🟡 @callherdaddy host and Unwell co-founder @alexandracooper joins Mixed Signals live at Cannes Lions to talk about what it takes to turn a hit podcast into a real media business. @maxwelltani and @semaforben ask Alex how Unwell's creative agency ended up going toe-to-toe with Call Her Daddy in revenue, what she learned from her interview with Michelle Obama, and why she's more interested in the marketing than most talent in her field.

🟡 NEW: Tucker Carlson's executive producer Justin Wells is also out at Fox News, @maxwelltani reports semafor.com/article/04/24/20…

🟡 SCOOP: MSNBC has quietly taken three of its Muslim broadcasters out of the anchor’s chair since Hamas’s attack on Israel last Saturday amid America’s wave of sympathy for Israeli terror victims, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/10/13/20…

"Holy shit, this kid is like nine years old, who's telling him these things?" Andrew Callaghan spoke to @daveweigel about his new documentary "This Place Rules"

🟡 SCOOP: In January, The Wall Street Journal made an explosive claim about UNRWA. Months later, the top editor overseeing standards privately made an admission: The paper didn’t know — and still doesn’t know — whether it was true, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/08/04/20…

"We had an open primary and [Kamala Harris] won it. Nobody else got in the race," @SpeakerPelosi tells @kadiagoba.

"I can't get into his head. And quite frankly, I don't care." Dr. Anthony Fauci responds to Elon Musk on Mixed Signals from Semafor Media: link.chtbl.com/AOaz2sYJ

Some staff at MSNBC have been concerned by the moves, feeling the hosts — Mehdi Hasan, Ayman Mohyeldin, and Ali Velshi — have some of the deepest knowledge of the conflict. semafor.com/article/10/13/20…

Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul are "out there saying tariffs are bad and are attacks on our people," @GovAndyBeshear tells @SRuhle. "So if Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell, and I all agree on something, it’s probably because it’s true." #WorldEconomySummit

Luigi Mangione “has been treated like a hero,” Steve Bannon tells @semaforben. “That should scare you to the marrow of your bones because that’s the alternative if the system keeps going like it is.” "The populist nationalists offer something you're not gonna love, but you'll be able to live with." #WorldEconomySummit

🟡 NEW: The New York Times pushed ahead with its story about Zohran Mamdani’s application to Columbia University to avoid being scooped by Christopher Rufo, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/07/06/20…

🟡 SCOOP: The Intercept is nearly out of money and facing a bitter civil war, with multiple feuding factions battling for power and two star journalists trying to take control, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/04/14/20…

"ESPN, legitimately, let over a billion dollars walk out the door. They missed, I would argue, the future of sports podcasting that was already in-house." @PabloTorre discusses the business of ESPN with @maxwelltani and @semaforben:

EU warns Musk about Twitter sanctions after journalist suspensions semafor.com/article/12/16/20…

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🟡 SCOOP: Pro-Israel groups, deeply critical of American news outlets such as the Washington Post over their coverage of the war in Gaza, have been working to discredit specific journalists seen as biased against Israel, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/02/18/20…

🟡 NEW: Members of Trump’s team are quietly preparing to go on offense against RFK Jr. as internal campaign polling suggests his expected third party bid could draw more votes from Trump than Biden in a general election, @ShelbyTalcott reports. semafor.com/article/10/06/20…

Australian authorities likely shelled out more than $100 million of taxpayer money for "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." semafor.com/article/06/17/20…

Media is a conspiracy — just not the one everyone thinks it is, @semaforben explains. Listen to Mixed Signals from Semafor Media: link.chtbl.com/PTWDtxio

Fox News edited an interview with Trump to remove a section in which he appeared to back off a promise to declassify federal files related to Jeffrey Epstein. semafor.com/article/06/09/20…

BREAKING: Democrat Gretchen Whitmer has won reelection as governor of Michigan, surviving a challenge from Republican Tudor Dixon semafor.com/article/11/08/20…

🟡🟡🟡 SCOOP: The Senate will vote to codify same-sex marriage rights this week, @kadiagoba reports semafor.com/article/11/14/20…

🟡 SCOOP: Bill Maher’s uncancellable podcast studio has been cancelled. Club Random Studios, a podcast company built around his show of the same name, has ceased operations after less than two years, @maxwelltani reports. buff.ly/keKFIPC

What happens to @PodSaveAmerica if Kamala Harris wins and Donald Trump goes away? @TVietor08 talked to @semaforben and @nayeema on Mixed Signals from Semafor Media: link.chtbl.com/RvxUs2zt

"I’m for a dramatic increase in corporate taxes," Steve Bannon tells @daveweigel. "We have to increase taxes on the wealthy." buff.ly/4iICPqt

🟡 SCOOP: Michael Flynn and family pocketed leftover money from his legal defense fund, filing claims semafor.com/article/11/13/20…

🇬🇧 @semaforben breaks down the British invasion of American newsrooms. Listen to Mixed Signals from Semafor Media: link.chtbl.com/IHNGWYgU

The US was "an aspiration for most of the world. And we're eroding that brand right now," Citadel CEO Ken Griffin tells @GinaChon. The president, Treasury secretary, and Commerce secretary "need to be very thoughtful ... because when you tarnish that brand, it can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done." #WorldEconomySummit

📱 Forget about doomscrolling. It's the summer of the "boomscroll," @nayeema says. Listen to Mixed Signals from Semafor Media: link.chtbl.com/RDHOvbks

NBC says the shifts are coincidental, and the three continue to appear on air to report and provide analysis. semafor.com/article/10/13/20…

Elon Musk has "fallen for audience capture," Gawker founder Nick Denton says. "Rubio, Musk, Vance, Trump — they're all competing for the applause from these 500 nuts on X," he tells @semaforben and @maxwelltani on Mixed Signals.

The Cook Political Report will put its entire archive online, offering a remarkable and nonpartisan window into modern American political history. semafor.com/article/03/17/20…

MSNBC is canceling Mehdi Hasan’s weekend program and show on the streaming service Peacock. Two people familiar with the move tell @maxwelltani that Hasan will become an on-camera analyst and fill-in host. semafor.com/article/11/30/20…

🟡 SCOOP: X, Elon Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter, appears to be attempting to limit its users’ access to The New York Times, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/09/10/20…

🟡 SCOOP: Fox News viewers tuning in to tonight’s Republican debate will hear from an unexpected voice: Joe Biden. Biden's campaign has purchased airtime on Fox News and plans to run its first 2024 national TV ad before the debate, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/08/23/20…

BREAKING: President Biden is directing the U.S. military to undertake an emergency mission to open a port on the coast of Gaza to ramp up aid deliveries to starving Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war. semafor.com/article/03/07/20…

Foreign reporters witnessed widespread devastation in Rafah, two months after the Israeli military launched a ground offensive there. The city was described as a “flattened wasteland,” a “maze of rubble,” and “unrecognizable.” semafor.com/article/07/07/20…

🟡 SCOOP: Republican lawmakers investigating the suspension of Biden’s Iran envoy uncovered evidence he downloaded sensitive and classified documents and may have shared them with individuals outside the US government, @SemaforJaySolly reports. semafor.com/article/05/28/20…

"Now that I've made this licensing deal with the Times Athletic, I can reveal what I've been doing the entire time, which is actually selling a version of old media to people on the internet." @PabloTorre explains his approach to sports journalism to @maxwelltani and @semaforben:

🟡 SCOOP: Joe Biden met in Las Vegas with Jeffrey Katzenberg who conveyed a warning: The president’s donors’ patience is wearing thin, and their cash soon will, too. semafor.com/article/07/17/20…

🟡 SCOOP: Mehdi Hasan is joining The Guardian following his abrupt departure from MSNBC, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/02/21/20…

"Harvard does not have a birthright to future federal grants," @calleymeans tells @ShelbyTalcott. "It is an open question whether it makes sense that our leading universities are 400 years old ... The top 100 companies 100 years ago, most of them don't exist today. The great thing about America is creative destruction." #WorldEconomySummit

She was on the plane with him the day of the debate and on the ground with him the morning after. Some Republicans are worried she had something to do with what happened in between. semafor.com/article/09/11/20…

Pete Hegseth is "deeply out of his depth" as US Secretary of Defense, @jahimes tells @mchalfant16. "It's probably the hardest job in Washington," he adds. "A genius would struggle to do that job well, and Pete Hegseth is not that genius." #WorldEconomySummit

Hello world! 🧵 We’re a new global news brand and platform, launching this fall with the goal of addressing the crisis of trust in news. Sign up today to be part of our launch. semafor.com

🟡 NEW: Josh Hawley met with United Automobile Workers president Shawn Fain on Wednesday to discuss working together on pro-labor priorities, his latest bid to build the party’s union ties. buff.ly/4hJOlkc

JUST IN: The Secret Service is investigating how an intruder walked into National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan's home in the middle of the night. Sullivan has around-the-clock security, but agents stationed outside were unaware of the intrusion. semafor.com/article/05/16/20…

🟡 SCOOP: NBC News has demanded that Trump’s campaign remove a video that includes audio deceptively edited to seem like it comes from an NBC correspondent after the third presidential debate, @ShelbyTalcott and @maxwelltani report. semafor.com/article/12/10/20…

BREAKING: Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail revoked after witness tampering allegations semafor.com/article/08/11/20…

Here's why C-SPAN's coverage of the House speaker drama looks so different than the footage we usually see from Congress

🟡 NEW: The man at the heart of a mixup that rippled through global political journalism in the final days of the New York mayoral campaign was neither “falsely claiming” to be former Mayor Bill de Blasio, nor a “de Blasio impersonator.” semafor.com/article/10/29/20…

🟡 NEW: Nika Soon-Shiong, the daughter of LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, will become the publisher of Drop Site News, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/09/14/20…

"The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten. It's not a close call." Read @daveweigel and @ShelbyTalcott's interview with Mike Pompeo on his potential 2024 run and more: semafor.com/article/11/21/20…

"Stress is the main cause of unhappiness," @Gurudev tells @Justin_B_Smith. "You can't say 'I'm happy when I'm so stressed.' They can't coexist."

JUST IN: Fed Chair Jerome Powell says ‘the time has come’ to cut rates semafor.com/article/08/23/20…

🟡 SCOOP: A Vice documentary on Ron DeSantis’ time as a military lawyer at Guantanamo Bay was quietly shelved by Showtime for fear of political backlash, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/07/19/20…

In a survey commissioned by CNN, respondents of all ideological stripes criticized the network’s "overly dramatic and sensational" and "dire" reporting on the pandemic. semafor.com/article/06/04/20…

🟡 SCOOP: In a private email thread, major advertising executives expressed concern that Elon Musk's comments about race and the platform's openness to racist speech have made Twitter toxic, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/04/06/20…

🟡🟡🟡 NEWS: A veteran SpaceX technician was left in a coma for months after a routine pressure valve test went wrong, @ReedAlbergotti reports. SpaceX has made no announcement to the public or to its workers about his status, according to former employees semafor.com/article/10/18/20…

“A difficult time to invest.” “Everybody’s paralyzed.” “I’m sorry I can’t be particularly positive.” “The chaos that is reigning right now is causing everyone to sit on their hands.” That’s Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, ON Semiconductor CEO Hassane El-Khoury, Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, and Nasdaq Private Market CEO Tom Callahan on the world of Donald Trump right now. Their comments over the past week capture a growing disquiet among business leaders, a month into a presidency that many of them had cheered. “What decision do you make? Do you want to go left or right?” El-Khoury told Semafor in an interview this week. “Are we going to grow the business? Well, I don’t know. Are there tariffs or not?” (Since that interview, Trump threatened to double his own proposed 10% tariffs on China and put a 25% levy on European goods.) CEO optimism is fading as Trump pushes ahead with trade restrictions, while business-friendly deregulation has yet to materialize. US consumer confidence in January recorded its biggest one-month decline since November 2023. The US stock market, long Trump’s preferred proxy for economic might, is lower than it was before his inauguration, trailing major indexes in Europe, China, Mexico, and Canada — all targets of the president’s planned tariffs. Read the full story from @lizrhoffman and @rogoswami in Semafor Business ↓

🟡 NEW: Twitter is no longer taking steps to limit the reach of Chinese and Russian state-controlled media outlets, violating the social media platform’s own stated policies, @lmatsakis and @SaacksAttack report semafor.com/article/04/05/20…

The Biden campaign is eagerly planning to make the Affordable Care Act a bigger issue after Trump said that he’s “seriously looking at alternatives” to Obamacare. semafor.com/article/11/26/20…

JUST IN: Steve Bannon associate Brian Kolfage sentenced to more than 4 years in ‘We Build the Wall’ scam semafor.com/article/04/26/20…

🟡 SCOOP: Paramount owner Shari Redstone in recent days sought to know which upcoming 60 Minutes stories were about President Donald Trump, @maxwelltani reports — triggering a series of events that ended with the Tuesday resignation of the show’s longtime producer.

The pick of J.D. Vance as former President Trump’s running mate is raising fears in corporate America that populist, anti-business Trumponomics will truly take hold in a second term in the White House. semafor.com/article/07/15/20…

Since late July, engagement on posts linking to the New York Times has dropped dramatically. The drop is not reflected in links to similar news organizations including CNN, the Washington Post, and the BBC, according to NewsWhip data. semafor.com/article/09/10/20…

"Rural health care will cease to exist" if Congress makes major Medicaid cuts, @GovAndyBeshear tells @SRuhle. "I'm seeing it on the ground right now, this will cause the American people to nearly revolt if they make these cuts." #WorldEconomySummit

Most scientists attribute the rising number of people with autism to wider diagnostic criteria. buff.ly/qXLwVgh

The Pentagon has launched an investigation into a top-secret security clearance approved for a U.S. defense official who took part in an Iranian government-backed initiative which sought to promote Tehran’s positions on national security. semafor.com/article/09/28/20…

🟡 SCOOP: Elon Musk's team is seeking new investors for Twitter as users revolt, advertisers flee, and debt payments loom, @lizrhoffman and @ReedAlbergotti report semafor.com/article/12/16/20…

Tim Walz’s personal ties to China have turned him into an overnight sensation on Chinese social media. semafor.com/article/08/07/20…

🟡🟡🟡 Exclusive: Biden plans to sign an executive order dramatically limiting U.S. investments in China, @ReedAlbergotti reports. Another order Biden is considering would directly target TikTok by limiting how Chinese Cos. collect data on U.S. citizens. medium.com/semafor-media/sem…

🟡 SCOOP: In 2014, senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials initiated a quiet effort to bolster Tehran’s image and positions on global security issues by building ties with influential overseas academics and researchers, @SemaforJaySolly reports. semafor.com/article/09/25/20…

“I’m Bill DeBlasio. I’ve always been Bill DeBlasio,” DeBlasio said in an interview conducted through his Ring doorbell on Long Island. “I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.” semafor.com/article/10/29/20…

🟡🟡🟡 SCOOP: Magic Johnson is in talks to buy a stake in the Las Vegas Raiders at a price that could set a new record for sports deals, @lizrhoffman and @ReedAlbergotti report semafor.com/article/10/21/20…

Democrats have regrets semafor.com/article/05/22/20…

Licht’s departure is on its surface a management debacle, @semaforben writes. But it’s also a strategic debacle in which cheap talk about shifting CNN from anti-Trump confrontation toward an imagined center simply didn’t find an audience. semafor.com/article/06/07/20…

🟡 SCOOP: Executives at Paramount decided to delay and significantly alter a Daily Show-branded civic participation initiative, out of fear that the Trump administration could use it as a cudgel in blocking a pending acquisition deal. semafor.com/article/05/04/20…

🚩 Alright, now you can see what we've been up to. Welcome to Semafor! semafor.com/

Democrat Seth Magaziner is the winner against Republican Alan Fung in Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District, local station WPRI projects. It’s one of the first highly competitive races to be called tonight #Election2022 semafor.com/article/11/08/20…

Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay are close to purchasing control of Angel City FC, the Los Angeles women’s soccer franchise that is the most valuable women’s sports franchise in the world. semafor.com/article/07/02/20…

🟡 SCOOP: The White House is likely to pull the nomination of Jared Isaacman to be the next NASA administrator, just days before he was set to receive a confirmation vote in the Senate, @ShelbyTalcott and @burgessev report. semafor.com/article/05/31/20…

NEW: As the debt ceiling deal clears its first major hurdle, its conservative opponents begin to admit defeat semafor.com/article/05/31/20…

Calls for US to recognize Somaliland grow louder semafor.com/article/08/18/20…

🟡 NEW: Chris Stirewalt, one of two senior political editors forced out at Fox News after the network was first to project Biden's 2020 win over Trump in Arizona, talks to @maxwelltani about the Dominion settlement. "Who gets fired?" semafor.com/article/04/18/20…

JUST IN: Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “must go now,” and called for the formation of a new government headed by someone else in Netanyahu’s party. semafor.com/article/11/15/20…

An influential House US-China subcommittee is calling for the State Department to open a representative office in Somaliland to counter rising Chinese influence in the region. buff.ly/40jYZqO

NEW: Chip Roy is reviving a Ron DeSantis bill to make schools pay for bad student loans, @kadiagoba reports. semafor.com/article/07/27/20…

“We are not perhaps the most cheerful people in the globe,” @MarinSanna told Semafor. “But of course, we have a good nation and we have a good society.” semafor.com/article/03/20/20…

Republicans have a plan B if the U.S. breaches the debt ceiling. It'd still be a disaster. New from @josephzeballos in Principals: semafor.com/article/01/31/20…

🟡 NEW: Linda Yaccarino had a simple pitch for NBC’s advertising business: Platforms like YouTube and Twitter are unsafe for brands. As CEO of Twitter, she’ll have to make the exact opposite argument to many of the same marketers. semafor.com/article/05/14/20…

🟡 SCOOP: The Los Angeles Times is prohibiting staff from covering the Gaza war for at least three months if they signed a strongly-worded open letter criticizing Israel’s military operations in the region, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/11/16/20…

.@GinaChon: Is there any space where you see room for optimism or opportunities? Ken Griffin: "If you use the Euro as a reference currency, [the US has] become 20% poorer in four weeks. There's not a lot of money to be made in that environment." #WorldEconomySummit

🟡 SCOOP: A top Washington Post editor instructed editors not to promote a story about a controversy involving the paper’s new CEO Will Lewis, @maxwelltani reports. semafor.com/article/05/21/20…

"I think it's an effect of the internet," @AdamFriedland says of the backlash from Taylor Swift's fans over his Matty Healy interview. "It's politics for these people. Liking a song is politics to them." He tells @maxwelltani and @semaforben that pulling the episode was an easy decision after Healy's manager asked: "It's a podcast. Who cares?"

Ramaswamy nabs Teamsters endorsement semafor.com/article/09/19/20…

Immigration is now the number one issue that comes up unprompted in Gallup’s annual survey of the U.S.'s top policy concerns when survey takers are asked to list the issue that concerns them most. semafor.com/article/03/29/20…

Honduras announced plans for a megaprison that could host up to 20,000 inmates, doubling the country’s current prison capacity. semafor.com/article/06/17/20…

Earlier this week, Barack Obama shared multiple Times articles, which reached fewer than 900,000 and 800,000 users respectively. The number was far lower than any other post shared by the former president since X began sharing that data publicly. semafor.com/article/09/10/20…

"I feel like I shouldn't say. Should I?" @maxwelltani asks director Ari Aster about a rumor that he was asked to do a Marvel movie on Mixed Signals from Semafor Media:

How do you navigate lobbying the Trump administration? "You don't need $2 million in TV spend anymore to manipulate a conversation. You need the right few influencers and the right bots," @BeefUSA's Ethan Lane tells @Eleanor_Mueller.  "We're a grassroots industry, so we take pride in the fact that we don't need that. But when you're getting outspent and outgunned by computers, it's a very frustrating situation."