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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)
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