Media abundance

Thanks for the notes about whether South Tribeca exists. It turns out that most agree it does not, unless you’re in the real estate business, which once tried to rebrand Hell’s Kitchen to Clinton.

In today’s member’s piece, I write about how the media industry like the Democratic Party needs its version of an abundance agenda. Reminder: Upgrade to TRB Pro for full access to The Rebooting’s content.

Couple other things to know:

• We are bringing the New Growth Agenda to Cannes. NGA is a small, invite-only gathering of media executives focused on real discussions about sustainable business models. We’re combining peer-level conversations, a salon-style discussion, and a roundtable dinner. Unlike most events, this isn’t about panels or pitches. It’s designed to be interactive, with participants shaping the agenda based on what they’re actually dealing with. See the details. 
• Audience development is shifting from breadth to depth. From the decline of search traffic to the rise of first-party data and AI-driven engagement, we surveyed 97 media execs to uncover what’s working in audience development in 2025. Get the insights on the strategies that are actually driving growth—and where publishers are placing their bets next. Download What’s Working in Audience Development report.

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Media abundance

My copy of Abundance has arrived. The Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson book on a reformed progressive political agenda arrives at the right time. Political parties periodically are forced into the wilderness to reform themselves after a political crisis. Much, although not all, of the Democratic party has moved past the denial phase. The recent poll showing a party approval rate of 27% will do that. 

What’s significant to me about the argument Klein and Thompson make is that they’re acknowledging a reality that also faces the media industry: The need to dispense with a scarcity mindset that is about protecting the past to present a positive and pro-growth agenda built around dynamism. 

Klein and Thompson make the argument that Democrats have become too enamored with regulations and redistribution. Meanwhile, it’s hard to avoid the inconvenient reality that the places where they are most powerful are losing population, often due to a scarcity of affordable housing and quality of life issues, like the need to ring a buzzer to get a tube of toothpaste at CVS. 

This echoes a lot of issues in the media industry, which has been stuck in a mindset of contraction—cutting costs, downsizing ambitions, lamenting past models. Abundance offers a different way forward: invest, experiment, and build. It’s a mindset shift that media companies desperately need if they want to move beyond survival mode or shuffle off to the SEO glue factory.