Daily August 24

Nearly four years after media’s first doomed dalliance with the blockchain — which was supposed to remedy some of ad tech’s transparency problems and fight fraud — the NFT mania earlier this year was hard to take seriously. But times are different, proponents say. These recent forays were more rooted in experimentation than creating a regular business line and behind the scenes, publishers are putting more brain power into what NFTs, and more broadly the blockchain, can do. Read more below.

• After dipping their toes in the NFT pool, publishers are newly bullish about blockchain with new initiatives and bigger teams.
• To produce shows that seek to represent people from different backgrounds and experiences, Jubilee Media relies on a workforce that is equally split between genders and consists of primarily non-white employees.
• For Digiday+ members, with the delta variant on the rise and mask mandates returning, it’s unlikely agencies and brands will want employees schmoozing at large in-person events.
• Also for Digiday+ members, a majority of publishers now say they are no longer worried about the coming deprecation of third-party cookies.
• Some businesses are letting employees pick the days they come into the office. But there are fears that this could dilute diversity of thought and ideas and harm culture.