Bloomberg taps reporters to cover TikTok and Meta

Tom Giles, executive editor of technology coverage at Bloomberg News, sent out the following on Thursday:

Almost a year after taking the Global Technology baton from Brad and getting reacquainted with everyone on the team, I’m ready to share some great news. We’re making big hires and other changes that will reshape how we cover some of our most important subject areas: social media, AI, and the world of startups and venture capital.

First, we’re excited to announce that Alex Levine will join our social media team to cover TikTok. Currently at Forbes, Alex has authored high-impact stories on how the popular video-sharing app is shaping business, media and culture. Her scoops on child safety, data security, speech and health-related issues on the platform have led to action by the U.S. government, been cited in lawsuits and prompted internal probes and changes at the company. Alex previously worked at Politico and the New York Times, and her work has been lauded by the Newswomen’s Club of New York and the LA Press Club. Alex teaches a course on tech journalism at the School of the New York Times and, in her free time, can be found hiking the country’s national parks and ghostwriting wedding toasts under the pseudonym “The Toastess.” Alex will be based in New York before an eventual move to Los Angeles. She starts Oct. 21.

We’re also thrilled that Riley Griffin will join the tech team to report on Meta. Currently a DC-based health-care journalist, Riley produced Big Takes on the topics of fentanyl and AI bioweaponry; delivered scoops on the UnitedHealth cyberattack, the Alabama Supreme Court’s IVF ruling and the CDC’s return-to-work guidelines; and, in recent months, crisscrossed the country tracking Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency. Riley’s work has garnered Loeb, National Press Club and SOPA awards. She’s an avid hiker and backpacker and, when she’s not breaking news, Riley can be found listening to live music (ask her about Khruangbin) and becoming a better boxer. Riley will join the team at the beginning of 2025 and relocate to San Francisco. She and Alex will report to Sarah Frier.

Rounding out the social media revamp, we’re elated to announce an expansion of our coverage of the massive, influential and quickly growing creator economy, which Goldman Sachs predicts will be valued at half a trillion dollars by 2027. Aisha Counts will carve out this new-to-Bloomberg beat, moving to LA next year and joining Lucas Shaw’s entertainment team. In her less than two years since joining Bloomberg, Aisha has distinguished our coverage of social media, with exclusives on Meta’s fading metaverse dreams as well as X’s plans to build a payments business and collect biometric data. She’s also been an apt chronicler of X’s advertiser exodus and shifting financial prospects under Elon Musk. In her new role, Aisha will report to Chris Palmeri, while continuing to work closely with the social media pod led by Kurt Wagner.

When we formed the AI squad last year, we asked Seth Fiegerman to serve as its informal chief. He handled the task with aplomb, helping produce a raft of scoops and Big Takes, overseeing the launch of the Q&AI newsletter and serving as a newsroom authority on all things AI. We’re delighted that Seth has agreed to take on this role more formally as AI team leader, with Jackie Davalos, Shirin Ghaffary and Rachel Metz reporting to him. Anne VanderMey, meantime, will continue her masterful leadership of the VC and startup team, which recently expanded through the addition of Katie Roof and another soon-to-be-hired reporter (watch this space!). Seth will assume his new role in the coming weeks, and he’ll continue reporting to Lynn Doan and working closely with Jillian Ward and her teams.

Finally, now that we’ve asked Sarah Frier to oversee our tech data investigations, we’re having Leon Yin, our own investigative data journalist, report to her. Together, they will serve as our main liaisons with the data journalism teams; please get in touch with them if you’re jonesing to do high-impact data reporting.

Please join me in welcoming Alex and Riley and congratulating Seth, Aisha and Leon.

Tom