Good morning! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Chris.

Nick Cohen's Observer column on pause whilst he co-operates with investigation — pressgazette.co.uk

I saw some people bitterly remonstrating that the Observer - one of the few left-leaning titles in the UK - had a major scandal erupting in the trade press. Their argument seemed to be that this was a stitch-up designed to ruin the paper's reputation. To which I say - if you care about journalism then you should be glad this is all being brought to light.

It's true that there are few left-leaning titles in the UK, and that anything that tarnishes their reputation is bad for the paper and the overall plurality of a press that predominantly leans right. But a) awful behaviour is awful no matter who employs the perpetrator, and b) if journalism is to be trusted then bad behaviour among journalists should be ferreted out.

Briefly - Guardian News and Media has said of one of its most prominent columnists: “Nick Cohen has agreed to step back from work for a period of time and co-operate with the company’s ongoing investigation.” Regardless of how this shakes out, we should be happy that journalism doesn't shy away from investigating its own.

A tale of three publishers: UK daily news brands eye a more stable future — voices.media

Our own Esther has taken a look at revenue strategy, particularly how it relates to three of the biggest titles in the UK. Before you click through for the good news, some context: this week, the UK’s largest newspaper publisher Reach Plc had 18% knocked off its share price following a decline in print revenue. It blamed record energy prices affecting the cost of print, and said it would need to increase print newspaper cover prices.

How the South China Morning Post leverages infographics — whatsnewinpublishing.com

It's fun to talk about media businesses. In what other sector would you get to chat about whether making pretty graphs has a tangible impact on a company's bottom line? But in media, the ability to disseminate information is indivisible from how well a media business is performing. Fascinating sector.

Forbes explores sale after SPAC deal collapses — www.nytimes.com

Forbes is a weird one. We've been talking about it for years on the podcast without ever really understanding what it was staking its future on. Well, per the NYT, it's now predicating its next few years on a big sale following its earlier plan to go public.

Podcast throwback:

The Ferret's Fact Checking Lead Alastair Brian on truth, the media, and trust - Media Voices — voices.media

Fact-checking is a terrifyingly difficult activity in 2022 - and yet it's part and parcel of the modern journalist's remit. In this throwback, Alstair Brian tells us how fact-checking isn't just a moral imperative - it's good for business.

What's next for Media Voices — voices.media

Since launching our appeal for help a few weeks ago, we’ve had a huge number of really helpful suggestions and offers to collaborate. In case you missed our follow-up post, here's our plan for the rest of the year (and, hopefully, beyond!)