Changing media landscape gives brand publishing an opportunity to thrive

One of the most well-publicized media launches in history is nearly upon us with the imminent launch of Semafor, the news outlet founded by former Buzzfeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith and Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith.  The founders say the reasons for the publication’s existence include the “precipitous decline in trust levels across the global news industry”; The lack of innovation by existing news organizations to solve this “crisis”; news organizations not treating a group of 200 million college-educated people as an “audience” and an overwhelming “epidemic” of news clashing with a deep need for this audience to feel well-informed. It's a list that looks remarkably similar to the rationale a lot of our readers give for investing in their own brand publicat