The Guardian·2026-03-19
Instagram worse for mental health than WhatsApp, global study findsSocial media apps such as Instagram and TikTok, which encourage algorithm-driven scrolling, are worse for mental health than platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, which prioritise social connection, according to an annual barometer of global happiness. The World Happiness Report found excessive use of social media was causing unhappiness among young people across the world, although the impact was worse in English-speaking countries and western Europe. Overall happiness levels in the UK were at the lowest level since the report was first published in 2012. The report, led by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, also found the type of social media used and duration of use had a significant impact on user wellbeing. A study across 17 countries in Latin America found
The Guardian·2026-03-18
BBC World Service to get extra £11m a year in deal ending funding uncertaintyThe BBC World Service will be given increased government funding as part of a three-year deal after ministers concluded it was needed to counter the rise of global disinformation. The Guardian understands that Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, has agreed an additional £11m a year for the next three years on the government’s grant to the service. It ends huge uncertainty over the settlement, which was still unknown weeks before the current funding was due to end. It represents an 8% increase on the previous year’s allocation. However, BBC insiders warned that by the end of the three-year settlement the increase would barely keep pace with inflation, meaning funding will in effect be flat. Other figures in the BBC welcomed the deal, believing it was the best that could have been achieved
Digiday·2026-03-04
Why one brand reimbursed $10,000 to customers who paid its ‘Trump Tariff Surcharge’ last yearThis story was originally published on sister site, Modern Retail. Dame is refunding customers who paid its “Trump Tariff Surcharge” last year, becoming one of the first brands to proactively return money tied to President Donald Trump’s now-invalidated tariffs. The sexual wellness company began adding a visible $5 line-item fee at checkout in 2025 as the Trump administration’s trade war pushed up
Nieman Lab·2026-03-04
AI-powered search is fueling a wave of Epstein Files transparency projectsThe Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) requires that the millions of documents collected by the Department of Justice (DOJ) about Jeffrey Epstein be shared with the public in a searchable and downloadable format. In practice, though, the searchability of the DOJ releases has been crude at best. Keywords may turn up individual links to PDFs, but users have reported major search malfunctions and
Adweek·2026-03-04
A+E Turns Brands Into Lifetime Movies as It Looks to Compete in Upfront PitchA+E Global Media announces new content and brand creative studio.
Adweek·2026-03-04
Netflix Taps Amazon’s Shopping Data to Sharpen Ad TargetingThe move pairs Amazon’s shopping signals with Netflix’s new Conversion API as the streamer courts performance budgets.
Adweek·2026-03-04
Havas Bets on AI Veteran Sharona Sankar-King to Lead Proprietary Tech PushHavas Media Network North America has hired data and AI veteran Sharona Sankar-King as chief data and product officer to lead its Converged.AI platform.
Adweek·2026-03-04
Ad Agencies Are Embracing ‘Vibe Coding’ to Build GEO Products for ClientsFrom two-hour builds to full SaaS platforms, agencies are using Anthropic's Claude to create custom tools that track how brands show up in AI-generated answers.
Digiday·2026-03-04
How creator talent agencies are evolving into multi-platform operatorsThe legacy agency model, long overdue for a reckoning, is finally being rebuilt from the ground up — with creators at the center. The old agency model — brokering deals, manually sourcing talent and running slow, service-heavy operations that treated creators like traditional talent — came of age in a fragmented market. But that model is giving way to something faster, more scalable, and built aro
Digiday·2026-03-04
‘The conversation has shifted’: The CFO moved upstream. Now agencies have to as wellCFOs are demanding more from marketing — and not in the usual way. The familiar playbook of squeezing costs and investing in performance spend is still in motion, driven by an uncertain economy and an unpredictable geopolitical backdrop. But CFOs now are asking harder questions driven by a better grasp of how marketing actually works, and a sharper instinct for where it doesn t. For example, Vayne
Digiday·2026-03-04
Future of TV Briefing: How Paramount’s and Warner Bros. Discovery’s ad tech stacks stack upThis week’s Future of TV Briefing breaks down Paramount’s and Warner Bros. Discovery’s ad tech stacks now that the companies seem set (finally) to combine. Streaming stacks Netflix’s exit, WBD’s town hall, CNN’s future and more Streaming stacks Paramount plans to combine its and Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming services after Paramount+’s owner completes its acquisition of HBO Max’s parent. But
Nieman Lab·2026-03-03
X will demonetize users who post AI-generated videos of war (but not other kinds of disinformation)On Tuesday Nikita Bier , head of product at X, announced that users who post AI-generated videos of an armed conflict without disclosing they were AI-generated will suspended from the site s revenue-sharing program for 90 days, with repeated offenses leading to a permanent suspension from the program: Today we are revising our Creator Revenue Sharing policies to maintain authenticity of content on
Nieman Lab·2026-03-03
Newsonomics: Will national news shrink even faster than local news did?Anderson Cooper may be running out of lily pads. Just two weeks ago, he announced his decision to leave CBS’s 60 Minutes, after almost 20 years of multitasking. Over time, he arrived at the pinnacle of the TV news profession as a CNN anchor, growing his gravitas as a cascade of crises consumed our world while contributing to the most storied newsmagazine of the entire TV era. He’d seen enough of t
Nieman Lab·2026-03-02
New York Times runs in-house ad asking listeners to “support any news organization dedicated to original reporting”The New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger has voiced a new ad encouraging listeners to support any news organization dedicated to original reporting — even if it s not the Times. It s Sulzberger s first-ever advertisement, the Times confirmed, and it ran for the first time on Monday. A New York Times spokesperson said the publisher wanted to call attention to the shrinking of the news industry.
