Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. This is a weekend round-up of the stories I've covered over the last few days.

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Late last night I realised, to my shame, that I'd missed my own birthday. Not, my personal one, but the launch of The Addition. Even worse! I announced the launch on February 24, 2022 and published the first proper newsletter on February 28, 2022. After a quick rebranding in March, The Addition was born and is now three years old. I am so grateful to all those who have supported this work along the way, be they readers, advertisers, sources or encouraging friends. I love making The Addition and hope to do so for a long time to come.

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Apple, and the Media, Win Legal Battle With UK Government

The UK government has lost its bid to keep a legal battle with Apple private. The UK Investigatory Powers Tribunal rejected the case, which was on behalf of Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

In a ruling published Monday, the specialist court said that conducting proceedings essentially in private “would have been a truly extraordinary step to conduct a hearing entirely in secret without any public revelation of the fact that a hearing was taking place. That would be the most fundamental interference with the principle of open justice.”

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Media and a Mixed Start to 2025

Given a quarter of the year has gone, I thought it would be good to analyse how the media has performed so far in 2025. The timing seems apt given much of the industry is currently enjoying itself having serious conversations about the future of journalism in Perugia.

Generally, the trends from 2024 have continued so far. Niche publications are doing well alongside some big names benefiting from the political chaos in the world - have CNBC and Bloomberg ever been so popular?! And everyone has a newsletter and/or podcast. (Please do check out The Addition Podcast and House of Comments wherever you get your podcasts.)

Also:

• ​What to Watch This Weekend​
• ​Weekly Live Blog: 7-13 April, 2025​