By Helen Coster
(Reuters) – Semafor, a global news platform founded by former Bloomberg Media Chief Executive Officer Justin Smith and New York Times media columnist Ben Smith, launched on Tuesday, betting on a new article format and newsletters from well-known journalists to compete in a crowded industry that is fighting for readers’ attention.
Most of Semafor’s content will be presented in a structure executives describe as a ‘Semaform’: articles broken up into separate sections that include the news, the reporter’s view on the news, and the counter-argument to that view.
That structure is designed to address issues such as a trust deficit between the public and the press, and some readers’ inability to distinguish between facts and analysis, said Semafor Executive Editor Gina Chua in an interview Monday. Chua formerly was the executive editor at Reuters.
Semafor will also feature newsletters from journalists including Ben Smith – who also serves as Semafor’s editor-in-chief – and Wall Street veteran Liz Hoffman.
The platform said it has so far raised $25 million from investors including David Bradley, owner of The Atlantic magazine; Jessica Lessin, founder of technology website Information; and cryptocurrency exchange FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. That funding will take Semafor to the end of 2023 and into 2024, according to chief executive officer Justin Smith.
At launch, Semafor said that 75% of its revenue will come from advertising and 25% from event sponsorships. The company eventually plans to charge for subscriptions.
Some news organizations such as Axios have had success luring readers with shorter, unconventional formats. Axios, which launched in 2017, agreed to sell itself to Cox Enterprises for $525 million in August.
But other digital news startups have failed to find long-term independent success, with ventures like Vice Media and Refinery29 consolidating in an effort to diversify their businesses.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
