Ben Smith
@semaforben.bsky.social
📤 39242
📥 330
📝 39
Semafor EIC, author of "Traffic" out May 2
Bill Nguyen is paying (in tokens) to live in the AI future
www.semafor.com/article/04/2...
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The man who is paying to see the future
Serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen says his use of AI has moved beyond chatbot to body double.
https://www.semafor.com/article/04/24/2026/the-man-who-is-paying-to-see-the-future
about 1 month ago
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A fun hint for fans of @praddenkeefe's Winds of Change pod: It had a big CIA audience (!) after it came out, but he can't say what he's learned since. (At 16:10 here)
youtu.be/t2oTgAmHXJk
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Patrick Radden Keefe on Page-Turning Journalism, His Own Celebrity, & The Humanity Behind His Work
YouTube video by Semafor
https://youtu.be/t2oTgAmHXJk
about 1 month ago
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Excellent pod on Mamdani's first 100 days
overcast.fm/+ABTqPlOk6JQ
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https://overcast.fm/+ABTqPlOk6JQ
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Rose 🌹
about 2 months ago
Loved talking shop with
@semaforben.bsky.social
and
@maxtani.bsky.social
! Surreal to finally meet two people whose voices I’ve logged so many hours with.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Fascinating conversation with
@bsky.app
's
@rose.bsky.team
about what they are thinking and how they feel about you, dear user
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZbd...
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Bluesky COO Rose Wang On Building a Better Social Network
YouTube video by Semafor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZbdkvdvT-8
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Carl Quintanilla
5 months ago
(Semafor) - The New York Times and Washington Post learned of a secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin Friday night — but held off publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops ..
@semafor.com
www.semafor.com/article/01/0...
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Ben Smith
Alison Killing
5 months ago
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites. He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.
www.wsj.com/world/china/...
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ICE Holding Chinese Man Who Documented Uyghur Camps
Heng Guan is awaiting an immigration hearing on Monday that could lead to his removal from the U.S. and ultimately land him back in China, according to his lawyer and a New York-based activist group.
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/ice-holding-chinese-man-who-documented-uyghur-camps-a4702045?st=w7ZTZ9&reflink=article_copyURL_share
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Andrei Soldatov
7 months ago
Honoured that "Our Dear Friends in Moscow" was recommended this week by
@semafor.com
Editor-in-Chief
@semaforben.bsky.social
— thank you!
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Ben Smith
Andy Adams
7 months ago
Good conversation — Thanks,
@semaforben.bsky.social
@maxtani.bsky.social
youtube.com/watch?v=uZvq...
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Ken Burns On The Future Of PBS, The New Media Age, & Why Documentaries Will Outlast TikTok
YouTube video by Semafor
https://youtube.com/watch?v=uZvqZHf1or4&si=QAZZc_kj6CbRBqaE
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At our media summit, I asked @BrendanCarrFCC about the l view that the greatest threat to free speech is him -- the government. He disagreed and said it was the social media companies. At 5:30 here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB64...
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View from FCC | Innovating to Restore Trust in News
YouTube video by Semafor Events
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB64SM_HwQU
8 months ago
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Big job for an ambitious editor
job-boards.greenhouse.io/semafor/jobs...
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Deputy Editor-in-Chief
New York City or Washington, D.C.
http://job-boards.greenhouse.io/semafor/jobs/4603617005
9 months ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Taylor Lorenz
9 months ago
SCOOP: A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers, raising questions about ethics in the independent media space
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A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers
An initiative aimed at boosting Democrats online offers influencers up to $8,000 a month to push the party line. All they have to do is keep it secret—and agree to restrictions on their content.
https://www.wired.com/story/dark-money-group-secret-funding-democrat-influencers/
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Semafor
9 months ago
"Oh, it's the worst industry in the history of industries."
@mcuban.bsky.social
tells
@maxtani.bsky.social
and
@semaforben.bsky.social
how he views the current media landscape, and why he doesn't invest much in the space these days.
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Pretty remarkable: The New York Post and others are currently running with a document from the (strange and fascinating) Durham Annex that the Durham Annex (a few pages later) says is a Russian fake, all in the broader interest of debunking "Russiagate"
nypost.com/2025/07/31/u...
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Read the documents that prove Hillary Clinton OK’d plan to ‘smear’ Trump with Russia collusion
Special counsel John Durham uncovered the information during a multi-year probe into intelligence activities during the 2016 election.
https://nypost.com/2025/07/31/us-news/hillary-clinton-approved-plan-hatched-by-campaign-aides-to-smear-trump-with-russia-collusion-declassified-docs/
10 months ago
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I do treasure this letter Tom Lehrer, who just died 60 years after he vanished from the stage, sent me when I tried to write about him
www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/tom...
10 months ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
max tani
10 months ago
New: Palantir's CTO and several early employees are raising money to launch Founders Films, a film and TV production studio that aims to "say yes to projects about American exceptionalism, name America’s enemies, back artists unconditionally, take risk on novel IP.”
www.semafor.com/article/07/2...
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An NYC status update
11 months ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Errol Louis
11 months ago
The panicky elites dumping millions into last-minute attack ads against
@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
should have been investing time and money to recruit, educate, and encourage young leaders. My latest in
@nymag.com
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The Political Class Is Responsible for the Man They’re Trying to Stop
He’s what happens when the status quo fails.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/nyc-mayor-race-political-class-zohran-mamdani.html
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A big story of this moment
www.semafor.com/article/06/1...
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How China wins in the new propaganda war
A new Chinese initiative will pay for US influencers to visit and collaborate with local counterparts, according to state media.
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/10/2025/how-china-wins-in-new-propaganda-war
12 months ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Michael Savage
12 months ago
Great point from
@semaforben.bsky.social
about how - when the news goes crazy - your most senior sources are just scratching their heads, like the rest of us. I remember it from the Brexit wars - cabinet ministers were happy to chat because no one had a clue what would happen.
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Ben Smith
Semafor
12 months ago
The most plugged-in people in Washington are reading the same tweets you are,
@semaforben.bsky.social
writes.
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Politics, when nothing’s behind the scenes
The most plugged-in people in Washington are reading the same tweets you are.
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/05/2025/view-with-donald-trump-and-elon-musk-nothings-behind-the-scenes
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Knives out for Musk allies
www.semafor.com/article/06/0...
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Musk’s administration allies become targets
Among the figures caught in a still-simmering clash between the MAGA right and tech right is AI and crypto czar David Sacks.
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/09/2025/musks-administration-allies-become-targets
12 months ago
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.@maxwelltani scoop: CA State Senators @SenJoshBecker & @SenatorUmberg are opening an inquiry into Paramount's talks with Trump, and inviting Bill Owens and Wendy McMahon to testify
www.semafor.com/article/05/3...
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California opens inquiry into Paramount and Trump
The California Senate’s move follows a letter from three US senators to the embattled media company.
https://www.semafor.com/article/05/30/2025/california-opens-inquiry-into-paramount-and-trump
12 months ago
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Reality continuing to disintegrate around the edges per
@daveweigel.bsky.social
@kadiagoba.bsky.social
www.semafor.com/article/05/2...
12 months ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Craig Silverman
12 months ago
Scoop: The top contributor to X's Community Notes is a security startup that set up an automated process to flag crypto scam tweets. It's posted 52,000 times! Read the remarkable details from
@mantzarlis.com
on
@indicator.media
:
indicator.media/p/the-top-co...
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The top Community Notes contributor is...an antivirus startup?
I thought someone was gaming X’s crowdsourced moderation; instead, they appear to be helping clean up the platform’s mess for free.
https://indicator.media/p/the-top-community-notes-contributor-is-an-antivirus-startup-9354
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Ben Smith
Semafor
12 months ago
🟡 NEW: Inside the identity crisis in anti-woke media
www.semafor.com/article/05/2...
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Inside the identity crisis in anti-woke media
Donald Trump has taken their positions on many of their favored issues, but is pursuing their goals with the illiberal tactics they’d abhorred.
https://www.semafor.com/article/05/25/2025/inside-the-identity-crisis-in-anti-woke-media
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Tim Onion
12 months ago
that's right
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Drew Harwell
12 months ago
"I spoke with a few congressional staffers who said that they had tried using Bluesky as an alternative to Twitter after Twitter was purchased by Elon Musk, but they gave up after their bosses kept getting yelled at by Democratic users angry at their impotence"
www.semafor.com/newsletter/0...
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Semafor Media: 🟡 Anti-woke identity crisis | Semafor
In today’s edition: How a slice of the media ecosystem is adapting to Trump in power.
https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/05/25/2025/semafor-media-anti-woke-identity-crisis?utm_source=headernewsletterlink&utm_medium=media
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Ben Smith
Pete Marcus
about 1 year ago
Fascinating
@semaforben.bsky.social
piece on the Silicon Valley-led group chats that have shaped a lot of tech and political discourse over the past few years - and continue to.
www.semafor.com/article/04/2...
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Brian McCullough
about 1 year ago
I spoke with
@semaforben.bsky.social
about his big
@semafor.com
piece on Silicon Valley's group chats for the Techmeme Ride Home podcast today. Episode dropping around noon eastern.
youtu.be/Stn7MnUlZQE
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Semafor's Ben Smith On His Piece About Silicon Valley's Group Chats
YouTube video by Techmeme Ride Home Podcast
https://youtu.be/Stn7MnUlZQE
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Tina Brown
about 1 year ago
Loved chatting with
@semaforben.bsky.social
about our favorite topic—all things media!
#semafor
#meghanmarkle
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/z...
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Zeitgeist Genius Tina Brown on Meghan Markle, Vanity Fair and Whether We Still Need Editors
Podcast Episode · Mixed Signals from Semafor Media · 04/18/2025 · 47m
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zeitgeist-genius-tina-brown-on-meghan-markle-vanity/id1746776326?i=1000703973775
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Re the latest Pentagon purge, there was certainly some anonymous and specific national security grousing about cost and purpose of Yemen attack.
t.co/k1hkz0LdHE
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https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/04/politics/cost-us-military-houthis-limited-impact
https://t.co/k1hkz0LdHE
about 1 year ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Jason Joyce
about 1 year ago
This is a fascinating interview, on Semafor's podcast. Listening to Ben is fun.
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Michael Savage
about 1 year ago
NEW: At a recent private meeting, US state department officials challenged regulator Ofcom over the impact of new UK online safety laws on free speech.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...
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US officials challenge Ofcom’s risk to free speech caused by online safety laws
Exclusive: State department said to have raised concerns over whether new online safety act infringes on freedom of expression
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/apr/01/us-officials-challenge-ofcoms-risk-to-free-speech-caused-by-online-safety-laws?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Charlotte Henry
about 1 year ago
Trying to work out if I'm offended by the
@semaforben.bsky.social
's conversation with Piers Morgan about coverage of Gaza or not.
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2024 has been declared "the year of the
@maxtani.bsky.social
scoop
www.linkedin.com/pulse/year-m...
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The year of the Max Tani scoop
The hardest thing to do in journalism is to break exclusive, original news. Scoops are the key currency of news reporters and the ability to beat your competitors and tell the public something they do...
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/year-max-tani-scoop-andrew-murfett-ookff/?trackingId=b7ntGfybkyVFFe8Rxo9Wcg%3D%3D
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Chris Hayes
over 1 year ago
The New York Editorial Board is doing interviews with potential mayoral candidates. Here’s the first one with
@bradlander.bsky.social
nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/brad-lande...
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Brad Lander Interview Transcript
A transcript of The New York Editorial Board's Dec. 12 2024 interview with mayoral candidate Brad Lander.
https://nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/brad-lander-interview-transcript
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Comptroller
@bradlander.bsky.social
in the inaugural NY Editorial Board interview
nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/brad-lande...
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Brad Lander Interview Transcript
A transcript of The New York Editorial Board's Dec. 12 2024 interview with mayoral candidate Brad Lander.
https://nyeditorialboard.substack.com/p/brad-lander-interview-transcript
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Juan Manuel Benítez
over 1 year ago
Today, the newly-formed New York Editorial Board kicked off interviews with the 2025 mayoral candidates. Thank you,
@bradlander.bsky.social
, for joining us for breakfast. Stay tuned for details from our conversation with the current
@nyccomptroller.bsky.social
! 1/2
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Not a lot of newspaper writers left where you can read a story and guess the byline. @EllenBarryNYT just never misses
www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/h...
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The Brave New World of A.I.-Powered Self-Harm Alerts
New technology alerts schools when students type words related to suicide. But do the timely interventions balance out the false alarms?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/health/suicide-monitoring-software-schools.html
over 1 year ago
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Been a while since I stumbled out of bed on a Sunday and put on Al Jazeera. Extraordinary broadcast this AM.
over 1 year ago
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Kash Patel reasonably likely to get confirmed, @burgessev reports
www.semafor.com/article/12/0...
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Republicans signal readiness to let Trump replace Wray with Patel | Semafor
Party senators aren’t going to let the MAGA loyalist waltz to confirmation. But they’re also prepared to defer to Trump on his FBI pick.
https://www.semafor.com/article/12/02/2024/republicans-signal-readiness-to-let-trump-replace-wray-with-patel
over 1 year ago
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Ken Klippenstein
over 1 year ago
I read Kash Patel's memoir to get a sense of how he'd run the FBI:
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Trump’s Nominee for FBI Director
He wants to "take a wrecking ball to the Deep State." Here's how
https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-nominee-for-fbi-director
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👀
add a skeleton here at some point
over 1 year ago
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Trump campaigm looked into influence allegations
www.semafor.com/article/11/2...
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Trump campaign reviewed influence allegations | Semafor
Boris Epshteyn was a focus of the inquiry.
https://www.semafor.com/article/11/25/2024/trump-campaign-review-boris-epshteyn
over 1 year ago
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Lovely
@thedialmag.bsky.social
www.thedial.world/articles/new...
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The Promise of Duolingo — The Dial
The language-learning app won’t make you fluent, but maybe that’s not the point.
https://www.thedial.world/articles/news/issue-22/duolingo-language-learning-fluency
over 1 year ago
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Ok ok, I'm here, apparently the Brits are a leading indicator these days. Brexit etc.
add a skeleton here at some point
over 1 year ago
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Ben Smith
Jim Waterson
over 1 year ago
Really struggling to convince
@semaforben.bsky.social
that the Brits are all here now but the good thing I can just copy/paste his media scoops and he can't shout at me. (Can't buy the Spectator because it was sold to man who already had a Modern Take On The Spectator? Then make ANOTHER Spectator!)
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reposted by
Ben Smith
Patricia Clarke
over 1 year ago
If you want to get to know Vivek Ramaswamy, Musk's co-chair of government efficiency, start with this interview w/
@semaforben.bsky.social
and
@nayeema.bsky.social
. Feat. his "thesis for how broken and in some cases idiotic, like downright low IQ the media really is"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_C2...
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Trump Trial coverage, Vivek Ramaswamy buys into BuzzFeed & phone in bed | Mixed Signals from Semafor
YouTube video by Semafor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_C20ok3xfc&t=940s
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For all the (accurate) talk of the role new media played in the election, journalists are breaking 100% of transition news in pretty traditional ways.
over 1 year ago
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