In the news: We’ve heard a lot of bad news about print this year, but there have been some breaks in the clouds.

This week, Keith J. Kelley of the New York Post has some good news in the print sector. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it a lot of bad news for print publications, including layoffs, reduced print schedules, and revenue declines. Despite all that, Kelley reports that 60 new print titles launched this year. It’s a steep drop from the 139 new print titles that cropped up last year, he acknowledges, “but in a surprise move, the pace of new launches accelerated in the second half of the year.”

What’s more, industry-wide print ad revenue woes didn’t hit new magazines as hard. Kelley says that “while print advertising dropped by 30 percent in the second quarter as businesses pulled back from spending, the plunge was not nearly as disruptive for new magazines, which are relying more on subscription sales than ad dollars.” Read more here.

Also Notable

The Disappearing Glossy Masthead

The masthead has long been a staple part of a glossy magazine issue, but that may be changing. Kathryn Hopkins of WWD.com examines this shift in a recent piece. In many cases, the masthead winds up on the cutting room floor in favor of editorial content or advertiser placements. What’s more, with many magazines existing on multiple platforms, the masthead has inflated well beyond the confines of a single page. Some magazines include their mastheads online, but Hopkins notes that this makes it difficult to link specific editors and staffers to specific issues. But Syracuse University media professor Aileen Gallagher tells Hopkins that the masthead simply may not carry the weight it once did. She says, “‘The association of the editor with the brand is not as strong. Can people name a magazine editor now besides Anna Wintour?’” Read more here.

Pivoting Away from Cookies

Publishers and their advertisers are weaning off third-party cookies. What other options are out there to fill the data gap? First-party data is one, says Kayleigh Barber of Digiday.com. She reports that “[media company] Future PLC has spent the last nine months building its own proprietary tech stack to collect, streamline and scale the first-party data that it gets from its more than 350 million monthly visitors to its portfolio of 130 special interest sites and enthusiast publications.” Ultimately, Barber says, the shift away from third-party cookies is opening the door for publishers to develop key partnerships instead. Read more here.

Publishers versus Google

Several publishers including Genius Media Group and The Nation have sued Google for advertising antitrust practices. Paresh Dave of Reuters reports that, per the lawsuit, “Google has unlawfully stifled advertising competition, hurting their businesses.... The plaintiffs ask the court to order Google to divest its unit that makes the ad-selling software and refrain from competing in that business. They also seek punitive damages.” The complaint is the latest in a string of similar lawsuits, including an antitrust suit filed December 17 by 38 state attorneys general. Read more here and here.

Publishers versus Apple

Some major news publishers are flocking to the Coalition for App Fairness to combat what they call the “Apple tax,” reports Sarah Perez of TechCrunch.com. The group, operating under the name Digital Context Next, includes the AP, New York Times, Washington Post, ESPN and others. According to Perez, “the organization’s argument is that Apple forces publishers to use in-app payments for services like subscriptions. As a result, some publishers need to raise their prices to account for the so-called ‘Apple tax,’ or commission, on these purchases.” Adding fuel to the fire, congressional hearings this year revealed that Apple had cut Amazon a special deal, with more favorable terms than the one publishers are getting with Apple. Read more here.

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