Gina Chua, executive editor of Semafor, on a new brand of transparent journalism

Subscribe to the Journalism.co.uk podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud and Spotify

This week saw the highly-anticipated launch of Semafor, a global media brand with grand ambitions to be a highly trusted source of news.

There is a lot of hype around this company since it is co-founded by two household names with stellar track records: Justin Smith, former CEO of Bloomberg, president of The Atlantic and co-founder of Quartz, and Ben Smith, the founding editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed.

Tackling dwindling levels of trust and soaring levels of news avoidance are among its top priorities. It intends to do that with an article format promoting transparency, newsletters fronted by well-known journalists, and a start-up mentality of experimentation. But a lot of this is not exactly original - it is a well-trodden path by other successful digital media startups. What exactly is new?

We hear more about the vision with Semafor's executive editor Gina Chua, a high-profile name who joined after a decade with Reuters in senior editorial and commercial roles.

Semafor's bet is that a clearer and deeper approach to global news will have a ripple effect, earning the trust of readers and their sceptical friends.

We talked to journalists and media watchers about what readers and viewers want — but aren't finding — in news and came up with our attempt to address the issues. pic.twitter.com/7CdSkrZ0hx

— Semafor (@semafor) October 18, 2022

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).