TikTok for Talent Management

Publishers are figuring out TikTok. Yahoo News grew over one million followers in less than a year. The Washington Post has a subscription offer for its TikTok followers. Youth-focused publisher Kyra is taking a different tactic, scouting talent and building brands out of the people avid fans are following. 

This, plus investments in original programming and audio, sets Kyra on track to make $10 million in revenue this year. Read my colleague Rachel Winicov's piece on the how and the why.

Kyra’s organizational restructure signals its effort to try and grow up after a report by Vice slamming it for draconian contracts and ill-treatment of young Black talent. 

“We take full responsibility” for “the hurtful nature of the situation,” CEO Devran Amaratunga Karaca told Rachel. Read the piece for more on how it plans to protect its staffers going forward.

We are not done hearing from how publishers, and all companies, are trying to atone for the unfair working conditions and non-inclusive environments they have created over the years. Anyone else listening to Gimlet Media’s miniseries interviewing former staffers of color about their experiences with toxic workplace culture at Bon Appétit? You’ll remember that the Condé Nast title faced claims of a toxic workplace last June, leading to the resignation of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport.

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Thanks for reading, have a great week.

Lucinda

Lucinda.southern@adweek.com

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