What the Heck is a Semafor? And...Let's Hear it for Spectrum!

Semafor: An odd and slightly awkward word to fit your mouth around…doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Prior to seeing it attached to the world’s newest news service I couldn’t have told you what it meant if my very life depended on it. In fact, even now, every time I think about it my mind goes directly to a single point of reference - an episode of The West Wing that involves multiple mentions of Gilbert & Sullivan’s opera, H.M.S. Pinafore (season 2, episode 5 for those keeping score). I doubt that’s what the founders of the new service intended although, if you think about it, connecting your new brand to the likes of Aaron Sorkin, and Gilbert & Sullivan, would be subliminally a baller move. Much more on Semafor in a minute, but first a warning to readers…

Sunshine, Rainbows, and Puppy Dogs…

Today, believe it or not, we venture into that rare emotional state (at least as it pertains to the media) of positivity. Or as my wife, Neva, likes to call it… a morning which follows a night uninterrupted by the normal 3am wake-up, courtesy Ella Belle, our joyful and very rambunctious Australian Labradoodle. Ella clearly embraces the notion that awakening to a new day is a reason to party no matter how far beyond the threshold of midnight you happen to be. A new day is a new day…regardless. Time is relative in her world…not so much in mine. Anyway, a little sunshine and rainbows courtesy a rare sleep-in this morning by Ella B… you’ve been warned. Now, on with the show.

Quick! Use “Semafor” in a sentence…

In case you missed it, on Tuesday, October 18th, right around 6 a.m. eastern, the sunrise brought with it a brand-new glow of enlightenment. Songbirds broke into a heavenly harmony heretofore reserved for Disney animation and there was a stirring in the hearts and minds of humans everywhere as the world’s newest, shiniest, and bestest news organization officially launched. Behold, Semafor! Oops, residual snark. I apologize, but it’s now out of my system, I promise.

The debut, which, was unassuming after much pre-launch hype, prompted two significant questions in my mind. First, obviously, what the heck is a Semafor? And, secondly, does the world really need, yet another, news service?

As for my “what’s in a name” query, the only help I got from Wiki and Websters was a choice between this…

“Semaphore [noun]: A system of signaling with flags held in each hand”

And this…

“Semafor is a theatre in Prague, Czech Republic.

Since I couldn’t come up with a single reason a global news company would be named after a theater in Prague, I decided to go with the flag signaling thing. You know, a way of delivering or signaling news and information to the world…maybe?

Honestly, and I mean no disrespect, Semafor sounds like the result of a, late into the night, brainstorming session held in a Manhattan high-rise or Brooklyn loft that lasted a couple of hours too long and featured an open bar. It’s just, generally, too cute by half. That said, I’m thinking back in 1979 the letters E-S-P-N seemed meaningless as well. Content and execution create identity, not some dopey name, so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on that one.

Which leads us to…

Does the world really need yet another news outlet? My knee jerk reaction - a resounding NO! The current volume of news and information already swirling around me every day feels like a swarm of Gnats or, worse, Wasps that makes me long for a ready can of virtual Raid or a more environmentally safe equivalent. The literally dozens of alerts, Tweets, re-Tweets, hashes, and rehashes, not to mention the repetitive drone of cable news, leaves me overwhelmed even before the first sip of morning coffee.

Ah, but in the spirit of good journalism; knowing that stories are not always what they appear to be on the surface, I decided to dig a little deeper before passing final judgement. I started with Semafor’s mission statement - how they describe themselves:

The Semafor Approach

Transparent News

"We’re exposing the architecture of our original journalism in an effort to rebuild trust from our audience. Our journalists are experts in their own right — but they also know the difference between the facts and their analysis. Our “Semaform” structure makes clear the lines between facts, analysis, opinion, counter-narratives, and global perspectives. We’re cracking open the black box of the traditional news article, while seeking to set new standards for clarity and concision.”

To be honest, the mission statement didn’t really do it for me. It left me every bit as confused as the name of the site itself. In fact, it sounded like a glib collection of words formed into a marketing line that had been created by the same “too cute” group responsible for the name. I was thisclose to shutting down the browser and sticking with my initial assessment of Semafor’s value, or lack thereof, when I decided to read co-founder Ben Smith’s introductory article explaining why Semafor was created.

“… it’s come as a painful realization to me that the problem with news right now isn’t just that there aren’t enough reporters out there getting scoops. Readers, listeners, and viewers are drowning in a stew of assertions and opinions.”

“Our approach is more literal, and it’s built from the core principles of journalism. We take people seriously when they say they know that reporters are human beings — and experts in their beats — who have views of their own. But they’d also like us to separate the facts from our views. They’d like us to be humble about the possibility of disagreement. And they’d like us to distill differing views, and gather global perspective.” Ben Smith

Hmmm. That seemed authentic and, more importantly, made total sense. With newfound enthusiasm I began to furiously click through articles to see exactly what the manifestation of this idea looked like. Each was formatted neatly with facts first, followed by reporter analysis, and then divergent points of view or perspectives, just like he said. There was a logical order and progression which fits the linear thought patterns most of us have when consuming news and information. The format established the reporter as more than just a scribe relating facts without context.

Obviously, it helps enormously that most of their reporters are specialists with a legit claim to having expertise in the area they report on (in other words, all you newly graduated journalists…don’t try this at home). Secondly, the analysis, opposing views and additional context provided with the stories forced me to think about it and arrive at my own position on the topic. Engagement! Critical Thought! Wonderful things!!

To be clear, I still have serious doubts about Semafor’s ability to break through the roar of the swarm - the same would go for any new news organization today - but I can’t help but be a little encouraged by what I see. In essence, Semafor is trying to do things a little differently. Overtly providing context and perspective, which as you know by now, I regard as two of the most important and yet rarely seen attributes in our business. Check it out for yourself while it’s still free. A paywall is coming…because, of course it is.

Cater Lee - Spectrum VP News & Content

Speaking of Positive Change…

Besides the impact of a little extra sleep last night - good girl Ella Belle! - the other thing putting a smile on my face this morning is a genuine sign of hope on the local news front. Hope - Local News. Three words I have not used together in a very long time.

As has been well documented in this space, I believe - without caveat - that local news is an absolute cornerstone of our way of life in this country. I also believe it’s facing the most perilous time in its history and very much at a crossroads. One path is ugly and leads to continued decline, complete loss of relevance and, eventually, extinction. The other, to a redefinition, revolution, and resurgence that, quite literally, could change the outlook of the country on the whole.

Frankly, too few of those in positions of power in the industry have taken steps that would indicate they understand both the importance and extreme urgency, choosing to conduct business as usual in hopes of, well frankly, I don’t know what. It’s why, whenever possible, I try to highlight those people and places doing things indicative of innovation and an openness to radical change. Sadly, so far, the examples have been few and far between. Today…one of the few.

Over the past couple of years, Spectrum News outlets in Southern California and Texas have taken the time to, not only, learn who their audiences are, but get this, they’ve actually listened to what they had to say about their news coverage needs and acted accordingly. Go figure! One of the most impressive changes made as a result - a whole new level of dedication to the old local news truism that “your team should reflect the community it serves.” In fact, Spectrum’s rewrite of the sentiment would be “your team should be from the community it serves.”

With that, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Cater Lee, Spectrum’s VP of News & Content for SoCal and Texas who graciously agreed to share some of the thought process that motivated a radical shift in who they choose to report the news.

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Cater, explain Spectrum’s approach in SoCal and Texas of hiring people who actually live in the communities served to report the news?

?In order to do proactive, enterprise reporting well, it takes a community expert to understand the issues, and have the sources at hand, to build stories upon.?The traditional way of recruiting journalists from smaller markets - often out of state- doesn’t work if you’re trying to do that kind of hyperlocal coverage.?We know that by hiring people from Southern California and Texas to cover their own hometowns, we would?build a team of community experts.?It also makes a big difference in terms of retention.?Many of our staffers say it was a dream come true to get to come home and report on their own communities.?

What sort of compromises or re-definitions were necessary to achieve this stereotype-busting approach??

We often recruited from outside the traditional broadcast journalism pool, and hired people from print, digital and radio backgrounds, as well as hiring former broadcast producers and photographers to get in front of the camera.?While we had to do some additional training to help them with things like shooting, editing, live shots and stand ups, the reward was building a team of great storytellers.?

Have you seen any tangible benefits as a result?

One of the most rewarding has been in audience feedback. We regularly hear from our audiences that our journalists, and our news coverage and storytelling is relatable, fact-based, and authentic. The audience can tell the difference and they appreciate it.?

How has it changed the recruiting and interviewing process?

We tell candidates up front that we are looking for local connections.?We value community and subject matter expertise over on-camera experience.?And we spend a lot of time interviewing our candidates on their passions for a local beat.?That’s helped us to build a team of specialized journalists who focus on everything from social justice, climate, education, and local politics, to food, sports, arts, and culture.?

What concerns you about the future of local news??What excites you about the future of local news?

We know that local news is critical to democracy; people need local news to tell them what’s going on inside their city halls, their school boards, their businesses, and their towns.?And, when there is a local emergency like a wildfire, an earthquake, or a hurricane, for example, we provide important life-saving information.?That also is what excites me about the future of local news – our investment and commitment to providing communities with objective, relevant, and trusted local news.?

Thanks Cater, and thank all of you for reading this week. And one more time, thank you Ella B. for foregoing our normal 3am wake-up party last night. This morning the World seems a tiny bit brighter as a result. Good Girl.