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Douglas McCabe was quoted in an article on the Guardian strategy - the move towards charging online readers represents a major shift for a group that had been almost evangelical about offering its digital journalism for free. But the Guardian has been forced to rethink its strategy after arguably the biggest crisis in its near 200-year history hit last year, when a sharp drop in print advertising compounded disappointing digital ad revenue. Now the Guardian is relying on reader’s support to stave off crisis. However, analysts say that unless losses are reduced and new revenue streams found, the Guardian will quickly find itself in the same predicament. Douglas said “the scale of the fund and the core Guardian objective of achieving sustainability should not be intertwined. In some ways the bigger the fund the more the business is culturally inclined to accept colossal trading losses”.

Douglas McCabe was quoted in an article on a broader change in the media industry - publishers are turning their back on the social network. Many publishers have concluded that the expected deluge of digital advertising is unlikely to materialise. Last year roughly 89% of the growth in digital ad spending in Britain was soaked up by just two companies, Google and Facebook, according to figures from Enders Analysis. Douglas said “the idea that digital advertising was going to be this great wave of money to save the new industry is now being seen for what it is: a complete illusion”. A spate of recent controversies, from “fake news” to the YouTube extremist content advertising scandal, has opened a route to salvation — and it looks very much like the business model that has sustained the news industry in the past. YouTube’s inability, and for a while unwillingness, to remove ads appearing next to extremist content and hate speech have given advertisers pause. Douglas said: “advertisers are slowly but surely coming back to the idea of trying to reach quality audiences in quality environments. It’s come full circle.”

Claire Enders was quoted in an article on Adam Crozier’s departure from ITV which has opened up one of the biggest jobs in British media. Claire suggests that ITV may plump for an internal appointment, an option that would have the benefit of ensuring maximum continuity. The obvious internal candidate, therefore, may be Ian Griffiths, ITV’s finance director, who will lead the company on an interim basis alongside Sir Peter Bazalgette, the executive chairman, until a permanent replacement is confirmed by the board. However, he appears to have ruled himself out, even though Claire said: “it may be an arrangement that is very successful. The Bazalgette-Griffiths combination is a tough one to beat”.

Douglas McCabe was quoted in an article on the luxury magazines market, which is starting to see a shift in readers and advertisers to online social media platforms. UK circulation for women’s fashion and lifestyle magazines fell by 5 per cent year on year in 2016, according to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation. But for many of these magazines, the loss of readers is of less concern than the shifting advertising market, where they have traditionally earned most of their revenues and profits. Douglas said “It is absolutely true that advertising at the luxury end of the market has held up much better than advertising as a whole. However, it is also true that publishers of those magazines will be nervous that some of the transition that has taken place in other parts of the ad market from print to digital could happen at the luxury end as well.”