Frustrations regarding the lack of diversity in the advertising industry aren’t new, though the topic has seen renewed attention after last summer’s civil rights protests. After these events, Montreal-based creative agency Six Cinquièm reported an uptick in business in which it grew its clientele by an estimated 30% YoY in 2020. "When talk of diversity, racism and protests became more popular, it put more eyes on us as Black creatives," said the agency's co-founder Miro LaFlaga. In normal times, the agency saw an average of one or two inquiries for work per week. Now, during Black History Month, the agency is averaging two to three inquiries per week. Read more below.

• A Black-owned agency wants the industry to more consistently support investing in diversity in its creative teams.
• Like many publishers, Asos wants to sell space around content on its site and app in online auctions managed by ad tech.
• A number of different organizations have sprung up to try and restore trust in the news business, and this year could see the rise of another one: trust.txt.
• In the latest edition of Digiday's Confessions series, one creative is left feeling lost without a mentor and missing a peer-to-peer connection, structure and the subjectivity of success.