Publishers' post-cookie preparations and Elon Musk's Twitter takeover

In this week's Media Briefing, available exclusively to Digiday+ members, senior media editor Tim Peterson and media editor Kayleigh Barber check in on publishers' post-cookie preparations. In a recent Marketing Briefing, another member exclusive, senior marketing editor Kristina Monllos reveals how marketers feel about Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. You can get a taste of these member-only features below and subscribe to [Digiday+]( to stay ahead with exclusive briefings, original research, reports and guides, tutorials, unlimited stories and much more. [SUBSCRIBE]( [Media Briefing: With the looming cookie apocalypse, ‘fully prepared’ publishers are going it alone, while others want to band together]( By Tim Peterson and Kayleigh Barber A little more than a year before Google officially starts to phase out third-party cookies in its Chrome browser — unless it delays yet again — publishers are facing the approaching deadline amid an unsettled ad tech and privacy landscape. The publishers most confident in their post-cookie preparations seem to be the ones going it alone. But not all media companies, particularly those without a strong subscription business or shallower first-party data set, are awarded that luxury. And those latter publishers are feeling less prepared at this point. The Atlantic and The New York Times are two publishers sitting relatively pretty thanks to their respective subscription businesses and the corresponding first-party data sets those businesses provide. “We are fully prepared for the cookie apocalypse,” The Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson told Digiday a couple weeks ago. “We have a strong, cohesive, well-organized plan to transition to first-party data that emcompasses our live events, our advertising, our consumer business and our data science team.” Subscribe to Digiday+ below to access the full briefing. [SUBSCRIBE]( [Marketing Briefing: ‘Marketers are wary’ of Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover]( By Kristina Monllos Last week, Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter seemed unlikely to come to fruition after Twitter’s board reportedly adopted a [p](oison pill following his initial bid. This week, Musk has somehow won over that same board and will buy Twitter for $44 billion or, as New York Magazine aptly put it, “Elon Musk is really doing it.” While it’s unclear what Twitter will look like under Musk — the deal was just struck Monday; ink likely hasn’t even dried yet — some marketers and agency executives expect concerns about brand safety to bubble up given Musk’s comments about free speech and likely push to roll back some of the platform’s content moderation efforts. Musk has previously stated that “Twitter serves as the de facto public town square” and that “failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.” Advertisers have voiced “concern over his public statements and what approach he might take on posts that could be seen as incendiary or hate speech,” said Noah Mallin, chief strategy officer at IMGN Media. “Twitter has wrestled with how to manage relative freedom while recognizing the hazards of allowing bad actors to say anything and Musk appears ready to undo even the initial steps they’ve taken. Marketers are wary of that.” Subscribe to Digiday+ below to access the full briefing. [SUBSCRIBE]( Further reading - [Inside the evolution of BuzzFeed’s creators program]( BuzzFeed has invested in a program for creators for years. This year the company plans to double how many people are participating in it. - [One year after embracing the blockchain, Time has earned more than $10M in profit]( Time has turned the shiny new toy of blockchain technology into a pretty penny. Fourteen months after launching its first NFT project, Time has sold more than 20,000 individual NFTs that have netted the publisher a profit exceeding $10 million, according to Time’s president Keith Grossman. - [Fortune moves into wellness coverage under an expansive new financial deal with CVS]( The business magazine and digital publisher Fortune is moving into the wellness space, with a new vertical aimed at helping mid-level managers balance their personal and professional lives. Called Fortune Well, the new hub goes live on April 28 and is underwritten by CVS, as part of a larger two-year deal that will support many parts of the publisher’s products. [SUBSCRIBE]( [Facebook]([Twitter]([Instagram]([LinkedIn]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Share]( [Forward]( Digiday Media One Liberty Plaza | 9th Floor New York, NY 10006 You received this email because you're a part of the Digiday community. Unsubscribing will remove you from ALL Digiday email. [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](