Given the fact pollsters got the the 2016 and 2020 US presidential election results wrong, Semafor co-founder Ben Smith believes old-fashioned journalistic methods are coming back into fashion.

He told Press Gazette on Monday: “The kind of people who made fun of going to diners and talking to Americans about what they’re thinking are now kind of wondering what Americans in diners are thinking. And so I do think there’s a full circle there.”

Semafor’s coverage of the 2024 US election focuses around on-the-ground reporting from bellwether regions in the belief that this will provide early indications of where the election is heading.