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The Atlantic is doing something exceedingly unusual for a magazine in 2024: increasing the number of issues it prints. (CNN)Read More

Dovid Efune, the New York publisher who is now the lead bidder for the Telegraph, the British Conservative Party’s newspaper of record, is still working to assemble investors to back the GBP550 million ($717.1 million) deal. (Semafor)Read More

Proving the effectiveness of ad campaigns to clients and, sometimes, the C-suite continues to become a more complex task, as challenges aplenty emerge in the measurement process. In a group chat at ADWEEK House during Advertising Week New York, industry leaders from ad platform Blis–who sponsored the session–wedding platform The Knot Worldwide, and creative agencies…Read More

Collaborating on documents and projects has never been easier, which is why we screw it up so often. Sharing and interacting with intent will save you heartache and wasted time. Some things to consider:

Naming: Begin by naming your file with a digit and concept and a date. Something like “1 Book Presentation October 24”.

And then, with each substantial edit, hit SAVE AS and increment the number. It’s very clear that “3 Book Presentation October 24” is a more recent edit.

Never name a file with “Final” because, as we all know, final is an elusive construct.

Who has the conn? While some cloud-based services like Google docs do a pretty good job of allowing shared edits, it pays to announce who has the controlling, official document. When two people edit different versions of a document at the same time, all that work is wasted. “Cheryl, it’s yours now, I won’t touch it until you send it back.”

Suggested edits: In Google docs, the default is to edit the document (the little pencil). You can switch this (top right corner) to the option for ‘suggesting.’ The beauty of this is that it allows the controlling editor to see the changes that are being offered and to accept or reject them. It creates a more thoughtful flow to creation. Endless conversations via the comments panel almost always lose important information.

A shared doc is better than an email thread: If you know that you’re working toward something, start a Google doc and outline the proposition. Then invite others to edit and improve it. This will lead to a final agenda or outline or proposal. The problem with email threads with multiple contributors is that nuance is lost and contradictions persist.

The original format: The original document is better than a PDF, and a PDF is better than a screenshot. If you start with a spreadsheet, take a screenshot, put the image in a Powerpoint and then email it to someone as a PDF, you’ve pretty much guaranteed that editing it going forward is going to be a mess. Always include a folder of the underlying documents, properly named.

I’d ask for edits and improvements to this post, but this is the wrong format for that. Feel free to copy and paste and share… you have the conn.

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Culture is: “People like us do things like this.”

We might even have a chance to choose our group. Hipsters do this, hippies do that. People in this town wear this outfit, students at this school hang out here on Saturdays…

We might be born into a culture. Less agency, but just as much identity.

There’s a built-in status quo here. Most groups want stability and the peace of mind that comes from being in sync. That’s why we join a group in the first place.

Of course, every culture also has neophiliacs, folks that find status and affiliation in embracing the new. They are most comfortable with novelty, not tradition.

Ideas spread from the ones who embrace the new to the folks who want to stay in sync.

But some cultures change more quickly than others. Some stagnate, others accelerate.

When change happens too fast, the culture gets stressed.

One factor in the speed of cultural change is the control of the media and distribution.

In an authoritarian environment, gatekeepers and censorship ensure that the culture changes very slowly. This includes most scientific journals, large organizations and spectrum-limited forms of media. This is a country with state-controlled media, but it’s also a community where the people who are most fearful of change also have power.

If there are only a few TV channels or radio stations, the programmers are going to become conservative, because they don’t want to lose market share. If the cost of being seen as too edgy is perceived as very high, the gatekeepers will stay in the center.

The Billboard Top 40 and pop music exists because a jukebox couldn’t hold every record, and radio stations didn’t want to risk losing a listener who wanted to hear what everyone else was listening to.

The other factor is the algorithm. How is attention parceled out?

You can probably see where this is heading.

The newspaper and the radio station determined the algorithm. A few surprising items, but mostly, the center.

And then social media arrived. And they intentionally turned the algorithm inside out.

They tweak what gets promoted and spread based on what is likely to grab our attention, to play with our emotions, to generate outrage or surprise. They do this without regard for truth or the stress that the idea might cause. They simply want to drive short-term attention.

The fringe. That’s where outrage and fear and novelty live.

And so creators of content responded. They discovered that in order to get the attention they craved, they had to run from the center and toward the edges. Even if they didn’t believe in what they were saying, or especially then.

The fringe, amplified, stops being the fringe.

So the next wave of fringe must be even fringier.

This is a fundamental shift in the world as we know it. One where a flywheel of ever more challenging cultural change continues to arrive, without balance.

It’s no wonder people feel ill at ease. Instead of the ship adding ballast to ensure a smooth journey, the crew is working hard to make the journey as rocky as possible.

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This rarely comes up in focus group data.

It doesn’t come up when a school talks to students, or a conductor asks the orchestra. It doesn’t come up when the gym owner surveys potential members or when a chef or playwright thinks about building something new.

But of course, that’s what we remember.

That’s what changes us. Tension is the feeling we experience just before we grow.

Ironically, it’s what’s we seek, at the very same time we avoid it.

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In the unfolding narrative of advertising’s cultural missteps, the recent Heinz ad controversy serves as a poignant reminder of the shadows cast by history. These ads resonate with the undertones of propaganda posters used to dehumanize and mischaracterize. They are relics of a time when images were manipulated to weave false narratives–narratives that continue to…Read More

As we settle into the 2024-2025 broadcast season, TVNewser is taking a last look back at some of the lesser-told narratives of 2023-2024 broadcast season. We’re focusing on time periods and networks that don’t always factor into our weekly coverage, from the Sunday morning shows to NewsNation and CNBC. Sunday Morning News CBS News’ Face…Read More

With another presidential debate looking increasingly unlikely, the cable news networks have pivoted to another format they know well–town halls. On Friday, CNN and Fox News both announced separate town halls with the candidates. Vice President Kamala Harris will appear on CNN, while former President Donald Trump will be on Fox. CNN’s live town hall…Read More

The digital media firm G/O Media filed a lawsuit in Delaware court last month against Paste Media, according to public records obtained by ADWEEK. The lawsuit alleges that Paste Media breached the contract the two parties signed last year when Paste Media acquired the titles Jezebel and Splinter from G/O Media in November 2023. The…Read More