Ben Smith

Co-founder & Editor-in-Chief, Semafor

Search every verified Ben Smith interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Ben Smith, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Semafor, appeared on the Decoder podcast in August 2026, where he discussed the media company's business model and ethical challenges in journalism. He described Semafor as an "anti-scale business" that targets a specific audience, noting that the company's origins during the decline of traffic-driven media made this approach necessary. He said Semafor, now four years old, is profitable and generates about half of its revenue from events. During the conversation, Smith commented on tensions between journalists and the tech industry, saying that some tech journalists view their subjects as "monsters" while some in tech believe journalists are in a conspiracy against them, and he characterized both perspectives as "toxic and boring." He also addressed the current media landscape, describing a moment of "politicized, wealthy individuals buying media companies and using them to curry favor with the White House," which he called "incredible." Smith discussed the importance of delivering content that audiences want as a basis for journalistic independence.