Willie O’Reilly: Media rose to Covid-19 challenge, but it’s not over yet

The industry had to learn to adapt quickly in 2020, and some of the changes are here to stay

Advertisers were quick to shoot TV commercials more appropriate for the times, and at the end of the year, the slew of Christmas ads put community and the virus at their core

I thought this annus horribilis could be bookended. “2020 started with a virus,” I typed, “and finished with a vaccine.” But this “unprecedented” year won’t behave so tidily. Yes, we have a vaccine, but we also have the Christmas gift of a mutant variation. It hasn’t even begun to go away, you know.

The media have risen to the challenges posed by the restrictions but, like a chapter from a Cormac McCarthy novel, the road ...