Semafor has hired Adam Banicki, Fortune’s general manager of video, as its first head of video, reports Mark Stenberg of Adweek.
Stenberg writes, “Banicki, who previously spent more than five years at The Wall Street Journal, where he last served as senior executive producer of YouTube, will oversee both the editorial and commercial sides of Semafor’s video business. He reports to cofounder and editor in chief Ben Smith and Rachel Oppenheim, who was promoted to chief commercial officer six months ago.
“The appointment comes as publishers across the industry race to bulk up their video operations in response to declining referral traffic and shifting consumption habits. The New York Times, for one, has described its video transformation as being on par with its print-to-digital transition, its executive editor told Business Insider earlier this month.
“But Semafor is pursuing a deliberately different model, one that rejects the scale-based logic that has historically driven video strategies.”
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