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A top editor from the recently-launched Semafor has already exited the digital outlet for its "over-dependence" of one of its sponsors.
Bill Spindle, Semafor's climate editor, took to Twitter on Friday to share his final article from his "short but productive run" at the site.
"My final story after a short but productive run as Climate Editor @Semafor - one marred, sadly, by an over-dependence on Chevron sponsorship," Spindle tweeted.
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The Chevron logo is displayed at a Chevron gas station on Oct. 28, 2022 in Los Angeles. Chevron posted near record profits as their quarterly profit rose 84 percent to $11.23 billion amid a surge in oil prices during the quarter. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
In a separate Twitter thread posted Saturday, Spindle elaborated about what transpired between him and Semafor and stressed "I have a lot of respect for both the leadership and staff at Semafor as journalists."
"I’m not saying they or Chevron improperly influenced the climate coverage. I could ‘call it as I saw it,’" Spindle wrote. "What concerned me was my belief that it was not appropriate to have Chevron advertising on the same page as stories on climate coverage, particularly as the dominant advertiser. I would extend this to any news organization doing same. Such advertising raises the specter of improper influence, perceived and real."
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Spindle continued, "Semafor acknowledged my concerns by removing the Chevron adverts from my emailed climate newsletter. Yet the Chevron ads never left my stories, where they often appeared as the sole advertiser. Despite my expressed discomfort and concerns, the ads remained. Weeks before our parting of ways last week, I told Semafor leadership I saw no easy path forward as long as fossil fuel ads were in the climate stories and newsletter."
An article written by Semafor climate editor Bill Spindle featured and ad for Chevron. (Screenshot/Semafor)
Spindle, who previously worked at The Wall Street Journal and the Council on Foreign Relations before boarding Semafor ahead of its launch in October, told his Twitter followers he will continue his reporting on his Substack newsletter "The Energy Adventure(r)."
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When asked for comment by Fox News Digital, Spindle pointed to his Twitter thread and declined to comment further.
A spokesperson for Semafor told Fox News, "We decided to part ways with Bill due to issues that were unrelated to any advertising partnerships. Semafor adheres to robust ad acceptability guidelines that we stand by, and that are industry standard. We did not remove advertising due to editorial requests and have a number of rotating sponsors of the climate newsletter."
The oil refinery supplies motor vehicle fuels including gasoline and diesel to Southern California as well as jet fuel for aircraft at Los Angeles International Airport. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Semafor was founded by former New York Times media columnist Ben Smith and former Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith.
When he left the Times in January, Ben Smith told the paper about his start-up in an exit interview, "There are 200 million people who are college educated, who read in English, but who no one is really treating like an audience, but who talk to each other and talk to us. That’s who we see as our audience."
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Days later, the Times appeared to make a dig at Smith in its announcement of the paper's acquisition of The Athletic.
"Acquiring The Athletic puts us in a position to be a global leader in sports journalism and offer English speakers around the world another reason to turn to the Times Company to meet their daily news and life needs," NYT CEO Meredith Kopit Levien stated in a press release.
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