HEATED - The questions Semafor ignored
Welcome back to HEATED, a newsletter for people who are pissed off about the climate crisis—written by me, Emily Atkin. Today we have a follow-up on Wednesday’s article about Semafor, the global news company that is allowing the world’s second-largest polluting company to sponsor and spread misinformation in its climate change newsletter. (Apologies for the delay on this; it was supposed to be sent yesterday, but I had to drive 7 hours, and I was just too tired). This was also supposed to be for paid subscribers only, but then I figured, we’re writing about press transparency here. It doesn’t exactly do folks much of a service to have it behind a paywall. Now let’s get to it. The questions Semafor ignoredJudging from the news company's canned response to other outlets, it's easy to see why HEATED's inquiry about Chevron's misleading ad went unanswered.The second-largest polluting corporation in the world is still sponsoring and spreading misinformation in the climate change newsletter of Semafor, the new global news company founded by ex-Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith and ex-Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith. Semafor released its second climate newsletter sponsored by Chevron on Thursday. Titled “World’s climate fail,” the newsletter contained details of a new U.N. report showing that the world is failing to meet its climate goals. It also contained the same paltering Chevron ad as last week, which misleads its readers about the oil giant’s efforts to fight climate change. Semafor refused to defend the Chevron ad to HEATED when we called it out on Wednesday. Ben Smith, the editor-in-chief, affirmatively declined to answer questions about it. Instead, he directed HEATED to a spokesperson who he said could answer questions related to advertising. That spokesperson then ignored HEATED’s questions. The Semafor spokesperson did not, however, ignore everyone’s inquiries about the Chevron sponsorship. They provided identical statements to Molly Taft at Earther, and to Isobel Cockerell at Coda. The statements read:
Judging from that response, it becomes easy to see why Semafor chose to ignore HEATED’s questions. In our inquiry, we specifically told Semafor we weren’t looking for answers related to their editorial independence. We said we were only asking about one specific thing: whether Semafor is selling advertisers on opportunities to spread misinformation on its platform. Semafor couldn’t answer that. So they didn’t. Read HEATED’s full inquiry to SemaforTo be sure, it’s completely possible (and perhaps probable!) that Semafor ignored HEATED because it thinks we’re small potatoes; that nothing this tiny reader-funded outlet will say could affect their $25 million corporate-funded operation. But I personally like to believe it’s because of our detailed inquiry, which specifically said we were not looking for unrelated answers about Semafor’s editorial independence, which news outlets commonly use to deflect questions about their misleading fossil fuel ads. As we said on Wednesday, “It’s an incredibly disingenuous response, and frankly an insult to the reason we ask the question. … We just don’t want to see your readers misled. Why don’t you?” Here’s our full, unanswered inquiry to Semafor’s advertising team:
Also, here’s a separate inquiry I sent to Ben Smith after he had already declined to be interviewed over text:
It also went unanswered. PALATE CLEANSER: You guys ever been to Sedona? Freakin’ unbelievable! CATCH OF THE DAY: A little fall Fishy for your viewing pleasure. Want to see your furry (or non-furry!) friend in HEATED? Send a picture and some words to catchoftheday@heated.world. You’re a free subscriber to HEATED. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
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Semafor's infuriating climate misinformation
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Ben Smith's news outlet promised to be "something new," but it's spreading tired fossil fuel industry propaganda just like the rest.
Tim Michels doesn’t know about the wild rice problem
Friday, October 21, 2022
Wisconsin's GOP gubernatorial candidate has claimed ignorance about one of the state's most pressing environmental issues. Wonder why?
The curious origins of the anti-ESG movement
Friday, October 14, 2022
The anti-"woke investing" movement was not created by financial experts. It was created by two of the fossil fuel industry's most notorious climate disinformers.
Fake climate group's ads likely reached millions
Sunday, October 9, 2022
United for Clean Power's deceptive ads have ceased—but not before they were shown on Google over 2.5 million times.
The fossil fuel industry's fake news sites
Sunday, October 9, 2022
By exploiting Americans' trust in local media, polluters hope to squash their political opponents.
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