Semafor, a news media outlet co-founded by BuzzFeed founder Ben Smith, announced a partnership with the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a think tank essentially operated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Semafor markets itself as providing “a news source you can trust” providing “unparalleled levels of journalistic transparency” in order to “rebuild trust” with news media consumers skeptical of the industry’s veracity. Its mission statement lists “climate change” as one of the “biggest stories” and “greatest crises” facing humanity.
The CCG markets itself as a “non-governmental think tank,” despite its existence as a project of the Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA), which itself is an operation of the CCP’s United Front Work Department.
The Washington Post‘s Josh Rogin noted the CCG’s status as a tool of the CCP’s “foreign influence operations” via Twitter:
.@semafor has officially partnered with a Chinese think tank affiliated with China’s United Front foreign influence operations. https://t.co/vz9GNfVm3a
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 1, 2023
Read all about @semafor‘s new partner, the Center for China and Globalization, and its ties to CCP foreign influence operations and the United Front Work Department in this paper by @ASPI_org https://t.co/90ZFKQ2ZqR
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 1, 2023
“The centre is headed by Wang Huiyao (王辉耀), a prominent international commentator who is also an adviser to the UFWD, a member of several united front groups and an important figure in the development of China’s talent recruitment strategy.”https://t.co/90ZFKQ2ZqR
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 1, 2023
In 2018, Wang dropped out of an event at The Wilson Center after @marcorubio wrote to them about Wang’s affiliation with the United Front, China’s foreign influence operations system, as reported by @BethanyAllenEbr @ForeignPolicy https://t.co/XNMLB15AdF
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 1, 2023
This follows @semafor‘s event last month sponsored by @AlibabaGroup, featuring a “sponsor’s perspective,” as pointed out by @michaelsobolik https://t.co/fqzMaISgRg
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 1, 2023
.@semaforben @Justin_B_Smith There is a real need for smart & reasoned discussion of the U.S.-China relationship. At the same time, partnering with United Front groups is not the answer. Foreign influence operations can only work if we enable them.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) March 1, 2023
Semafor’s partnership announcement with the CCG listed “climate change” as an “opportunity” for multistate cooperation between the U.S. and China to “rebuild trust” between the two countries’ governments:
How can the world’s two largest economies rebuild trust? How do companies and CEOs from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, caught in the middle of this Great Power rivalry, navigate this complex world order? And as trans-Pacific business ties fray, where are the new corridors of growth and opportunity? And in a world of, at best, intense and sometimes bitter competition, where are the opportunities for cooperation on issues like climate change?
Semafor did not disclose any financial compensation from the CCG in its announcement of its partnership with the CCP subsidiary.
Semafor’s largest single investor was Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the now defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Of a total $25 million raised ahead of the news media outlet’s launch in 2022, $10 came from Bankman-Fried.
The New York Times listed some of Semafor’s left-wing and partisan Democrat benefactors:
The money to get started comes from a variety of wealthy people, including the crypto-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried and his brother Gabe; Jessica Lessin, the founder of The Information; David G. Bradley, chairman emeritus of The Atlantic; and John Thornton, co-founder of the American Journalism Project and The Texas Tribune. Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of Bloomberg L.P., was pitched but decided not to invest.
The Federalist’s Emily Jashinsky noted Smith’s role as the initial publisher of the “dossier” central to the “Russian collusion” narrative framing former President Donald Trump as an agent of Russian state influence.
Dossier publisher partners with foreign government https://t.co/mzKL8c6rRR
— Emily Jashinsky (@emilyjashinsky) March 1, 2023
Ben Smith has repeatedly characterized himself as politically objective and non-partisan in his professional conduct in the news media industry.
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.
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