Podcast 55: Launching in a time of turmoil, with Semafor CEO Justin B Smith

Semafor's Justin B Smith speaks to Press Gazette nine months after the site's launch.

Justin B Smith during Advertising Week 2015. Picture: Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images for AWXII

Semafor launched in October last year promising to be the news outlet for the “200 million people who are college educated [and] read in English”.

Nine months on, chief executive Justin B Smith explains to Press Gazette that, while it still wants that audience, in the nearer term Semafor is going to look more like a luxury brand.

Smith also tells the Future of Media Explained podcast why he won’t be spending Semafor’s millions in the bank any time soon – and how the brand’s signature yellow colour harkens to the grandeur of Chinese emperors.

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