Few US TikTok users follow news, politics

There’s news on TikTok — but most users aren’t looking for it 

Most TikTok users are turning to the platform for entertainment and pop culture, not news, according to a recent Pew Research survey. The research, conducted by Regina Widjaya, Samuel Bestvater and Aaron Smith, found that only 9% of adult TikTok users in the U.S. followed accounts related to politics, and just 5% followed accounts that posted about news. The news and politics accounts that do get followed tend to also incorporate “lighter” content. 

That doesn’t mean that users aren’t seeing news and policies on their feeds. In The Wall Street Journal, Nate Rattner looks at “news influencers” like Harry Sisson, who earned more than 100 million views in viral posts in June and July alone. Sisson’s TikTok video on President Biden’s exit from the presidential race earned 1.3 million views — more than the TikTok posts for CBS News, MSNBC and C-Span.

News In Focus
Headlines, resources and events aligned with API’s four areas of focus.

Civic Discourse & Democracy

>> Florida is threatening to prosecute TV stations over an abortion rights ad. The FCC chief calls it ‘dangerous’ (CNN) 

The Florida Department of Health has threatened to bring criminal charges against local TV stations for airing a campaign ad that opposed the state’s six-week abortion ban. FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel supported the stations and said that the threats “undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.”

>> Ukrainian media outlet says it’s being pressured by Zelenskiy’s office (RFE/RL) 

The editorial board of Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda says that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has threatened the independence of the news outlet and attempted to influence editorial policy.

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Culture & Inclusion

>> With Hurricane Milton looming, NPR stations got a lower-bandwidth way to reach residents (Nieman Lab) 

This week, NPR changed its CMS to allow all of their local stations to publish bare bones, text-only sites. The goal was to reach residents in hurricane-devastated areas who have limited access to the internet. 

>> What to consider when choosing colors for race, ethnicity, and world regions (Datawrapper) 

Visual representations of race and ethnicity can carry subconscious biases. When representing data on race, avoid stereotypical colors as well as colors that have strong positive or negative associations.

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Community Engagement & Trust

>> Fossil fuel interests are working to kill solar in one Ohio county. The hometown newspaper is helping. (ProPublica)

Ohio’s Mount Vernon News is owned by conglomerate Metric Media, which has been accused of play-pay-coverage for right-leaning causes. After a solar farm was proposed in Knox County, Ohio, the newspaper ran a slew of articles criticizing the project and highlighting opponents of solar energy. 

>> How marketing and community engaged journalists can and should collaborate (American Amplified)

Public media journalists are starting to work closely with their outlet’s marketing teams to engage more with audiences and promote their work in different spaces. 

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Revenue & Resilience

>> Virginia rural newspapers are still fighting to stay alive (VPM Media) 

The Recorder in Monterey, Virginia has published weekly since October of 1877, and publisher Anne Adams is confident that the paper has another few years at least. She says that ad revenue directly impacts how many pages the paper prints in a given week, which influences what gets published. 

>> Join us: Diversifying Revenue Series: Tactics to engage mid-funnel audiences

Table Stakes alumni, join us for a conversation with alumna Claudia Laws about how to move news consumers in the “middle” of the audience funnel — people who are aware of your news organization but aren’t yet engaged as loyal users, paying subscribers or donors. The webinar will be on Thursday, October 17 from 1 – 2pm ET.  

>> New from API: 4 ways outlets are convening community — and seeing loyalty and revenue follow

Local news organizations are uniquely positioned to not only share news and information with their communities, but play other roles outside of gathering the facts — a social connector, a convener of people across differences and a facilitator for addressing community challenges. Here’s how four newsrooms are connecting with the rural communities they serve. 

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What else you need to know

🗞️ Donald L. Barlett, former Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The Inquirer and best-selling author, has died at 88 (The Philadelphia Inquirer) 

📽️ Questions are mounting over why NBCU has opted to shelve the well-reviewed documentary from an Oscar-winning filmmaker until after the election (Status) 

⚖️ A Google breakup is on the table, say DOJ lawyers (The Verge) 

🏢 Crane slams into Tampa Bay Times building during Hurricane Milton (Poynter) 

🏀 The Athletic, Yahoo Sports partner on new women’s sports content hub (Axios) 

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Weekend reads

+ American audiences do not notice a nonprofit news difference, study finds (Poynter) 

+ On anticipatory obedience and the media (Columbia Journalism Review)

+ Taylor Lorenz’s plan to dance on legacy media’s grave (The New Yorker) 

+ How a 19th-century news revolution sparked activists, influencers, disinformation, and the Civil War (Nieman Lab) 

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