The global coverage site Semafor, which will be launched in October by the American journalist duo Justin Smith, ex-Bloomberg, and Ben Smith, ex-New York Times, brought together financiers such as the Brazilian Jorge Paulo Lemann, from the 3G fund, and the American John Thornton, formerly of Goldman Sachs, reports the Financial Times.
In a statement to the financial newspaper, Lemann said that “a truly global media company that can meet the needs of today’s news audience through excellent and reliable information is really attractive.”
According to the FT, “the Smiths shunned venture capitalists in Silicon Valley” who had financed outlets such as BuzzFeed and Vice, and “raised money from wealthy investors who, in theory, will be more likely to keep the company in the event of macroeconomic headwinds.” result in a difficult start”.
For Justin and Ben Smith, the worldwide coverage of the NYT or vehicles like CNN would be “too focused on domestic readers”, Americans, “and lacking public trust”.
The new model would be similar to that of Netflix streaming, producing content for local markets “rather than forcing tastes [americanos] on households in India, France and Brazil.” Starting with Africa, where it has already hired a Nigerian editor, Semafor should grow “market by market, with an emphasis on the Middle East, India, Japan and Europe”, without mentioning Latin America.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
