Mail invests in Tiktok and Instagram | Techcrunch veteran launches new title

Good morning from the team at Press Gazette on Wednesday, 15 October.

Here’s our daily round-up of media news, sponsored by Admiral, The Visitor Relationship Management (VRM) Company.

In today’s feature, Admiral shares a practical playbook for media executives looking to break down silos, unify fragmented visitor experiences, and unlock higher ARPV and long-term revenue. Learn how publishers are using VRM to connect the dots across adblock recovery, subscriptions, consent, and engagement — with zero dev lift.

🍔An investigation into how McDonald’s makes its burgers sponsored by McDonald’s is not going to win any journalism awards.

But it might help keep the lights on at Daily Mail publisher DMG Media.

It is an example of a brand partnership on the Daily Mail Tiktok account.

In the creator economy of social media it’s not about buying ads around content, but buying the content itself.

We found out why the Mail is investing heavily in making creator-led content on Tiktok and Instagram. And how, despite a blurring of the lines between church and state, it says it still puts editorial integrity at the heart of social marketing campaigns.

Like it or loathe it, Tiktok now has a larger online audience than every UK news website combined. Consumer publishers have to find ways to succeed there if they are going to stay relevant.

READ THE FULL STORY

💻Today we also report on the second new launch headed by laid off former Techcrunch staffers.

Founding Techcrunch editor at large Mike Butcher will be competing with his former employer to cover the tech startup scene.

Like The Nerve, launched by former Observer journalists last month, Pathfinder is based on newsletter/website publishing platform Beehiiv.

Butcher told us why he thinks the time is right for a new launch after what has been a torrid year for technology journalism.

READ THE FULL STORY

📢And, in a sponsored article, Katherine Ruane of Mather explains how Nordic news and magazine publisher Aller Media saw significant revenue growth by adopting ‘intelligent pricing’ of digital subscriptions.

She said: “Pricing evolved from an administrative task into a strategic discipline — something teams could measure, discuss, and learn from rather than execute reactively or based on gut instinct.”