Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Semafor Podcasts
  • 4.6 (173)
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Mixed Signals from Semafor Media

Every Friday journalist Nayeema Raza and Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith pull back the curtain on the most important stories from the past week, revealing why you see and hear what you see and hear across the media landscape. Joined by Media Editor Max Tani, they also unpack the blindspots your media diet might be missing. Mixed Signals from Semafor Media is supported by Think with Google

  1. Ozy Founder Gets Prison Time: What Digital Media’s Most Notorious Scandal Says About the Business

    1 DAY AGO

    Ozy Founder Gets Prison Time: What Digital Media’s Most Notorious Scandal Says About the Business

    On Monday, Carlos Watson, the founder of Ozy Media, was sentenced to nearly 10 years – 116 months – in prison for fraud. Today, in Ben’s first extensive conversation about it since Watson’s arrest, he and Nayeema discuss Ozy, the scandal, and what it reveals about the broader digital media and advertising business. They bring on Madison and Wall analyst and former GroupM Global President for Business Intelligence, Brian Wieser, to talk about why marketers and investors were duped by Watson, what changed in the aftermath, and what the next digital media scam might be. After the conversation, Max Tani joins them to debrief. If you want more on the Ozy story, check out the three-part series, “The Unraveling of Ozy Media” from CJR’s The Kicker. And for more from Brian Wieser, check out Madison and Wall’s podcast and newsletter. NOTE: We’ll be off next week – but stay tuned for our next episode (and some exciting news) on January 3rd, 2025. If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    54 min
  2. How YouTube Became TV – with Colin and Samir

    DEC 13

    How YouTube Became TV – with Colin and Samir

    YouTube and podcasts have come fully of age as dominant forms of media, and legacy media companies are frantic to buy their way in. Ben and Nayeema tackle this with Colin and Samir, two veteran YouTubers and media thinkers who have spent years helping their peers figure out digital media. They talk about this latest rise of YouTube, the reality of revenue-backed creative, and what legacy media gets wrong about digital creators. It’s a conversation so compelling that… Nayeema reveals she might try to jump ship into that world herself…?! After the conversation, Max Tani joins to debrief and offer his fact-check for the lacrosse scene in LA. Oh, and Colin and Samir also share their many GoDaddy accounts for their endless business ideas. For more from Colin and Samir check out their podcast, The Colin and Samir Show, and their newsletter, The Publish Press. If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    56 min
  3. Elon Musk Is Today’s Ted Turner, and Legacy Media Is “Scared”

    DEC 6

    Elon Musk Is Today’s Ted Turner, and Legacy Media Is “Scared”

    Mixed Signals is back for Season 2, and this season we’re following the money in the changing media business. What happens now, after the clear win by podcasts and YouTubers in the election? Is it the end of legacy media, for real this time? And can advertisers keep up with audiences’ evolving media diet? To kick off this conversation, Ben and Nayeema bring on author, New Yorker writer, and media savant, Ken Auletta, who’s been examining the industry since the 90s. They talk about if and how this moment feels different from previous disruptions, how Elon Musk is reshaping media, and Ken shares his, uh, colorful recollections of flying with Ted Turner, his girlfriend, and the couple’s bed. If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    47 min
  4. Post-Election: Escapism, Resistance, and Cheeseburgers

    NOV 8

    Post-Election: Escapism, Resistance, and Cheeseburgers

    The 2024 election cycle is finally over – so, what’s coming to your screens next? Today, Ben and Nayeema dissect what the media learned from 2024 and where we go from here. They first chat to Max Tani about the news media, and then sit down with Ankler Media’s Janice Min – who has been reporting on (and embedded in) Hollywood culture for decades. The conversation tackles whether politics and art stay linked or divorce, if Donald Trump will wake up “wokeism” again or if Americans will turn to escapism … and why TV is chasing the “gourmet cheeseburger.” Importantly: This is our last episode of season 1 and we want your feedback! Please email us with what you’ve liked, not liked and want more of for season 2. We’re at bsmith@semafor.com and nayeema@semafor.com. Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema, @maxwelltani or on instagram.com/nayeemaraza Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    1h 4m
  5. Election 2024: What You’re NOT Seeing

    NOV 1

    Election 2024: What You’re NOT Seeing

    In a noisy election cycle it’s hard to find signals — even of the mixed variety. Today, Ben and Nayeema sit down with reporters David Weigel and Max Tani to parse what you’re not seeing, from the “insane” tv ads at a Pittsburgh Steelers game and the print ads in an Arizona nail salon, to an unpublished Washington Post endorsement that was quashed by Jeff Bezos. One of these things may decide the election, and another could shape the blamegame that follows. If you have a tip or a comment, please email us mixedsignals@semafor.com Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza  Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    1h 2m
  6. Is Fox News Winning the Election? Inside the Network with Nate Fredman

    OCT 25

    Is Fox News Winning the Election? Inside the Network with Nate Fredman

    With recent appearances from Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, JD Vance and Tim Walz, it looks like Fox is dominating this election. Ben and Nayeema investigate the channel’s durability despite massive lawsuits, MeToo scandals, and star exits from Tucker Carlson, Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly. To go inside the machine, they talk to former “O’Reilly Factor” and “The Five” producer Nate Fredman (who spent nearly 20 years at the network) about what makes Fox tick — and stick. Stick around for Ben and Nayeema’s debrief with Max Tani, who wrote about Fox this week. Fox News insiders, send your tips to Max!  If you have a tip or a comment, email us mixedsignals@semafor.com Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza  Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    50 min
  7. Media Bias from the Middle East to Manhattan, with James Bennet

    OCT 11

    Media Bias from the Middle East to Manhattan, with James Bennet

    Ben and Nayeema take on the critique of bias in the media with The Economist's James Bennet —a conversation that always seems timely, but especially so right now, weeks away from a US election and with an expanding conflict in the Middle East. To help make sense of what we see as media bias and the moral questions that journalists grapple with every day, James shares his experience as the Jerusalem Bureau Chief at The New York Times. He continued to be at the fulcrum of this discourse when he was forced to resign as the Times Editorial Page editor during a heated moment at the publication in 2020. Bennet is now a senior editor at The Economist where he writes the Lexington column. Read James' piece "Letter From the Middle East; Children Fill Ledger of Death, No Matter How, or How Many." If you have a tip or a comment, email us mixedsignals@semafor.com Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza  Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    55 min
  8. How AI Cures Writer’s Block

    OCT 4

    How AI Cures Writer’s Block

    Ben and Nayeema tackle the emerging AI battle between machines and humans, a topic that was glaringly absent from this week’s Veep debates but is at the center of everything from the dockworkers’ strike to Hollywood’s grand plans. To figure out how long they and the creative and media elite have job security, they speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and playwright Ayad Akhtar whose latest play, McNEAL, wrestles with AI and ethics. And for Blindspots, Max spills on what film you need to see … before, um, the machines replace the filmmakers.  NOTE: This episode discusses the dockworkers’ strike, and was taped before the strike was suspended on Thursday night. If you have a tip or a comment, email us mixedsignals@semafor.com Find us on X: @semaforben, @nayeema @maxwelltani or on Instagram @nayeemaraza  Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media

    51 min
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Every Friday journalist Nayeema Raza and Semafor Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith pull back the curtain on the most important stories from the past week, revealing why you see and hear what you see and hear across the media landscape. Joined by Media Editor Max Tani, they also unpack the blindspots your media diet might be missing. Mixed Signals from Semafor Media is supported by Think with Google

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