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.

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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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K.J. Yossman / Variety:
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Simon Owens / Simon Owens's Media Newsletter:
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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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From Techmeme:

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Meta rolls out multimodal AI in early access for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, mainly to help identify objects, translate signs, and write Instagram captions

Ming-Chi Kuo:
Sources: Apple cut 2024 Vision Pro shipments to 400K-450K units, vs. a 700K+ market consensus, and US demand has “fallen sharply beyond expectations”

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