The 2026 media diary post is an update and a reflection on past posts that I have written in the same vein. The first one was inspired by a request that Stephen Waddington put out in 2015.
I wrote the next iteration during CoVID. I was working from home in a role where it was getting hard for me to continue to add value. I had done much of the building capability I had been brought in to do and the business was in stasis following a purchase by a larger firm. I finished up at the business and moved to do strategy for the global launch of Wegovy.
My 2026 media diary evolved.
Messaging mayhem
I still rely on various messaging platforms. At the moment its:
- Google Meet
- KakaoTalk
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
Thankfully I only use Zoom for the occasional webinar call now. I switched companies during lockdown and moving from working on Zoom, to working on Teams was a huge improvement in cognitive load.
Zoom has migrated for lots of organisations from a video chat platform to a video broadcast platform.
Skype was finally killed off by Microsoft, though the writing was on the wall long ago, due to poor product management. Any recommendations for a better VoIP client to deal with calling US businesses gratefully received. Skype had its niche and it is missed for it.
The most notable update to my 2026 media diary is what’s missing. I no longer use Netflix. Instead, I save the subscription fee and buy DVDs and Blu-rays of films that I actually want to watch.
Apple TV’s smaller collection of high quality series has more appeal as does some of Amazon Prime Video’s tentpole productions.
The media remains the same
I have been a subscriber of the US edition of Wired magazine. Back then it worked because I had a lot of technology clients, for a long time I had no technology clients and then I did two engagements: Google Cloud and Arm Semiconductor.
The Financial Times is the best in a rather poor landscape of newspapers. Yet it sill proves surprisingly handy.
I still love Monocle and Japanese style magazine HailMary.
RTÉ is still a connection to home. In my 2026 media diary I rely even more heavily on podcasts rather than the BBC. My podcast tastes tend to run professional, current affairs analysis or financial news including:
- Asia Geopolitics by The Diplomat
- Asia Stream by Nikkei Asia
- Independent Thinking by Chatham House
- KBS World Radio News
- English News – NHK World Radio Japan
A brace of podcasts by Bloomberg, CNBC, CSIS, the FT, Monocle and Reuters.
Social disengagement
While I will occasionally log on to Twitter (I resolutely refuse to call it X) to browse the lists that I have curated on the platform for certain subjects such as China analysis, my use of micro-blogs in general has decreased massively. My posts on Instagram are occasional too.
I still use LinkedIn for work and have a couple of dark social communities across Slack and WhatsApp that I check in on daily. I am now a member of a WhatsApp group for the people living in my block of houses.
Brands that cut through
It has been fascinating to watch ASOS’ pivot to attempt brand building. While the cost cutting has taken the headlines, and the gross merchandise value continued to decline, consumers are at least taking a look at the platform again. Secondly, they have managed to reduce their reliance on discounts.
I wish that they would double down on their brand building efforts through, creative like this needs time to burn in.
I have a strangely deja vu relationship with brands at the moment, direct to consumer brands like Suri or Tallow + Ash advertising remind me a lot of the JML screens in Wilko and Woolworths, slavishly copying the show-and-sell concept. Other brands like Gymshark feel very similar to QVC and IdeaStore. Brands have managed to partner with creators to extend shopping TV onto YouTube. They have built mental availability in the must-avoid category inside my head.
Quality still counts. My wardrobe changed a bit since my last media diary. If you told my 2020 or 2015 media diary self that I would have had Nike ACG and Patagonia in my wardrobe I would have been surprised. My 2026 wardrobe now has Patagonia high loft fleeces and Nike ACG Goretex shells, the reason was quite simple. Nike and Patagonia were just building them better. I had a zip, not the zipper, but the zip come off my North Face jacket in my hand. Any North Face item I now own is well over ten years old. I still like Carhartt but wear more Gramicci climbing pants for comfort.
Finally, I have been disappointed by Sony’s retreat from consumer electronics, it felt like a personal betrayal. Sony’s self-described purpose is ‘fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology’ yet it dropped consumer electronics and hi-fi components for Sony old peoples homes and life insurance.
Previous editions of my media diary
2020 media diary – the CoVID pivot back to desktop.
2015 media diary – at the time I was on the cusp of living a post-PC life. My Mac was only really used for content creation.