A song to read by: “Tom Sawyer,” by Rush

What I’m reading: “The Almost Nearly Perfect People,” by Michael Booth

Published this week

— Literally Media Acquires Mel Magazine From Recurrent Ventures

— 'This Is Transformative': Why Google Could Pay Billions to US Publishers in 2024

— The Year of the Living Brands: Why Media IP Refused to Die in 2023

On my mind

Forgive me but I will be keeping this newsletter very short, as I have unsurprisingly mismanaged by time and have New Years plans I need to get ready for. 

I wanted to make sure to publish a Medialyte this week so that the stories I published for Adweek over the holiday — see above — could get a little more circulation. 

Two of them, the Mel Media acquisition and the Year of Living Brands, reflect one of the major trends that shaped the industry this year. The other, about the growing momentum behind movements that would see Facebook and Google pay news publishers, offers a glimpse into one of the larger storylines hanging over 2024.

I will be back next week with some predictions of my own about what we might see play out in the next 12 months, but for now I — like many people reading this, I imagine — am more than happy to simply see 2023 to its conclusion. The last year, as I have written, has been an unimaginably difficult one for the media industry, and I doubt anyone is sad to let it go.

I have ample reason for optimism about the future, which I will elaborate on next week. For now, I just want to say — as always — thank you for reading, sharing and responding. I have only had Medialyte back in action for a few months, but its warm reception has made the effort amply worth it. 

Some good readin’

— Has Gratuity Culture Reached a Tipping Point? (The New Yorker)

— How Did Polyamory Become So Popular? (The New Yorker)

— Brokeback Mountain (The New Yorker)

— Eichmann in Jerusalem—I (The New Yorker)

— Where Did All the Crazy Sneakers Go? (The Wall Street Journal)

Cover image: "Midnight, New Year's Eve, Chelsea Arts Ball,” by Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook