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Despite 80 journalists covering climate, New York Times won’t ban fossil fuel advertisers — www.thedrum.com

When does accepting advertising make a newspaper complicit in greenwashing? There are decent arguments on either side, but it's illuminating in what it says about how a paper sees itself - the New York Times’ international president Stephen Dunbar-Johnson told The Drum: “We are not an activist organization.”

The NYT is far - far - from the only news organisation which has an environmental bent but accepts advertising revenue from the worst offenders. The Guardian Labs, for example, launched with a partnership with Unilever - which was at best at the start of its slow transition to an environmentally-friendly company at the time - though it banned advertising from fossil fuel companies last year.

Dunbar-Johnson said: "The further commercial backdrop is that it was also a great opportunity to grow The New York Times outside of the US. One thing about the climate crisis is that it is borderless and affects us all. So it was a very interesting commercial proposition to promote and claim our coverage to a global audience and drive that relevancy as to why they should subscribe to The New York Times.” It's a difficult call - though the thought of papers taking cash from fossil fuel companies makes me queasy.

Independent set to record best year since dropping print, with profit up 100% — pressgazette.co.uk

The Independent has been solidly profitable after it cut the paper-shaped weight from around its neck. Now, as Charlotte Tobitt reports for Press Gazette, it is set to record its best year since dropping print - and has further headroom with Independent TV and its e-commerce ambitions.

Now nonprofit, The Salt Lake Tribune has achieved something rare for a local newspaper: financial sustainability — www.niemanlab.org

We love a good turnaround story at Media Voices, particularly where it overlaps with the difficulties facing local news. For The Salt Lake Tribune, which has grown its newsroom for the first time in years following becoming a nonprofit organisation, that story is now being told. Congrats to the whole team!

BBC Three will return as a broadcast channel in February — variety.com

I remember writing about BBC Three's closure back in the days when digital channels were the unambiguous destination for young people. There has, happily, been a recognition that there is a lot more nuance in how and where audiences consume - so welcome back BBC Three!

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This week's podcast:

FT Strategies MD Tara Lajumoke on building a robust playbook for subscription businesses — voices.media

This week we hear from Tara Lajumoke, Managing Director of FT Strategies, the Financial Times’ consulting firm. We discussed how FT Strategies fits into the FT’s wider goals, what her role involves as MD, and how they’re building a robust playbook for other subscription businesses. 

Launch event: Media Moments 2021 — voices.media

Join Media Voices, What’s New in Publishing and Sovrn in a virtual event to launch this year’s Media Moments report this coming Wed 1st Dec. We've got a smashing panel with Brian Morrissey, Charlotte Tobitt, Prof Lucy Kueng and Dominic Perkins joining us to discuss how publishers have fared this year and how they can navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2022.