Introducing: Mixed Signals from Semafor Media 01:40

In a divided world, the level of dishonesty is out of control. The one thing everyone seems to agree on, you can watch the circus, is that the media, the corporate media, is some kind of conspiracy. So when we tell you that the media are corrupt, we don't just mean they're corrupt politically. It is much deeper than that. And here's the thing. Media is a conspiracy.

just not the one everyone thinks it is. I'm Naeema Raza. I'm Ben Smith. And this is Mixed Signals from Semaphore Media. We're two journalists from deep inside the media conspiracy. We met a few years ago when we were both working at the New York Times, and Ben and I started talking about how many of our stories ultimately boiled down to power.

So we started this show to take a look behind the scenes. Today we're going to talk about whether the White House Correspondents' Dinner has gotten too chummy. And we'll take you outside your media bubble. You don't get information from these people by waving your finger at them, treating them like they're weird monsters. You get it by drinking with them.

Every Friday between now and November, we're going to pull back the curtain on the stories everyone is talking about. The Trump trials, the trad wife trend, the TikTok ban, and of course, the coverage of Gaza. Exploring how money, politics, culture, and access shape everything you read, watch, and listen to. But we're also going to talk about why we got into this business in the first place, which is journalism's hard-fought quest for the truth. Speak for yourself.

Mixed Signals, a look inside modern media from people inside the machine. Listen May 31st, wherever you get your podcasts.