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once a year the brunchlords at Semafor host a "restoring trust in news" conference where they unironically platform most of the people responsible for destroying trust in news, then lob softball questions at them this year's lineup is a real doozy (notice the complete absence of indie media)

in fact, one of the VERY FIRST THINGS Semafor did after getting $25 million in seed money was to host a "restoring trust in news" conference where they platformed Tucker Carlson as a serious journalist Ben Smith peppered him with softballs on a weird video stream from his Hamptons closet

last year's Semafor "restoring trust in news" included names like overt white supremacist Megyn Kelly (who of course didn't have to answer any questions about her racism or her overt destruction of trust in news) and Fox News heavy hitter Bret Baier

the more private money flowed Ben Smith's way, the less capable he was of actually supporting or doing actual journalism, to the point where it feels like satire I do feel like he's at least partially TRYING to be awful to drum up interest in an otherwise inane event

a last aside it's kind of disappointing this performative brunchlord cack is being hosted by The Knight Foundation, who generally does good work on this front. That money should be going to people ACTUALLY restoring trust in news.

I’m surprised that the Knight Foundation would lend its good name to promoting this farce.