Starting Up

So this is old news, but hey, it’s not like I’m the fastest writer in the world – despite having spent more than a decade at one of the fastest real-time news agencies in the world.

Although I’m not at one of the fastest real-time news agencies in the world any more; the news is that I left Reuters in April and joined Semafor, a new news startup founded by Ben Smith and Justin Smith, where I’ll be Executive Editor.

I love Reuters, but this was a too-good-to-turn-down opportunity to help build something from the ground up as opposed to work within a 175-year-old institution; to “make my own mistakes,” as I’ve said to any number of people. So far it’s been a wonderful adventure – a frenetic, kinetic, full-speed ride. And a ton of fun.

What is Semafor, you ask? Good question. Here’s what we say on our job ads:

Semafor is a global news platform for an increasingly complex world in which consumers are overwhelmed by too many news sources and unsure what to trust.  We are building Semafor from the ground up to enable world-class journalists to deliver reporting and insights with rigor in journalistic forms that ensure a new level of transparency. Our editors will distill the most important stories from all over in formats that uncover the forces shaping the stories, explain the interests behind polarizing narratives, and replenish the stock of shared facts. As a global platform, Semafor recognizes that smart people can disagree and that informed readers need to understand alternative points of view from competing centers of power and culture in a multi-polar world. 

There’s more to come, and we hope you’ll check us out when we launch later this year.

Advertisement