Good morning, once again from a locked-down UK! Our first Media Roundup of the year is brought to you by Esther.

Morning Brew founder shares growth tips and dispels notion that email is next media pivot — www.thedrum.com

Business newsletter Morning Brew had an excellent 2020, hitting headlines after Business Insider bought a controlling stake at the end of October. Here, John McCarthy talks to co-founder and chief executive Alex Lieberman about its growth, and also email as the next big thing.

There are a number of really interesting nuggets in this interview, not least Lieberman's outline of their plans to transition from being a newsletter company to a fully-fledged media brand. One part that stood out for me particularly was his warning about seeing email as a shiny 'new' thing and going all-in on it.

“Everything about email is as sexy today as it always – all that’s changed is our perception of it," he said, arguing that the recent 'fetishism' of email is occurring as the pendulum swings back towards controlled audience relationships.

With some Insider Inc fuel in its engine, Morning Brew's expansion efforts will be worth watching this year.

David Montgomery outlines plan to 'decentralise' JPI Media and shun 'irrelevant or clickbait stories' — www.pressgazette.co.uk

On the back of National World's New Year's Eve purchase of JPI Media for £10.2m, boss David Montgomery has said he plans to restore the company to be a local publishing business, 'locally managed with clear plans to grow the business by implementing a modern operating model'.

Sink or swim for events strategies as the ‘pivot to virtual’ divides publishers into two camps — voices.media

Covid-19 decimated events revenues overnight, but many have taken the opportunity to innovate. As publishers look towards an uncertain future, we can be sure that the events industry will never look the same again.

The most important New Year's Resolutions for the Media Industry — baekdal.com

Rather than predicting what will happen in 2021, Thomas Baekdal has instead put together a piece on "this is what we should make happen in 2021." Top of the agenda? Diversity overall, but specifically for independent media. A thought-provoking read, with more to follow this month.

From Media Voices:

Media Moments 2020 — voices.media

Our podcast returns next Monday, but in the meantime, why not relive the twists and turns of 2020's media journey in our report? It's packed with case studies, and explorations of what this year could hold for publishers as well.