Good morning! Today's Media Roundup is brought to you by Esther. Have a great weekend 😊

Getting out of your comfort zone — therebooting.substack.com

In this week's issue of The Rebooting, ex Digiday President and EiC Brian Morrissey looks at why it's so important for brands to step outside of their comfort zone in order to succeed in today's cut-throat media environment.

"Discomfort is where growth takes place," he points out. "The most impressive brands show that they can master new areas and get outside of their comfort zones. If they succeed, they’re far stronger because of it."

The same applies to us as individuals. Although there's value in going narrow and deep, Morrissey reminds us that we still need to evolve, which itself involves getting out of our comfort zones. A thought-provoking read to go into the weekend with.

Why POPSUGAR is doubling down on fitness even as gyms reopen — digitalcontentnext.org

When the pandemic shut down gyms across the US last year, people were forced to get creative with their workouts. POPSUGAR met the moment by bulking up its fitness content. However, even as gyms open up, the brand is betting at-home workouts are here to stay. This is an excellent overview of their content strategy from DCN.

Publishers are in a data race as Google shakes the ad market, but who will prosper? — www.thedrum.com

For publishers, the first-party data pageantry has begun. The Drum takes a look at how a number of publishers are preparing for the demise of third-party cookies by bolstering their quality environments, audience data, measurement tools and insights.

DC Thomson Media joins Google subs initiative — www.inpublishing.co.uk

DC Thomson Media is one of eight publishers chosen to take part in this year’s Google News Initiative Subscriptions Lab. The Lab is designed to strengthen and accelerate growth of subscriptions and help European publishers develop new monetisation strategies. DCT joins a number of other European publishers including Deník.cz, El País and Público.

This week's episode:

Shado co-founder Hannah Robathan on the magazine as an outlet for activism — voices.media

Hannah Robathan, co-founder of Shado, tell us about the realities of publishing a print magazine and online platform that gives people the space to tell their own stories. We spoke about their frustration with the mainstream media, what activism means and what success looks like for Shado.

Last call for Publisher Podcast Awards extras — publisherpodcastawards.com

Today is the last opportunity for you to get your hands on a print programme or gift box (UK only) ahead of the awards ceremony in April. And even if you're not planning to get any goodies, you'll still need to register for a virtual ticket in order to attend the awards. Sign up now.