Weekly Digest: Semafor’s Launch, NYT Dropping Its Kids App

Semafor, a new US-based media outlet with global ambitions, officially launched this week.

Similarly to some other new startups in the media industry, the company has made a bet on a slate of personality-driven newsletters for its launch. It also boasts a custom-created article format called “Semaform” that distinguishes the news, the reporter’s view, and potential counter-arguments.

Semafor’s launch has attracted a lot of attention in the media industry, partly because of its big-name founders – Ben Smith, former New York Times media columnist & BuzzFeed News chief editor, and Justin Smith, former Bloomberg Media CEO. 

Semafor is starting as a free-to-read, ad-supported publication, with a quarter of revenue coming from the events business; the company plans to introduce a paywall later. Although the economic outlook today causes some uncertainty about Semafor’s path ahead, the outlet attracted $25 million in funding for its launch. 

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The New York Times cancelled its plans to develop an app for children, The Wall Street Journal reports. While NYT’s strategy increasingly involves branching out into non-news services, like cooking and games, ultimately the company “determined that the kids app was no longer a worthwhile investment.”

According to an internal email uncovered by WSJ, the market for the app for kids has proven to be smaller compared to some of the latest investments like purchasing The Athletic. Therefore, the company seems to have decided not to lose focus and to focus on the most promising opportunities. 

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Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is ending the platform’s support for Instant Articles, a format that was launched seven years ago to swiftly load news articles. As Axios reports, support will be discontinued in April of the next year, providing publishers with 6 months to prepare.

The news is not surprising in light of Facebook’s recent moves to deprioritise its news partnerships in favour of the company’s new priorities like vertical video content. As PressGazette reports, “the mood in the industry does not appear to be one of sadness or surprise, especially for those who have diversified beyond a reliance on Facebook traffic.”

Bonus — Five more stories you might want to check out:

• AP News: Germany slaps messaging app Telegram with $5 million fine
• The Guardian: Facebook owner Meta to sell Giphy after UK watchdog confirms ruling
• The Washington Post: Assassin brothers jailed 40 years for car-bomb killing of Malta journalist 
• Reuters: Turkish opposition applies to annul disinformation law
• Axios: Murdoch merger eyes sports betting, News Corp. brand 

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