Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Staffers at The NYT will strike for 24 hours, ABC is probing "GMA3" co-anchors Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, San Francisco is investigating Elon Musk's makeshift hotel rooms, Semafor is smacking back at Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones claims he can't pay Sandy Hook victims, and the world readies for royal revelations. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Newsrooms Embrace TikTok

CNN Photoillustration/Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

News publishers are getting in on the TikTok trend.

That's according to a brand new study published Wednesday evening by the Reuters Institute and University of Oxford. The study found that, from a global standpoint, about half of the world's top newsrooms are now regularly posting on the ByteDance-owned app.

The study, which offers arguably the most compressive look yet at how news organizations are using the social media platform to reach and inform younger audiences, noted that publishers are working to establish a presence on TikTok "despite opaque rules over the removal of content, worries about data security, and limited opportunities for monetization."

"The report's figures show that organizations are attracted by the fast-growing and younger audience, but they are also motivated by the desire to provide reliable news, amid fears about widespread misinformation on the platform," the Reuters Institute and University of Oxford said in a news release.

The study found that the rates of TikTok usage among news publishers is highest in Western Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America. In the U.S., about three-quarters of newsrooms are now posting on the platform.

The top 10 accounts in the U.S. by audience, in descending order, are: NowThis, ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, NowThis Politics, Yahoo News, Brut America, The Washington Post, USA Today, and CNN.

Nic Newman, who drew on interviews from 20 different news organizations and individuals to author the report, told me that newsrooms are using the platform to cover a wide range of stories. While some people might think the content on TikTok is light and fluffy, journalists and newsrooms are also tackling serious issues, such as the war in Ukraine — and that type of content, he said, can do particularly well.

"One of the things that really works on TikTok is content that gives viewers the feeling of being there on the scene," Newman said. "And that's why when the war in Ukraine happened, correspondent accounts were really effective."

Newman also stressed that TikTok has "unleashed" a multitude of different storytelling opportunities for news organizations that allows them to break out of the formats they often rely on to deliver information to their audiences. The report, for instance, highlights how Dave Jorgenson at The Post uses humor, Jake Tapper uses it to take viewers behind the scenes at CNN, and Vice has leaned on correspondents for on-the-ground videos.

"If you look at some of the storytelling going on TikTok, it is really different," he said. "There is so much creativity coming out of the platform. It's really vibrant and exciting."

"And it has a lot to teach news publishers working in other mediums."

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Mark Lennihan/AP

A Historic Walkout: A 24-hour strike at The New York Times, in which more than 1,100 employees are expected to participate, is set to begin Thursday at midnight, after management and the NewsGuild failed to reach an agreement for a new contract. The act of protest, which has not been staged by employees at the newspaper of record in decades, will leave many of its major desks depleted of their staffs. Executive Editor Joe Kahn acknowledged in a note to staff it "will be harder than usual" to "produce a robust report," but said it would get done. I'm told The NYT will rely on other resources, such as its international staff which largely are not part of the union, to keep the news flowing. More in my story here.

🔎 Zooming in: Management at The NYT has grown frustrated with how the NewsGuild has sought to conduct negotiations. An executive I spoke with said the NewsGuild "refuse[s] to meet in person" and insists on negotiating over Zoom with upwards of 200 people watching. "Negotiations are essentially public And that changes the whole dynamic of negotiations," the executive told me. "It becomes very performative and very theatrical. It's really hard to get things done. It's like a show." NewsGuild chief Susan DeCarava countered, telling me, "Union democracy is crucial to union power. That is why we don't do closed-door negotiations, which management continues to demand."

🔭 Zooming out: The strike comes as the Gray Lady and the NewsGuild of New York remain at odds over a number of issues, particularly wages, amid a backdrop of layoffs and cuts across the media industry. In recent weeks, CNN laid off hundreds of staffers, Gannett cut 200 employees, NPR said it will need to find $10 million in savings, The Washington Post has shut down its Sunday magazine, and other news organizations have explored the need to trim budgets and freeze hiring.

THE BUSINESS

CNN Photo Illustrations/Michael Yada/ABC/Getty Images

ABC's Review: "ABC News has launched an internal review focused on stars of its signature morning show, which company insiders say could lead to a top host's departure," Semafor's Maxwell Tani scooped Wednesday night. Tani reported the investigation into "GMA3" co-hosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes is being conducted by ABC lawyer Tanya Menton. A person familiar with the probe confirmed it to me as well, noting that it focuses on whether the company's morality clause might have been violated. ABC News did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday night.

The Election Ratings Are In: Millions of viewers tuned into CNN and MSNBC on Tuesday night for special coverage of the Georgia runoff. In prime time, MSNBC beat CNN in total viewers (nearly 3 million viewers to 1.7 million viewers), but CNN came out on top of MSNBC in the key advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic (475K viewers to 472K viewers). CNN also boasted in its press release that 25.3 million unique visitors headed to its digital platforms during the special coverage.

First in Reliable | Semafor Smacks Back: If you watched Tucker Carlson's program Wednesday night, you may have seen the right-wing host descend into a short rant against Semafor Editor-In-Chief Ben Smith. Carlson's commentary attacked the upstart news site over the fact that disgraced former crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried was an investor. In a statement, a Semafor spokesperson responded: "While we are thrilled that Tucker Carlson is turning his audience on to Semafor, Carlson's narrative of 'collusion' between our newsroom and Sam Bankman-Fried is a false, depressing attempt to convert the pain for FTX's victims into television ratings. His 'investigation' discovered that Bankman-Fried is a Semafor investor because we initially disclosed it. There are specific legal rules that we will follow in handling that investment. We hope his viewers will read our tough and revelatory coverage of FTX and sign up for Semafor."

IN THE INDUSTRY

The BBC is preparing for the eventual death of linear television over the next decade. "A switch-off of broadcast will happen and should happen over time," the organization's director Tim Davie, said. (Guardian)
The Washington Post is considering selling its in-house publishing tool, Alexandra Bruell reports. (WSJ)
Brian Steinberg wrote about how some cable networks "are failing" and "media companies can't stop their decline." (Variety)
The National Press Club honored Clarissa Ward on Wednesday night with its highest honors, the Fourth Estate Award. (Press)
TIME's person of the year is Volodymyr Zelensky and the Spirit of Ukraine. Simon Shuster filed the cover story, based off nine months of reporting. (TIME)
RIP: Peter Cooper, the acclaimed country music journalist, died after suffering a head injury from a fall. He was 52. (The Tennessean)

MEDIA MOVES

Insider has promoted Olivia Oran to executive editor of off-platform audience & Lisa Ryan to executive editor of O&O audience. (TalkingBiz)
WaPo has named Kyle Rempfer as a weekend editor. (WaPo)
Hulu Originals has hired Emily Furutani from Universal TV as VP of comedy. (Deadline)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Patrick Pleul/Pool/dpa/AP

The Musk Inn: The city of San Francisco is investigating Elon Musk's makeshift hotel rooms at Twitter's headquarters. After Forbes' Cyrus Farivar and Katharine Schwab reported that the billionaire had converted some rooms in the offices to bedrooms, the Department of Building Inspection released a statement saying that the agency needs "to make sure the building is being used as intended." The statement noted that there are "different building code requirements for residential buildings."

► Want to see what the Musk Inn looks like? The BBC's James Clayton posted photos of the rooms on Wednesday.

TOO MANY TABS

Coming up: Ex-Twitter employees are holding a press conference on Thursday afternoon about their lawsuits against the company.
Everyone is trying to build Twitter 2.0, including employees at Meta, where they brainstormed about how to dethrone the text-based platform last month. (NYT)
Big news: The Pentagon has awarded Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle billions in cloud contracts, following a legal battle. (CNBC)
Apple is launching key new iMessage features that will allow sources to communicate with journalists more securely. (9To5Mac)
Jeff Pegues and Caitlin Yield report that a "growing number of states" are banning TikTok on government devices, with Texas becoming the latest to do so Wednesday. (CBS News)
Indiana also filed suit against TikTok on Wednesday alleging child safety violations. (CNN)
Instagram has been cutting the incentives it pays to convince influencers to make more of its short-form videos Reels. (Information)
Instagram also said Wednesday it will tell creators if their posts are not being recommended by the platform's all-powerful algorithm. (The Verge)

THE INFO WARS

Jones Goes For Broke: Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said in a court filing it would be "functionally impossible" for him to pay the approximately $1.5 billion he owes Sandy Hook families. That's because, according to the court filing, he has "less than $12 million in assets" and "makes less than $2 million a year." The court filing also indicated Jones intends "to continue his broadcasts" on Infowars. An attorney representing the Sandy Hook families noted Jones deals in "lies not truth." The hearing came one week before the 10-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting, which took place December 14, 2012. News-Times' Rob Ryser has details here.

A Barstool Backstabbing: Barstool Sports personality Francis Ellis believes Fox News hosts Jesse Watters and Tucker Carlson are "trafficking in hate," candid remarks captured on a hot-mic reveal. Ellis, a repeat guest on Watters' show, mocked the right-wing network when he thought no one was listening. The audio was published online and later removed, but not before Mediaite downloaded a copy. Listen to it here.

IN THE BATTLEFIELD

"Can Daily Wire turn Nashville into the Hollywood for conservatives?" That's the headline atop Joseph Bernstein's interesting read. (NYT)
Roger Stone is back on Twitter. "I raise a glass to Elon Musk," Stone said holding a martini in a video uploaded to the social media platform.
"Abraham Lincoln did it too": Right-wing favorite Tim Pool offered up a strange defense for Trump's anti-Constitution comments. (MMFA)
Trump posed for photos at Mar-a-Lago with a prominent QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist. (CNN)
WSJ's editorial board continues to rip Trump over election losses: "The biggest lesson of the 2022 midterms is that Mr. Trump picks losers." (WSJ)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Toby Melville/Pool/Reuters

Readying for Royal Revelations: The much-anticipated Netflix docu-series following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drops in just hours (Thursday at 3am ET). The series will arrive in two batches, with each containing three of the six episodes. "It's unclear at this point whether it will be as seismic as the couple's Oprah interview but it will inevitably be causing some anxiety within palace walls, given the British royal family will only find out what's in it when the rest of the world does," CNN's Max Foster and Lauren Said-Moorhouse reported Wednesday. It's not just Buckingham Palace, however, that will certainly field criticism from the series. Expect the UK's tabloid business to also come under fire.

OFF STAGE

Borys Kit reports that "Wonder Woman 3" is "not moving forward" as new DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran plan the future of the DC universe. Kit, citing sources, reported the project "is considered dead in its current incarnation." (THR)
James Cameron is super confident "Avatar: The Way of Water" won't flop: "If I like my movie, I know other people are gonna like my movie. It's very simplistic, really, ultimately." (Variety)
Related: "Avatar" will air on ABC December 11 ahead of the sequel's release date. (Deadline)
Lana Del Ray dropped a new single Wednesday and announced she will release a new album in March. (CNN)
Showtime has given "Yellowjackets" a March 24 season two premiere date. (IGN)
Jennifer Lawrence's R-rated comedy has shifted its release date away from "The Flash." (Deadline)
Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph joked about dodging a "Jake Tapper tough" question in a "Late Night With Seth Meyers" skit about who should succeed Lorne Michaels on "SNL." (The Wrap)
Get ready for a limited series about the Cuban missile crisis. (Variety)
The Hollywood Reporter released its 2022 women in power list. (THR)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will be back in your inbox this time tomorrow.