Whether its mergers and acquisitions or federal spending and policy drives, the big money stories coalesce around three sectors: healthcare, energy and technology. That number gets significantly bigger when you include subsectors such as pharmaceuticals, renewables or cybersecurity.
It leaves a lot to unpack in 2021.
While our Washington, D.C. teams will offer guidance on connecting policymakers to influencers (See: GAO Aircraft Audit: Opportunities for Contractors and Policy Makers), the News Media team will act as a filter for all the reporting noise. We’re doing the research to make our media contacts the best in the business, and in the course of that process, we see where the most impactful reporting is generated, from enterprise stories to deep policy analysis. Along with COVID-19 infection mitigation, President-elect Joe Biden and his Coronavirus Advisory Board will focus on the logistics of vaccine rollouts. SupplyChainDive and other trade reporters will be valuable resources in figuring out what companies will be important.
Biden has also expounded on energy and environment goals. To that end, news media saw a big move by Politico. Editor Carrie Budoff Brown wrote that Politico will end the year with its highest-ever level of profitability — after years of hovering around break-even — creating the scenario for the acquisition of E&E News to occur. Leadership Connect will home in on specific companies and people as related to policy. As Politico Editor-in-Chief Matt Kaminski puts it: “Energy and the environment is the story of the next generation, and the policy decisions made by major global powers today will impact our families, our businesses, and our world tomorrow and for decades to come.”
Cybersecurity, machine learning and privacy may move ahead of Section 230 in the SEO ranks with the new administration. We’ll need to keep an eye on what policies and people are leaning toward and what legislation actually has a chance of passing. The Federal Trade Commission recently issued orders to 9 social media and video streaming services (Amazon, Discord, Facebook and its WhatsApp subsidiary, Reddit, Snap, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, Twitter, and YouTube) seeking data about how they collect, use, and present information. Wall Street Journal Tech Policy Reporter Ryan Tracy writes: The announcement isn’t a law-enforcement action and doesn’t carry any immediate penalties, though the information gathered could form the basis for future action by the FTC.
Beyond the Big 3 Sectors, we’ll continue to track the high turnover in news media as well major moves involving political journos and the scene over at Voice of America; new funding models that could include a federal component; M&A such as Alden Global setting its sights on Tribune Publishing and Axios’ charge into local journalism.
If you’re a policy wonk like Ali Zaidi, a contractor looking for business or a policy influencer, getting the news, white papers, think pieces and trade analysis that’s actionable is imperative. We aim to provide that in the New Year.
In the immediate future, all eyes are on Georgia.
