7 Comments
Dec 5, 2022Liked by Emily Atkin

Excellent work, as always.

But every mention of Semafor should reference their pre-launch event that invited Tucker Carlson to opine (from his closet) on the future of journalism. Semafor set out their weak standards for all to see.

Expand full comment

Great work!

Accountability has costs.

FWIW, am I surprised that shenanigans like this are happening at Semafor?

Given how Ben & company opened their first event with *ucker Carlson? No, I'm not.

And I told him that was a bad sign, and I didn't want to have anything to do with Semafor.

I hate to be correct sometimes, when new things could be better.

But I am, and Semafor is not.

Expand full comment

"Amazing what a few million dollars from an oil company can make you do."

Of course! Just ask your local member of Congress.

Serially - I completely agree with the fact that journalism is corrupted by the profit margin, but our rapacious society has spread that corruption to Congress as well. And it's not just the US - it's pretty much a worldwide phenomenon. Fossil fuel interests are keeping a fresh supply of bombs falling on Ukrainian targets. They allowed a leader of an "ally" of the US to order the murder of a prominent American journalist with no repercussions whatsoever. They consistently distort the dialogue on climate change - especially around international conferences, like COP-OUT27 - so that we wind up with plenty of words and plenty of promises but no real change. Instead, we see a continuous stream of the fossil fuel version of MORE GUNS! MORE GUNS! MORE GUNS!!

Distorting the message of a start-up news organization with a million or two is chump change. It's like buying a member of Congress - you assign such tasks to the junior associates. As for Semafor, it is certainly not a problem tossing out a principled journalist and lying about the reason.

But replacing a couple of million in advertising revenue? Now, THAT is a problem!

Expand full comment

Pretty sad that climate accountability journalism seems destined for newsletters these days, but I'm glad that some of us still have moral compasses.

Expand full comment

New from the Heartland: Big Oil, through the guise of Carbon Capture, is tryin' to rake in a ton of dough: see Summit Solutions and Navigator. Get the pipelines running through five states, check out the $360 million paycheck.

Oil greed gone WIld!

Expand full comment

I have to listen to that episode of Fast Company now.

Expand full comment

Thank you for the good work Emily. Will do what I can to spread this info and help @Chevron takes some heat!

Expand full comment