Verge, etcetera). Are paywalls the solution publishers have been looking for? Will Semafor ever lock content behind a paywall?

JUSTIN: One of our favorite words around here is sequencing. In the short-term, we intentionally chose not to place our content behind a paywall because we wanted the runway to build our brand, sharpen our journalism products, and build engaged audiences. We will be experimenting in the very near future with some more targeted, niche products that could easily transition to a consumer revenue model. But to start, we can subsidize our early years of growth with high-CPM corporate advertising and profitable events.

Ben, what do you think about the fact that your former employer, The NYT, has effectively eliminated the media columnist position, in addition to having previously scrubbed the public editor?

BEN: I understand why they eliminated it. It’s incredibly frustrating to publish analysis of your own organization written by someone you think is an idiot — and because it was a one-year tenure and a weird, mostly career-ending job that rotated people through, that’s sometimes what happened. But now there’s no safety valve that they control, and so I think it’s pretty healthy and important that they talk openly to outside reporters when about controversial topics, which — to Joe Kahn’s credit — he does with some regularity. Also, their readers love it.

Is it getting more difficult to attract talent to work at an outlet like Semafor, given reporters can now easily go independent on platforms like Substack and Beehiiv?

JUSTIN: It’s been quite the opposite. A core part of our mission is to fix the broken talent model in our industry. We know that exceptional journalists want more freedom and support, including outstanding editors and multi-platform publishing support. We recently welcomed some of the best reporting talent in Washington, D.C., such as Burgess Everett and Elana Schor, to our newsroom. And in the Gulf, we’ve assembled an incredibly diverse editorial team led by veteran journalist Mohammed Sergie.

Beyond journalism, our industry is incredibly weak at attracting business talent. The best commercial minds often avoid news because it’s a tough, lesser known space. In my 30+ years building media companies, I’ve learned that success is only realized when you have top talent across both the newsroom and the business side.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR:

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Weekend Rundown

  • In an interview with "MediaBuzz" host Howard Kurtz, Donald Trump vowed to go after "60 Minutes." Trump said he would like to "subpoena their records" and that he believes the iconic newsmagazine program should be "taken off the air." [Mediaite]

    • “60 Minutes” posted a statement responding to Trump: “Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.” [CBS News]

    • During the interview, Trump also targeted Joe Scarborough, calling the "Morning Joe" host a "sick puppy." The comment came when Kurtz asked Trump about Scarborough's claim the former president had threatened to arrest members of his team. [Daily Beast]

  • NBC News announced Hallie Jackson will interview Harris on Tuesday, as the vice president continues her media blitz. [NBC News]

  • Elon Musk said he will be "awarding $1 million randomly" to people who have signed his petition, in his effort to support Trump. [WSJ]

    • Uh oh: Marshall Cohen reported that experts believe Musk’s giveaway could be illegal. [CNN]

  • Alec Baldwin returned to "Saturday Night Live," this time spoofing Fox News anchor Bret Baier for the cold open. [THR]

    • Billie Eilish, who has endorsed Kamala Harris, used her appearance on "SNL" to encourage fans to vote. [Deadline]

  • Liam Payne's father visited the hotel where his son died, reading fan tributes at the location. [BBC]

    • Shawn Mendes paused his concert to honor Payne. "The world is crying for you, bother." [Deadline]

    • Fans gathered at London’s Hyde Park to say goodbye. [Variety]

  • At New York Comic Con, Disney announced "Daredevil: Born Again" will premiere on March 4, 2025. [The Wrap]

    • Paramount used the event to make a number of "Star Trek" announcements. [Space]

    • "House of the Dragon" star Matt Smith said on a panel he has yet to see a script or pitch for season three of the hit HBO show. [Variety]

  • Taylor Swift commenced the final leg of her hit "Eras Tour" in Miami, trotting out Florence Welch as a surprise guest to sing to the Florida crowd. [Billboard]

  • Hollywood stars attended the fourth annual Academy Museum Gala, which honored Quentin Tarantino, Paul Mescal, and Rita Moreno. [Deadline]

  • Janice Min published a wide-ranging interview with Tina Brown, in which the two chatted about everything from Meghan Markle to Bret Baier. [The Ankler]

Box Office Report

A scene from "Smile 2." (Courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

  • All smiles for Paramount: "Smiles 2" nabbed $23 million at the box office during its debut weekend. [The Wrap]

  • "The Wild Robot" took the No. 2 spot, adding another $10.1 million to its domestic total, which now exceeds $100 million. [Collider]

  • Elsewhere, "Terrifier 3" came in No. 3 with $9.3 million; "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" with $5 million; "We Live in Time" with $4.2 million; and "Joker: Folie à Deux" with a mere $2.2 million. [Box Office Mojo]

  • Meanwhile, with more than $636.2 million in receipts, Marvel’s "Deadpool & Wolverine" passed "Barbie" at the domestic box office. [Deadline]