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📬 In this Edition

Ever since Google undertook two shady practices – rewriting its terms and conditions to fabricate the past to its liking, and linking search results to sponsored shopping recommendations (and the occasional consumer con) – I’ve remained a reluctant user. It’s essentially a monopoly, a smug entity that’s easy to dislike. But it’s also part of a journalist’s workflow and besides, Bing and Duck Duck Go pretty much suck as reporter search engines.   

So I responded with equal parts glee and fascination to a piece penned by Business Insider correspondents Lucia Moses, Dan Whateley, and James Faris. The story (first in a five-part series) contends that a new guard of startups, built on newsletters, podcasts and video, isn't sweating declines in Google search traffic.

What are they doing instead? Simple: direct reader relationships through email and events. This explains why Jonathan V. Last, top editor at the center-right publication The Bulwark, couldn’t care less whether mass media reaches an imagined “Google Zero.” In this scenario, Google stops sending web surfers to external sites and answers all search questions within its own walled garden.

Good for Google, perhaps, for changing its monopolistic search algorithms again without warning. (File under: sneaky and smug.) As with everything Alphabet touches, it’s all about the money. The imagined future foresees Google recasting itself as a single source of truth, which will give it more leverage over users. There are two problems with that, though. 

First (not that Google cares), it will further cripple honest media outlets once swimming in cash. "Vice Media and BuzzFeed, for example, were once valued at over a billion dollars each in the mid-2010s," the piece notes, also in part because of access to large audiences via Facebook. 

Second, platforms such as ChatGPT and Perplexity AI would appear to be leaps and bounds ahead of Google in what you might call “the AI answer machine” race. The question remains whether Google, built on a decades-old search engine formula, can remake itself for an AI age. With a market cap approaching $3.7 trillion, Alphabet can throw enough cash at this to submerge Jupiter in dollar bills and still treat the house to a year’s worth of surf-and-turn dinners. 

But if outlets like The Bulwark can succeed without them, then Google could well be stuck in an awkward conversion process, a mighty game of catch-up—and borderline irrelevance. Who knows? At least if its search engine runs out of gas, we can harness the power and follow the example of a literal media bulwark.  

-Lou Carlozo 

One of the first things I learned in journalism school was to never forget your audience. A piece of reporting isn’t some top secret government memo—it’s meant to be read, and must therefore be constructed with the reader in mind. 

That’s a bedrock truism, I know, but important nonetheless. It’s why, long before pen touches paper, I make sure to chat with my editors about who they want to reach with a given article. It’s also why, sometime after the piece is published, I touch base again to ask about engagement. 

Clicks, shares, comments: Digital journalism offers all the insights you could possibly want in both depressing and gratifying detail.

Do these change what and how I write? Yes. Because the data keeps me honest… primarily to myself. 

An example: I’m really into green tech. But if my work on solar farms, or alternate fuels, or nuclear fission all fail on the engagement front, then I know I need to turn my attention elsewhere. Personal enthusiasm counts for a lot in journalism, but doesn’t justify sticking with a subject people aren’t interested in; if you will,  it doesn’t “click” with them.. 

The numbers teach me practical things, too. Meatier features and opinion pieces tend to garner more interest than straightforward listicles, and stories with real people almost always outperform perfunctory explainers. Not exactly shocking revelations, but seeing it in black and white helps focus the mind.

So, while I’d never advocate a click-chasing mentality, performance metrics can offer real value as they reveal the sweet spot between a reporter’s expertise and what readers really care about. 

-Alasdair Lane

Former Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot once wrote in moving fashion about the struggle to maintain a boundary between fan and reporter. I know he struggled with it; I’d go further and say I’ve failed at it. (I became a fanboy of producer Jon Brion to the point of utter embarrassment. I’m never gonna darken his doorway again.) 

So I can’t imagine what it would be like to interview Paul McCartney in Studio 2 at Abbey Road. Well, actually, I can. Read on.

At least with Abbey Road, I’ve crushed it. Years ago, I lobbed my journalism credentials and music geekdom at the studio’s press office in a Hail Mary; reporters by and large can’t tour the place. But one of the reps, a former engineer named David Flower, replied with a wink and a nod. As I tried to take a picture of a mixboard The Beatles used time and again, my hands shook so much that the photo was a blur. 

With McCartney – who owns a house just around the corner – I’d like to think I’ve grown up enough to keep my cool. I’m not so sure. As a musician, I base my bass playing, lead guitar playing and even drumming on Paul’s multi-instrumental style. (He rocked them all.)  

We’ll see if I get my wish. In 2026, I hope to convene three days of recording sessions at Abbey Road to record roughly 18 original songs. Paul still brandishes that sharp Liverpudlian sense of humor, so I hope to lure him to the sessions as a guest musician, at the princely sum of £80 a song. Can’t imagine how I’d direct him, but as my South Philly dad would say, “Come on, he goes to the bathroom [cruder language] just like everyone else.” 

Musical joyousness. Then I’d squeeze in an interview. And die happy? Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Anyone reading this who has personal contacts with McCartney or his entourage, please contact me immediately at [email protected].    

😎 Lessons From the Comms Front: Spray and Pray Flambe 

I’ve been in this business a long time, since T-Rex first donned a bowler and sang “Puttin’ On the Ritz” in one of the original talkies. And I’ve done plenty of dumb, stupid, absent-minded things. But never, ever have I (or would I) send out an email to someone that basically communicates, “I really want your undivided attention, Dear Occupant!” 

“Spray and pray” is an accepted PR practice. Sometimes time is tight and personal contacts limited, so ya just gotta get the message out and hope it’s a rainmaker. Still, that’s no excuse for an oversight worthy of the Burger Chef fry guy loading the frier with motor oil instead of canola oil.  

Comms buddies, mark my words: Some mistakes are understandable. But not taking the time to get a person’s name right – or avoid form-letter mishigas – is enough to make ChatGPT spray virtual coffee out of its digital nose. 

All these pitches hit my mailbox over the last few days. Enjoy. Because I can’t. And please, someone get me a fistful of Advil.

Exhibit 1: A) I haven’t covered the Christmas Carol beat in finance for some time. B) Not even my mom called me “Louis Carlozo.”

Exhibit two: We’ll fill in your last name when we get around to it. Sincerely, The Lazybones PR Agency.

Exhibit three: Looks like “seasonal spending pressure” got to this sender:

And the champion! Not only did I paste your name in with a different font: I got my own name wrong!

-Lou Carlozo

🌶️ Hot Take: Changes Coming to (Sorta) Newsrooms in 2026

And so, a movie of what could be:

On a cold and dreary morning, Jasmine plops down at the worn wooden desk she’s situated next to the bedroom window in her 3rd-floor walk-up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. It’s 8 a.m., but the street lamps still glow. The cast-iron radiator in the next room creaks and clicks against a penetrating chill. The R train rumbles and buses lurch to a stop at a nearby corner: the soundtrack that kicks off her workday. She settles in to bounce headline ideas off her colleagues in the group chat, then launches into summarizing that earnings report that came in late the night before, while she sipped cocktails to the sounds of Ben Solomon down at Ornithology

Jack tosses a seat cushion down on a worn stool at a Starbucks in Aurora, Colo. The patrons here are vapid, and it's perpetually breezy inside thanks to patrons holding the door open, one foot in, one foot out, while yelling at their kids in SUVs across the parking lot. It kinda sucks here but the Wi-Fi is reliable. He can download and upload press images, and the cute store manager lets Jack camp out with his laptop—no expectation that he order a Pecan Cortado every two hours. He straps on his Sony XM5 noise-canceling headphones to erase the canned Mariah Carey Christmas music and replace it with something a little more conducive to flipping press releases. 

Ophelia drops their gym bag down next to their least favorite seat at Canopy in Menlo Park, Ca. The yellow bucket chair has a short leg and rocks back and forth, so they’ll need to find that furniture slider that was kicking around last week or they might just lose it this time. A folded napkin may have to do. Maybe Bridgette knows where it is. She’s always here and always smiling. How in the hell does she do it? Ophelia pops in their AirPods Pro 3 and cracks open their blue(ish) MacBook Air to settle in for a productive eight nine ten-hour day of poring over autonomous vehicle incident reports to support the op-ed they’ve been grinding on for the last two weeks. It’s due in two days, and their editor is already hounding them. 

These are the newsrooms of 2026: decentralized, scattered, eclectic, personal. It’s Trello, Teams, Slack and WordPress. It’s coffee shops, apartments, and shared workspaces two blocks from yoga studios. These are the only newsrooms most media organizations can afford—and the only one anyone wants to work in anymore. 

-Caleb Denison

🦃 Giving Thanks for PR Blessings: Reporters Weigh In

I probably don’t need to tell you this, but here goes: PR people take plenty of grief from journalists. So today, in the spirit of gratitude, I want to flip the script. I’m genuinely thankful for the special things comms pros do.

First, many of the PRs I work with treat journalism as a craft, not a content mill. They read my work before pitching—not just the headline, but the full context of what I cover and why as well. That effort shows, and I deeply appreciate it.

Second, the good ones know when to push and when to hold back. They don’t follow up six times to ask whether I’ve had a chance to reconsider. They take a polite “no, thank you,” maybe ask for feedback and move on. More often than not, their next pitch is sharper and more relevant. Also appreciated.

I’m also grateful for the PR pros who offer real expertise, in addition to press releases. One comms director I work with in the sustainability space regularly sends me industry reports—adding insights that I’d never find on my own. That kind of value is gold.

But what am I most grateful for? The PR people who remember we’re all just trying to do good work. They make my job easier by doing theirs well: They bring me genuinely newsworthy stories, provide useful background and connect me with sources who actually know their stuff.

When PR works, everybody wins. Readers get informed, clients get coverage, and I get stories worth writing.

-Alasdair Lane

I’ve shared many PR pet peeves but in the spirit of next week’s holiday, I want to express my gratitude for PR people. I’m sincerely grateful for all those who forge meaningful connections with journalists, give us grace and treat us like humans. In this precarious media moment it’s more important than ever. 

I appreciate when PR people acknowledge that we’re all doing our best and accommodate me, whether it regards scheduling, responding or my asking a million follow-up Qs on a tight deadline. 

But I’m especially grateful when PR people treat us as more than just our byline. Earlier this year, when I posted on LinkedIn that ADWEEK laid me off, it meant a lot when PR people reached out. Some I’d worked with on past stories; others were immersed in the process with me when the news hit. They checked in to offer coffee,  freelance collaboration down the line, or standing invites to events I’d RSVPed to before my job loss. They made me feel appreciated for my work and not just for the ADWEEK name. 

We all labor in this industry together. Transcending mere professional courtesy, with heart, goes a long way. 

-Elena Cavender

Honest to gawd, I give thanks for The Colab Brief. Speaking of honesty, that’s often hard to find in a PR world where it’s spin uber alles. Just as Lizzy and Ashley pride themselves on running an “anti-agency,” The Brief is truly an “anti-newsletter” that plays it straight and sharp. No syrup. No bull. No intellectual tofurkey. 

In a journalism textbook for Loyola University Chicago students, I dedicated a chapter to how much good reporters could find in working closely with gifted PRs. I think of Dawn Wotapka, a former WSJ reporter and now Global Director, External Communications, Media Relations at Honeywell. Dawn helped me with deadline stories even when she didn’t represent the source that she found. How about that? Dawn put our relationship first … and years later, I remain grateful. Thanks, Dawn.  

The Colab Brief has assembled a feisty bunch of writers and comms pros into a team wherein I find much joy. But beyond this, there’s a clear role to play in making a difference as we inform and engage a growing audience. I’ve also been given license to write to the very ends of my (questionable) wit and (literally artificial) intelligence. Working with two leaders who get all of that, and entrust yours truly to take part in it, makes for the greatest holiday gift a scribe could ask for. 

Call it “anti-fruitcake.” Thanks, Lizzy and Ashley. And thanks be to comms. Have a blessed Thanksgiving.   

-Lou Carlozo

This Thanksgiving Holiday in the U.S. will mark exactly seven months since I found out my former employer was suing me for $500,000 in response to my daring resignation to explore new opportunities. Today, I’m thankful to have escaped that oppressive situation but even more thankful for the PR professionals who stood by me as I fought to save my career. Even more crucially, they personally checked in druring one of the lowest points of my life. 

I’ve always believed that you find out who your real friends are when they show up in the dark, not just the daylight. During the blackest time of my professional career, the PR professionals  I’d enjoyed calling friends – folks I wanted to believe I had a real relationship with, not just a professional one – showed up in a big way.

I wouldn’t be here had they not. 

They treated me as though I was still in the game, still relevant, bound to bounce back. And I have to believe that feeling like I still played an active role in the industry where I’d been integral for 15 years kept me fighting. 

As thankful as I am for the folks who stuck with me, I’m equally thankful for the new friends I made during my fight, especially Lizzy and Ashley here at The Colab. Contributing to this publication is the most personally enriching thing I do all week, and I am so incredibly thankful to feel welcome here. 

-Caleb Denison

Who's going where and why it matters. Not just job shifts - power dynamics, layoffs, and who's headed out. 

🧳 Natasha Mascarenhas joined Bloomberg News on the Global Tech VC and startups team; previously at The Information breaking news on venture firms like Sequoia, Benchmark, and Andreessen Horowitz. (X)

🧳 Jason Del Rey left Fortune and launched The Aisle, an independent media company and newsletter covering the AI transformation of commerce (agentic, conversational, AI-powered retail, etc.); backed by beehiiv’s Media Collective, with weekly reporting, scoops, exclusive interviews, and live events planned. (X)

🧳 Megan Arnold joined Business Insider as Deputy Editor of BI Live; previously executive producer at Yahoo Finance Live and senior producer at CNBC.

🧳 Sara Chernikoff joined Business Insider as Senior Editor on the Insights & Analytics team; previously executive editor of news at BDG and deputy editor at Harper’s Bazaar.

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