Scoop: TikTok's news push

Once touted as a place for inspiring creativity and joy, TikTok is now actively looking to boost news influencers in North America and beyond.

Why it matters: News creators have been informally publishing on the platform for years. Now, TikTok will support their growth with additional resources.

🗞️ Zoom in: Last week, the company posted a new position, based in Los Angeles, for a creator manager responsible for "managing and growing 'News' creators for North America (NA) on TikTok."

• The manager will be responsible for developing and championing "best practices in 1:1 management to support various product and creative strategy needs," the listing reads.
• The hire will help develop "a global, scalable approach to strategic partnerships with our top news creators around the world, working closely with the regional teams."

👀 Zoom out: More than half of American TikTok users say they regularly get news on the app, per Pew Research Center. That's nearly one-fifth of all Americans.

📣 Yes, but: The vast majority of users get news from creators over institutional media organizations and journalists.

• While some news organizations have been able to rack up millions of followers, the typical U.S. adult on TikTok doesn't follow any professional journalists or political commentators, news organizations, politicians or candidates, or government agencies, per Pew.
• Instead, they are far more likely to get news from mid-tier influencers or creators who discuss the news in the context of pop culture or entertainment.

The big picture: Social platforms have mixed track records when it comes to supporting news.

• Meta infamously shuttered its News Tab program last year, cutting tens of millions of dollars in payouts to publishers in the U.S.
• Snapchat has long been committed to news influencers. In 2015, it hired Peter Hamby from CNN to host its political media show "Good Luck America."