BP, Russian billionaires, and TikTok influencers: Daily spotlights for the week of February 28th

March 4, 2022

Written by Haley Corzo

Welcome to the NewsWhip Daily spotlight round-up. Every weekday morning we send a newsletter to our subscribers that predicts the top stories and social posts of the day. Here’s today’s, as an example. As part of that, we spotlight a specific topic that is gaining media and public interest across the web and discuss its impact.

These are ephemeral by design in the newsletter, so every Friday we publish a blog that catalogs each spotlight so that you can have a full view of what stories mattered during the week. If you’d like to subscribe to the newsletter itself, though, you can do that here.

Let’s begin with February 28th.

Feb 28th: BP to offload stake in Russian oil firm

Yesterday morning, BP announced it would get rid of its 20% stake in Russian oil firm Rosneft, after coming under significant pressure to do so following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The news made significant waves at a time of heightened interest and sensitivity, with more than 2k articles written and almost half a million engagements.

media and public interest to BP

The most engaged reporting on the subject came from The Washington Post, though the BBC and the New York Times also wrote about the divestment.

Mar 1st: FIFA and UEFA ban Russian teams from all competitions

Yesterday FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian soccer teams from participating in competitions until further notice — including the World Cup — and news of the decision has captured significant interest. 

The decision came one day after FIFA announced initial measures it would take with regard to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, of which a complete ban from games was not yet included.

media and public interest to FIFA

Even with the heavy interest from publishers, the most engaged piece of content overall was an Instagram post from one of the largest social sports communities, 433. The post received 517k engagements, with soccer fans around the world interested in the breaking news.

Mar 2nd: Microsoft on the cyber front of the invasion

Microsoft announced it is helping the Ukraine government detect cyber attacks and state-sponsored disinformation, as Russia’s invasion intensifies.

This first came about last Wednesday when Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence Center detected a new malware package that was directed at Ukraine’s digital infrastructure, and on February 28th the company’s president published a blog post outlining their efforts. 

media and public interest in microsoft

Since Monday there have been 326 articles about the collaboration, with nearly 142k engagements. Microsoft’s own blog post received 2.1k engagements, but the story that garnered the most attention came from the New York Times, earning the bulk of engagements to the news, with 122.5k. 

Mar 3rd: Roman Abramovich to sell Chelsea Football Club

The owner of Chelsea FC, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, released a statement yesterday confirming he is selling the club and will donate all net proceeds to benefit the victims of war in Ukraine.

His decision quickly made waves online, gaining interest from the football community and many mainstream publishers covering the invasion. 

media and public interest to roman abramovich

Abramovich’s official statement on Chelsea’s website has received the most attention among articles, earning more than 103k engagements. Across social media, the top Facebook post came from BBC News, with 69.8k engagements, and on Instagram the top post was from 433, which exceeded 1M.

Mar 4th: Brands can’t bank on TikTok alone

In the past two years TikTok has redefined both what it means and what it takes to become an influencer, but even those who rose to fame on the app are not staying put, they’re diversifying and expanding their brand.

From this we posed the question — what counts as mainstream success? We looked at different influencers on TikTok to see how they use the app and if having cross-platform appeal is the only true way to make an impact.

Dixie

Ranking in the top 10 most followed people on TikTok makes Dixie D’Amelio an obvious target for brands looking for big exposure, but smart creators are also building their presence on other apps. 

Read our full blog here to learn more about TikTok influencers.

That’s all for this week, but don’t forget you can subscribe to the NewsWhip Daily to receive the top predicted stories of the morning and every spotlight delivered straight to your inbox.

You might also like

How brands monitor and manage live issues with NewsWhip Spike

How brands monitor and manage live issues with NewsWhip Spike

With 25% of a brand's market value directly linked to its public reputation, as noted by the World Economic Forum, the stakes have never been higher for companies to actively monitor, measure, and manage emerging issues. In a time where information spreads like...

Haley Corzo

Haley is a Content Strategist for NewsWhip working at the intersection of journalism and marketing. With experience working in advertising for consumer brands, she brings a fresh perspective on how NewsWhip’s technology can be used to make an impact. She is passionate about topics such as mental health, women’s issues, and travel.

Related articles

The NewsWhip Note

Regular updates from the NewsWhip team on the crises, trends, and stories that are resonating with the media and public around the web.