Mediagazer: A document from TikTok's engineering team in Beijing details the app's addictive algorithm, which pursues DAUs by optimizing for “retention” and “time spent” (Ben Smith/New York Times)

1:05 PM ET, December 6, 2021

Top News:

CNN says it has fired Chris Cuomo after “additional information has come to light” about the help he gave his brother Andrew Cuomo — The network said it had “terminated him, effective immediately,” a move that came days after a lawyer for a former colleague accused the host of sexual misconduct.

Discussion: @cnnpr, @chriscuomo, The Wrap, New York Post, Fox News, Mediaite, Observer, American Press Institute, @marceelias, CNN, Washington Post, @badfoxgraphics, @brianstelter, Associated Press, @jayrosen_nyu, @benmullin, @grynbaum, Press Watch, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, @jodikantor, @randpaul, @grynbaum, National Review, Poynter, @koblin, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Slate, @poynter, NBC News, Newser, @erikwemple, @sorayamcdonald, @juliettekayyem, @juddlegum, @grynbaum, TMZ.com, Media Nation, The Hill, @benyt, @stevebattaglio, @ericmgarcia, @jodikantor, NBC News, @shoq, @glennbeck, MediaPost, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @jodikantor, @benyt, @grynbaum, @grynbaum, @michelemclellan, @davidfolkenflik, FTVLive, @davmicrot, @thrasherxy, @janicedean, @ichotiner, @badfoxgraphics, @megjameslat, @baseballot, @jazayerli, @dick_nixon, @rontkim, @grynbaum, @maddoxrules, @jordanchariton, @jayrosen_nyu, @brentbozell, @jadler1969, @iamsophianelson, @benmullin, @studentactivism, @studentactivism, @originalspin, @froomkin, @jbflint, @mayatcontreras, @josephwulfsohn, @davidfolkenflik, @kenklippenstein, @cernovich, @redsteeze, @meganbitchell, @_cingraham, @matthardybrand, @attorneynora, @shoq, @brianstelter, @jeremymbarr, @mollyjongfast, @phil_lewis_, @froomkin, @jasminestylestv, @jdwackrow, @frankconniff, @a_newsman, @elisestefanik, @adriennelaw, @chrisloesch, @erikwemple, @mrbeaks, @lmoses, @erikwemple, @noahshachtman, @noahshachtman, @timheidecker, @erikwemple, @ditzkoff, @alexthomp, @nycsouthpaw, @jeremymbarr, @benyt, @brianstelter, @grynbaum, @sdkstl, Insider, Al Jazeera, E! Online, Financial Times, Fox News, Axios, Bloomberg, Poynter, NPR, Deadline, TVLine, TVNewser, Hollywood Life, Wall Street Journal and CNBC

Wall Street Journal:

Sources: CNN's Cuomo U-turn came after NY AG records, a law firm report, and an unrelated sexual misconduct allegation against him from an ex-ABC colleague — Network boss fired the star anchor on Saturday, leaving a hole in the channel's prime-time lineup

Discussion: CNN, New York Post, @ewerickson, @yuhline, Associated Press, @asharma, @benmullin, @wsj, @pkafka, NPR, @jbflint, @benmullin and Mediaite

Gerry Smith / Bloomberg:

BuzzFeed shares fall after rising by as much as 45% in its Nasdaq debut, after raising less than expected from its SPAC — - Company is in talks to make Michael Del Nin its new president — Sector needs ‘strong public company,’ co-founder Peretti says

Discussion: CNN, @benmullin, CNBC, BuzzFeed, YouTube, New York Times, @sherman4949, @sherman4949, @alex, @silviakillings, @tomgara, @rmac18, @kerrymflynn and @gerryfsmith

Peter Kafka / Vox:

A look at BuzzFeed's rocky transformation into a public company, as Bustle CEO says its fate will determine the fortunes of many digital media companies — “The fate of BuzzFeed is going to determine the fortunes of a lot of other companies.” — The transformation from startup to public company is supposed to be a very big deal.

Discussion: @pkafka, Fast Company, Financial Times and @pkafka

Matt Schudel / Washington Post:

Fred Hiatt, The Washington Post's editorial page editor since 2000, dies at 66 — Fred Hiatt, a onetime foreign correspondent who in 2000 became The Washington Post's editorial page editor and greatly expanded the global reach of the newspaper's opinion writers in the era of 9/11 …

Discussion: @farhip, @froomkin and @milbank

Katie Robertson / New York Times:

Interview with Anna Wintour and Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch as they transform its biggest publications into global brands while streamlining content sharing — Anna Wintour is the embodiment of the glory days of the magazine dynasty. Now she is pitching its global, digital future.

Discussion: @katie_robertson, @heyitsfranklin2, @andreasharsono, @thepacketrat, @lmoses, @jeffjarvis, @marcatracy, @juliabainbridge, @dmitryshishkin, @nytimesbusiness, @benmullin, @katie_robertson, @theferocity, @katie_robertson and @baekdal

Ben Smith / New York Times:

A document from TikTok's engineering team in Beijing details the app's addictive algorithm, which pursues DAUs by optimizing for “retention” and “time spent” — It's the most successful video app in the world. Our columnist has obtained an internal company document …

Alistair Gray / Financial Times:

GroupM: global ad revenue will reach $763B in 2021, up 18.7% from 2019; Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon control 80-90% of the digital ad market outside China — Alphabet, Meta and Amazon have doubled their share of ad revenues in past 5 years, industry estimates

Discussion: Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, MediaPost, @megancgraham, The Wrap, Digiday, @digitalshields, The Drum and Hollywood Reporter, more at Techmeme »

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Analysis of 200K+ articles from 65 news sites: coverage of Biden for the past four months has been as bad as, or worse than, Trump in the same period of 2020 — A sampling of headlines atop the influential Politico Playbook newsletter over the past month: — “Let the Democratic freakout begin.”

Discussion: Public Notice, @joshtpm, @milbank, @edbott, @milbank, @froomkin, @whcos, @tysonbrody, @dkthomp, @kyleclark, @milbank, @milbank, @milbank, @ryanlizza, @ewerickson, @milbank, @mehdirhasan, @cathyndavidson, @jjohnsonlaw, @ryanlizza, @ryanlizza, @soledadobrien, @atrupar, @retiredorrin, @milbank, Today's Edition Newsletter, @gopchairwoman, @tysonbrody, @jesselee46, @adrienneelrod, @wajahatali, @leablackmiami, @elilake, @bobcesca_go, @joyannreid, @marmel, @davidharsanyi, @maggienyt, @realdrothschild, @blueboxdave, @alfonslopeztena, @ericschultz, @josh_moon, @bennettjohnt, @amy_siskind, @donmoyn, @margotroosevelt, @mollyjongfast, @mollyjongfast, @tvietor08, @greenhousenyt, @alexthomp, @mikegehrke, @mikegehrke, @froomkin, @soledadobrien, @protecttruth_, @fred_guttenberg, @jayrosen_nyu, @fpwellman, @natsechobbyist, @mlcalderone, @sulliview, @ericboehlert and New York Post

Mia Sato / The Verge:

YouTube publishes its first Copyright Transparency Report, showing H1 2021 had 2.2M+ videos hit with incorrect copyright claims and 729M total copyright claims — Creators have complained about the claims and appeal process — Over 2.2 million YouTube videos were hit with copyright claims …

more at Techmeme »

David Streitfeld / New York Times:

Some Amazon sellers are backdating books to fool Amazon's algorithms into changing where they appear, often allowing the sellers to charge exorbitant prices — A 2011 thriller was supposed to cost $15. One merchant listed it at $987, with a 17th-century publication date.

Discussion: Insider, @angieholan, @runwithskizzers, @stacyfmitchell, @mattzollerseitz, @kyweise, @jake_bernstein, @thenuminous1, @william_m_clark, @nytimes, @mattsclancy, @ddayen and @frankpasquale, more at Techmeme »

Josef Adalian / Vulture:

HBO CCO Casey Bloys says 50% of HBO viewership comes from linear, down from 90% in 2011, with the rest from HBO Max, and he's not “rushing” to share ratings — For most of 2020, things were not looking particularly great for HBO Max. Subscriber sign-ups were slower than expected …

Discussion: nexttv.com

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More News:

K.J. Yossman / Variety:
UK's Channel 4 issues best practice guidelines on working with disabled talent and adopts recommendations by new pressure group Underlying Health Condition

Simon Owens / Simon Owens's Media Newsletter:
Some top YouTube channels are spending millions on production; Mr. Beast says he spent $3.5M on his Squid Game video, a budget reminiscent of prestige TV

Discussion: @ashkan and @jessesingal

Reuters:
Analysis: at least 25 US election workers were targeted by 100+ violent threats or hostile messages citing the Gateway Pundit since the 2020 election

Discussion: @dangillmor and @bradheath

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Profile of Twitch streamer Tyler Steinkamp, including the loneliness and rage that comes with streaming game battles and real-world moments for 50 hours a week

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Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Spotify removed the work of hundreds of comedians, including John Mulaney and Kevin Hart, amid a fight with royalty administration agency Spoken Giants

Discussion: CNN, Gizmodo, The Wrap, Mediaite, Consequence, TMZ.com, Rolling Stone, The Verge, Insider, Engadget and Deadline

Earlier Picks:

Sara Guaglione / Digiday:
Architectural Digest shifts to a global strategy where all 10 editions around the world coordinate content, helping increase traffic and amortize costs

Discussion: @baekdal and @spj_tweets

Drew Harwell / Washington Post:
Twitter says it mistakenly suspended 12 accounts after “coordinated and malicious reports” targeted researchers and journalists, and will review its new policy

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G/O Media “invites” seven Chicago staffers of The A.V. Club to move to Los Angeles, where EIC Scott Robson is establishing an office, or else lose their jobs

Jack Shafer / Politico:
With a tiny audience, the cable news industry has devolved from a useful headline service to a 24/7 eldercare operation; few would notice if it disappeared

Discussion: @ericmcdanieldc, @michaelsocolow, @bgrueskin, @danvock, @secnav75, @joanespositochi, @dceiver, @carloslozadawp and @daviduberti

Heather Landy / @heatherlandy:
[Thread] Crediting a move by The Verge, Quartz updates its “off the record” and “on background” rules to specify everything is on the record until Quartz agrees

Discussion: @jason

From Techmeme:

Kent Walker / The Keyword:
Google says the DOJ's “wildly overbroad proposal goes miles beyond the Court's decision”, would hurt US consumers, and jeopardize the US' global tech leadership

Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
The CFPB will supervise tech companies with digital wallets, like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo, with 50M+ annual transactions, treating them more like banks

Hannah Lang / Reuters:
Sources: a16z, Ripple, Kraken, and Circle are jostling for a seat on Trump's promised crypto advisory council, which is expected to set up a bitcoin reserve

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