Last week, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress. But nothing he said appears to have tamped down Washington’s fears that the social media company poses a threat to Americans’ privacy, as well as national security.
Could TikTok be headed to a ban in the U.S.? And if so, then what? What does it mean for newsrooms?
Annie Aguiar, Poynter’s audience engagement producer, offers her thoughts in this lead item of today’s Poynter Report.
Vertical video is here to stay for news publishers, even if TikTok isn’t.
As lawmakers in the United States, Europe and Canada look to restrict the popular short-form video app, news outlets that have embraced it as a way to reach much-needed younger audiences face the potential loss of a shiny new toy.
Standout news pages like The Washington Post and Vice World News have carved out sizable followings on the app, while even holdouts like The New York Times have acknowledged its omnipresence in recent months by making accounts.
A collaborative spreadsheet created by Francesco Zaffarano, who writes the Substack newsletter Mapping Journalism, counts 792 news outlets with TikTok presences. As of March 29, 168 are based in the United States.
“TikTok has become an incredibly valuable place for VICE journalists to disseminate vital news, information, and entertainment content to our audiences around the world,” Katie Drummond, Vice Media’s senior vice president for global news and entertainment, said in a statement to Poynter. “It is one of the many platforms for which we create vertical video, including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, and we see vertical video as a key digital format for us going forward.”
While other platforms have rolled out TikTok imitators, complete with their own algorithms for discovering new content in an infinite scroll, the copycats have had trouble stacking up against TikTok’s gargantuan numbers and global influence.
While Drummond says Vice’s overall strategy wouldn’t change with a TikTok ban, that content would undeniably reach fewer people. For comparison, Vice World News has 3.1 million followers on TikTok and 1.5 million followers on Instagram.
Adding to the equation: Some newsrooms’ TikTok presences are platform-agnostic, while others are focused on specifically being TikTok products. The New York Times’ Instagram and TikTok accounts have a lot of overlap, for example, with in-house designed captions and graphics for consistent, branded video between the two platforms.
“We don’t depend on any single external platform to maintain connection with our audience, and currently run a number of accounts across several social media networks,” Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said in a statement. “The Times only recently launched a TikTok account for news, and we’re adding followers each day.”
The Washington Post takes a different approach, producing in-house branded vertical videos for its Instagram page but personality-filled recaps of the news produced by a dedicated TikTok team helmed by Dave Jorgensen. The posts use in-app features and scream TikTok. It’d be hard to imagine those videos alongside more formal produced pieces from videojournalists.
A TikTok ban would certainly create oodles of legal roadblocks, so all of this is uncertain. Still, this is an opportunity for newsrooms of all sizes to examine their social video. For audiences in 2023, this pivot to video isn’t just a fad. If the government pulling on one thread has the potential to cause newsrooms’ whole strategies to fall apart, it’s time for them to reevaluate those strategies.
And now onto the rest of today’s report …
CNN’s new shows
CNN announced starting times for its new show “CNN News Central.” The mid-morning part, which will air from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern, will debut next Monday. That part of the newscast will be anchored by John Berman, Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner, and will be based in New York.
The 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern block will debut on April 17. That will be anchored by Brianna Keilar, Boris Sanchez and Jim Sciutto, and be based in Washington, D.C.
So what is “CNN News Central,” exactly?
Here’s how CNN describes it: “‘CNN News Central’ will serve as the core hub of the network’s best-in-class newsgathering operation during the day, bringing stories to viewers in real time, while offering perspective and context to key issues. Modeled after CNN’s special election programming, ‘CNN News Central’ uses similar technology and storytelling tools, and applies them to news well beyond politics. The immersive approach will showcase what CNN does best — breaking news, visual storytelling, and factual, impactful reporting.”
In other words, a live news program with a bit of an election-night feel.
After getting these newscasts off the ground, CNN’s next task will be to iron out the wrinkles of “CNN Primetime” — the show that currently airs at 9 p.m. CNN hopes to air various town-hall specials and interviews in that slot when possible. For example, this Thursday, Wolf Blitzer will interview former Vice President Mike Pence. Also, as I mentioned in Wednesday’s newsletter, CNN is negotiating with CBS News’ Gayle King and basketball analyst Charles Barkley about hosting one night a week in prime time.
SPJ weighs in on Fox News
(AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Here’s how the Society of Professional Journalists describes itself: “SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to informing citizens; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.”
So you would think that the SPJ would stand up for a news organization being sued for defamation. But, the SPJ is now commenting on Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News and has some harsh words … about Fox News.
In a statement, the SPJ wrote, “Text messages, emails and other recently disclosed court evidence in the case appear to show that popular prime-time Fox News hosts, with support from network executives, gave their viewers false and misleading information, apparently out of concern that fact-based reporting would damage the company’s brand, allowing competitors to siphon away viewers. News organizations have a fundamental obligation to be honest in the reporting and opinion they disseminate. It is unprofessional, unethical and potentially harmful for a journalist or news organization to deliberately mislead their audience, no matter the motivation or format.”
It went on to write, “If a news organization knowingly spreads lies, either in news reporting or opinion, it has clearly breached this most sacred of principles. No responsible journalist can accept or excuse this behavior.”
SPJ did say they “support journalists at Fox who have refused to take part in narratives of falsehoods.”
Speaking of Fox News …
More old emails in the Dominion-Fox case became public Wednesday, including one from Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott that seemed to indicate that fact-checking Donald Trump was “bad for business.” (Although, Fox News says that is not what the email was about.)
On Dec. 2, 2020, Scott emailed Meade Cooper, executive vice president of primetime programming. In an email with a subject line that referred to correspondent Eric Shawn, who often pushed back on Trump’s false claims of a rigged election, Scott wrote, “This is bad business and there clearly is a lack of understanding what is happening in these shows. The audience is furious and we are just feeding them material. Bad for business.”
In a statement, Fox News said Scott was not referring to Shawn pushing back on Trump. The statement said, “This is not about fact checking — the issue at hand is one host calling out another.”
For more on the newly released emails, here’s NBC News’ Amanda Terkel, Jane C. Timm and Dareh Gregorian with “Fox News aired Dominion voting myths despite its ‘Brain Room’ saying they were wrong.”
In a statement, Fox News said, “These documents once again demonstrate Dominion’s continued reliance on cherry-picked quotes without context to generate headlines in order to distract from the facts of this case. The foundational right to a free press is at stake and we will continue to fiercely advocate for the First Amendment in protecting the role of news organizations to cover the news.”
And, oh, one more today about Fox News. The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi and Sarah Ellison with “Rupert Murdoch settles a lot of lawsuits. Why not Dominion v. Fox News?”
Stayin’ alive
The Texas Observer isn’t going away after all.
Just this week, the board of the parent company for the progressive publication told staff they were being laid off and the outlet was being shut down. Current and former staff, as well as devoted readers, were crushed by the idea of the 68-year-old publication going away. But after the staff raised nearly $300,000 since Monday through donations and a GoFundMe, the board voted unanimously to rescind the plan to shut down the Observer and lay off its 16-person staff.
Editor-in-chief Gabriel Arana told the Observer, “This is wonderful news. The Observer is indispensable to Texas and to democracy.” Gayle Reaves, the Observer’s editor-at-large, added, “I just got chills. I can’t tell you how proud I am of our incredible supporters and my colleagues and the board members who helped us.”
In a statement, The Texas Democracy Foundation Board apologized for “the abruptness of the layoff vote and deeply regret that they found out via another media outlet and the uncertainty and stress of this week. We look forward to working with them as we build a sustainable path for the magazine.”
The statement also apologized to the Observer’s major donors, as well as supporters and readers. It ended by saying, “Texas needs progressive investigative journalism more than ever, and we hope the Observer can be reimagined for the next generation.”
In a statement to The New York Times’ Michael Levenson, board president Laura Hernandez Holmes said, “My intent in voting for layoffs and hiatus was never about closing down the publication. The actions I took as board president were intended to allow space for The Observer to be reconstituted, and reimagined in a more sustainable form.”
Whatever the intent, it’s moot now as the Observer will continue on, which is great news for journalism in Texas.
Powerful piece
A Poynter Report reader named Sten Eric Carlson reached out to me Wednesday to share a “My Turn” op-ed that he had written for Newsweek.
What a powerful piece. I won’t go into details. I’ll just link to it and suggest you give it a read. Here it is: “My Brother’s Horrific Murder Shocked Police. His Killer Is Up for Parole.”
The Boston Globe’s new initiative
For this item, I turned it over to Poynter’s Amaris Castillo.
The Boston Globe this week introduced a new journalism initiative called Boston Globe New Hampshire that aims to tell stories that matter most to New Hampshire residents and readers who are invested in what happens in the Granite State.
“We learned a lot from our 2019 expansion into Rhode Island, and have seen first-hand the importance of having local reporters write about topics that matter to the communities in which they themselves live,” Lylah M. Alphonse, the editor of Boston Globe New Hampshire and Boston Globe Rhode Island, wrote in the announcement. “We’re following that same model in New Hampshire, with Steven Porter and Amanda Gokee anchoring our Granite State team.”
Alphonse added that while Rhode Island was new territory for the Globe, New Hampshire is familiar ground. She listed past reporting and analysis focused on the state, including the Globe’s 2021 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for Blind Spot, which began with an incident in New Hampshire. In addition to Porter and Gokee’s reporting, there will also be a weekday newsletter called Globe NH | Morning Report. You can find news from the Boston Globe’s New Hampshire bureau here or on Twitter @Globe_NH.
Media tidbits
Actor Jeremy Renner, shown here in 2019. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
- Diane Sawyer has the first interview with actor Jeremy Renner since his life-threatening snowplow accident on New Year’s Day. “Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview — A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph” will air April 6. Here’s a preview.
- NBC News’ Cynthia McFadden will have an exclusive TV interview with former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, who is suing the cable network. The interview will air on tonight’s “NBC Nightly News.” A clip of it will run on this morning’s “Today” show.
- The American Society of Magazine Editors has announced the winners of the 2023 National Magazine Awards. Here’s the complete list.
- The New York Times’ Kevin Draper with “The Way You Watch Sports on TV Is Changing. Here’s Why.”
- USA Today’s Mike Freeman with “In treatment of NFL Network reporter Jim Trotter, the NFL again fails on issues of race.”
- The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo with “Members of New York Times Union stage noisy newsroom protest.”
Hot type
- A few days old, but a haunting read. For ProPublica, Kavitha Surana with “Doctors Warned Her Pregnancy Could Kill Her. Then Tennessee Outlawed Abortion.”
- New York Times Brazil bureau chief (and Boston Red Sox fan) Jack Nicas with, “The Yankees Cap Goes Viral in Brazil: ‘Is It Basketball?’”
- While we’re talking about baseball, today is Major League Baseball’s Opening Day. What better way to commemorate it than with a column from The Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell: “The pitch clock is saving baseball — by returning it to the past.”
More resources for journalists
- Subscribe to Poynter’s Friday newsletter, Open Tabs with Poynter managing editor Ren LaForme, and get behind-the-scenes stories only available to subscribers.
- Telling the Stories of Faith and the Faithful — New York, May 12 (Seminar) — Register by April 12.
- Lead With Influence (July 2023) (Seminar) — Apply by June 2.
- Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative — (Sept. – April, 2024) (Hybrid) — Apply by May 15.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
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