Semafor adds major contributors and appoints global live journalism leadership

Semafor has appointed PBS News Hour co-anchor, Amna Nawaz, former Wall Street Journal writer, Jon Hilsenrath, former Wall Street Journal and Washington Post editor, Marcus Brauchli, and former New York Magazine journalist and Mixed Signals co-host, Nayeema Raza, as contributors.

The appointments underscore Semafor’s commitment to world-class journalism and strategic focus on events. The contributors will work alongside Semafor’s editorial and events teams in Washington D.C to produce and moderate compelling news-driven events, bringing their reporting skills to the stage through in-depth interviews and news making conversations. Overseen by Semafor’s senior editor, Gina Chon, their contributions will also be reflected in Semafor’s editorial coverage and newsletter products.

In addition, Semafor has promoted Meera Pattni, its global head of communications, to oversee its global live journalism business. Pattni, a founding member of the Semafor leadership team since its launch, will be responsible for expanding and enhancing the company’s global events portfolio. Maggie Soergel, formerly the head of events, has been promoted to general manager of live journalism.

Semafor has built an innovative live journalism platform within eighteen months and will produce over 75 global events this year, significantly expanding its live journalism operation and capabilities. Last year the company executed over 50 global events. In April, Semafor produced its largest live journalism event to date, the 2024 World Economy Summit, held alongside the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington D.C. The two-day summit featured 10 current administration officials, seven current and former cabinet secretaries, 20 Fortune 500 CEOs and was attended by nearly 3,000 individuals with headlines generated in 14 countries.

• Amna Nawaz is the Peabody and Emmy-Award winning co-anchor of PBS News Hour. Prior to joining PBS News Hour in April 2018, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s live stream coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Before that, she served as foreign correspondent and Islamabad Bureau Chief at NBC News. She is also the founder and former managing editor of NBC’s Asian America platform, built in 2014, to elevate stories from America’s fastest-growing and most diverse population. In 2019, Nawaz became the first Asian American and the first Muslim American to moderate a presidential debate. She also serves as an NBC News and MSNBC contributor.
• Jon Hilsenrath is a former senior writer for The Wall Street Journal, where he specialized in economics and finance, serving as economics editor, markets editor, and chief economics correspondent. He’s the author of Yellen, a biography of the Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chairwoman, which The Economist called “elegant and erudite.” Hilsenrath was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2014 for his Federal Reserve coverage and in 2009 for financial crisis reporter. His on-the-scene reporting of 9/11 contributed to The Wall Street Journal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage in 2002.
• Marcus Brauchli is co-founder and managing partner of North Base Media, a partnership that invests in and advises media and media-technology companies globally. Brauchli was executive editor and vice president of The Washington Post from 2008-2012, during which the Post won seven Pulitzer prizes, integrated its print and digital newsrooms, and quadrupled its audience. He came to the Post from The Wall Street Journal, where he became the top editor in 2007 after holding a series of other top editorial roles. He was National Editor on Sept. 11, 2001, and played a central role in its coverage of the terrorist attacks that day, for which the paper won a Pulitzer. Brauchli spent 15 years as a Journal correspondent in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Stockholm, and has written for The New York Times, the Financial Times and the Associated Press.
• Nayeema Raza currently serves as producer and co-host for Semafor Media’s inaugural podcast, Mixed Signals. A journalist whose writing, podcasts, and films have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and the Tribeca Film Festival. Her work explores the intersection of global power, culture and technology. Nayeema was previously the on-air Executive Producer of Vox Media’s On with Kara Swisher. Prior to that, she was a Senior Editor at The Times where she ran the podcast Sway and was on the Opinion Video desk. Nayeema came into journalism with a background in international development and geopolitics.