The Brief – Tuesday 28 April: WHCD, page views at regionals decline, C4 Black in Business and more

📰 Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner, the first attended by Donald Trump as president, was interrupted by an attempted shooting. No individuals were harmed. The event, which had been criticised for occuring even as the Trump administration has attacked independent press, is set to be rescheduled. (New York Times)

📉 Page views across regional online newsbrands fell 28% year on year in March, from 795m in March 2025 to 566m last month, according to latest Ipsos figures. However, the overall audience was down just 2% year on year to 33.6m. (HoldtheFrontPage)

🤖 Independent sell-side advertising company Magnite has unveiled new agentic AI-driven tools, including a new media buying agent. Kepler and MiQ are currently testing the agent, with access to inventory from Disney Advertising. (Magnite)

📺 Channel 4 has once again partnered with Lloyds to offer £200,000 worth of free advertising airtime to Black entrepreneurs through its Black in Business scheme. Now in its third year, the initiative offers four Black-owned businesses increased visibility as part of an effort to improve Black representation on the screen and in the business community. (Channel 4)

🤖 News UK has launched Times ExplorAItion, a synethetic audience product within its Nucleus data platform. The tool aims to help brands test campaign strategies against a synthetic audience of Times consumers before committing to real budgets in the market. (News UK)

💫 Creative effectiveness platform System1, in partnership with Peter Field, the IPA, Amplified, Eatbigfish and Uncensored CMO, has released new research on what separate effective creativity from work that leaves no emotional or commercial impact, across both long and short formats. The white paper found that “category shapes dull”, that showmanship drives feeling while salesmanship along falls flat, that longer formats enable storytelling, and that humour is “the most consistent antidote to dull”. (System1)

📱 Omnicom Media Group influencer agency Creo is launching a feature that uses agentic AI to identify and address creator content made on behalf of clients that could pose brand risks. (Adweek)

😁 Clients of independent agencies are more likely to give high satisfaction ratings than clients of holdco agencies, according to new data from Verity Relationship Intelligence, the consultancy behind The Relationship Rating (TRR). (Verity)