Keir Starmer had been desperate to squeeze in a trip to China for some time. Another country to tick off his list and he always feels a lot better about himself when he's abroad. Less noise from his unhappy MPs. Plus he loved the pomp and ceremony that came with it. The large flags. The military bands. A country that treated him with respect. Almost.
This year, as legacy news outlets slashed diversity teams, eliminated community beats, and gutted cultural coverage, they undermined the very asset that determines relevance in today's fragmented media environment: cultural fluency. These cuts were framed as cost-saving measures, but in reality, they stripped away the expertise that allows media institutions to build trust, resonance, and meaningful connection with the audiences they claim to serve.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is asked why he recently changed his style of glasses. Vice President J.D. Vance is asked to settle a debate as to whether a hot dog can be considered a sandwich. "Secretary of War" Pete Hegseth, appearing alongside his wife, is asked whether he prefers drumsticks, flats, or boneless wings. Sen. Katie Britt is asked how she passes time on airplanes. (Spoiler: she works.)
The promise of AI is its ability to sift through massive amounts of information presented in any format (audio, video, text, images, etc.) to help reporters pinpoint what warrants a closer look. Take the Epstein files. A few years ago, a drop of 23,000 documents would have been considered flooding the zone because it would have taken journalists a long time to identify what was newsworthy. AI has changed that equation.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive, now in its seventh season, offers such remarkable access to the drivers and race directors that it boosts the TV audience for the actual races. Quarterback, a series that follows a handful of NFL players throughout a season, was so popular that it spawned Receiver - as well as a second season of QBs. Another show, The Clubhouse, followed the Boston Red Sox during a difficult season.
Left on its own, MS NOW is embracing the ethos of a startup, suggesting it will be better positioned to experiment without ties to the more corporate NBC News. "Morning Joe" is starting its own newsletter. Podcast ideas are encouraged. The network is expanding live events, letting its television stars interact with the audience; Rachel Maddow has one in Chicago later this month.
Called The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe, the revamped newsletter for the popular morning show on the network that will soon be called MS NOW (the name change is official on November 15, the network says) took its inspiration from the world of print magazines. It's designed to be part of a larger flywheel to grow and connect with the show's audience.
Mark Thompson's tenure at CNN has been quietly fascinating. Two years in, the British-born CEO remains something of an enigmarespected by staff, scrutinized by outsiders, and, by all accounts, remarkably calm in the eye of the storm. CNN, like all legacy media, faces a rapidly shifting landscape: cord-cutting, social platforms siphoning attention, AI reshaping journalism, and the relentless competition for viewers' trust.
As Google's AI Overviews threaten to chip away at publishers' search traffic, The Sun is betting big on something harder to displace: original long-form video. Over the past nine months, video's share of the publisher's digital revenue has nearly doubled, climbing from 9 percent in January to 18 percent today, as advertisers shift spend into premium formats, according to the publisher. A decent chunk of that surge comes straight from its Originals slate - The Sun's bid to turn long-form digital video formats into signature franchises that keep viewers watching for longer, and later scale globally.
"There is no question that I have 100 per cent benefited from the privilege I grew up in," she told the New York Times. "It's delusional to say otherwise. I will say, though, that it has always made me work much harder. It has been a goal for a lot of my life to prove that I'm more than Candice Bergen's daughter, or someone who grew up in Beverly Hills."
Belichick is showcasing Patriots greats to his players in UNC, limiting his radio appearances to emphasize a focused coaching approach and maintain a brand of minimal media interaction.
"Audio advertising is no longer about being heard, it's about being remembered," said Frankie White, the agency's founder. "Our mission is to make podcast and audio advertising simple yet powerful."
Katie Drummond, the 39-year-old global editorial director of Wired, transformed the magazine's strategy by initiating political coverage, resulting in a 51% increase in average daily subscriptions.
"In creating a single editorial department, we will improve teamwork and our ability to target key audiences, streamline decision making, and grow both digital subscriptions and digital advertising revenues, enable by a cohesive editorial vision across our titles."
âPrior to this interview, I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book.â
