Good morning! Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Peter. We’re now on Beehiiv – hopefully you haven’t noticed a difference, but if you have any thoughts on the new newsletter format then please let us know!
Former Daily Mail editor takes over at The Independent
Geordie Greig has been appointed editor-in-chief of The Independent. The former Daily Mail editor took over from Paul Dacre in 2018, but only lasted three years in the role before the forces of darkness regrouped and pushed him out. In that time he went toe-to-toe with Dacre over claims that the paper had regained advertisers under Grieg’s more moderate stewardship.
A year after leaving the Mail, Greig is taking up the reins at The Independent, the fifth biggest new website in the UK and with ambitious plans for growth. He said: “I look forward to leading the brilliant editorial team that is successfully making journalism a force for good. Unquestionably, given the world we live in, this has never been more important.”
There’s been some surprise at the appointment, suggesting that the former editor of one of the UK’s most reactionary papers has landed at the progressive Independent. But, if the enemy of your enemy is your friend, then it’s really good to see Geordie Greig land at The Independent ready to take on the Mail.
Duopoly no longer claims majority of online ads
You might have missed the news in December that – for the first time in almost 10 years -the two largest players in online ads, Google and Meta, will not grab the majority of US digital-ad dollars. Amazon and TikTok have gained market share, but there are also thoughts that smaller publishers could benefit from the shift away from the Duopoly.
Privatisation plans for Channel 4 dropped
Poor Nadine Dorries: nothing is working out the way she wanted. Boris went, the online safety bill got gutted and now Channel 4 won’t be sold off. The news came today in a leaked letter from Michelle Donovan (the UK’s seventh Culture Secretary in five years) saying there are “better ways to ensure C4’s sustainability” than selling it. No luck Nads!
Mr Magazine’s 2022 magazine launch rundown
Samir Husni has published his annual look at US magazine launches. Last year there were 74 new magazines launched, down from 122 in 2021. Samir puts the drop down to stiff competition and rising prices in print and paper. But he also saw the number of single-topic, high-value titles increase – we’re all bookazine publishers now.
Throwback podcast
We’ll be back mid-Jan with a new season of the podcast. If you haven’t had chance to listen to our end-of-year review featuring BuzzFeed’s Caroline Fenner, AdWeek’s Stephen Lepitak and Poool’s Ludivine Paquet then here’s your chance!
