Editor’s note: This article is the latest instalment of The Fix’s regular rankings of European news publishers on TikTok (see the previous ranking for 2024). You can read the article below or listen to the audio version narrated by the author. The article was updated in March 2025. If we missed somebody in our ranking or if you would like to suggest other changes, please message newsroom@thefix.media.

TikTok has consistently made news, most recently with its (extremely brief so far) ban in the United States in January. No matter its future in the US, though, it’s a massive platform globally, especially among younger people. Investing in short-video production is an opportunity for newsrooms to get new audiences and widen their impact.

However, TikTok’s rise is mirrored by an increase in disinformation that’s thwarting the discourse – from misleading pro-China videos ahead of the presidential election in Taiwan to Russian disinformation about its war against Ukraine. News media have a responsibility to use their voices on the platform to debunk lies.

TikTok has seen new entries among news outlets, as well as a stable growth rate among established accounts. Let’s look through 2025 TikTok leaders across European news publishers and analyse what works for newsrooms on TikTok this year.

Consistency is key to growth

Comparing this year’s ranking to 2024’s, the list of European leaders hasn’t changed much, with only two new media broadcasters getting onboard – RTVE Noticias and BFMTV. Consistent presence on TikTok paid off, helping established leaders scale their audience and engagement. That’s the case for most of the media, with Daily Mail almost hitting 20 million followers and Brut. getting 10 million.

Meanwhile, we updated our ranking with Gala, a French media outlet focusing on entertaining news content that scaled its audience to 15.1M followers. They showed consistent growth during last year, increasing its subscribers number from 10M since last January.

As Deutsche Welle’s audience development manager Erika Marzano commented for The Fix,  the quantity of content published is one of the reasons for the fast growth and also a “must” for newsrooms to have this year.

TikTok has evolved from a platform of minimal output to one where posting at least once daily is necessary for growth

Erika Marzan, Deutsche Welle’s audience development manager

The leading newsrooms in our ranking, such as Daily Mail, BBC, Brut., support this idea by publishing lots of content daily.

Distinguishing yourself to win

2025 is not the year news media discovered TikTok, but it can become a year of massive experiments on the platform. With AI being actively used for content creation, newsrooms have an opportunity to discover new ways of making the process both more efficient and more creative. AI voice overs, subtitles, avatars, and other innovative approaches might be the way to stand out this year, TikTok’s “What’s Next 2025 Trend Report” suggests. 

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TikTok-oriented SEO is also top of media leaders’ minds. Newsrooms’ ability to maintain visibility through successful search optimisation will define their position in a “never stopping” feed. “With more young users treating TikTok as a search engine, optimising captions, keywords, and scripts will be crucial for visibility”, Erika Marzano said. 

Niche issues for global discussions 

TikTok is known for its “cores” and emerging communities inside. 81% of TikTok users said that the platform helps them discover topics they didn’t know they would be interested in. For newsrooms, it’s an opportunity to report on underrepresented issues and trigger global discussions, as DW’s JaafarTalk does.

In our ranking, the ratio between hard-news and light-hearted accounts is almost 50:50, with only 3 outlets in the top 10 focusing on entertainment news. It indicates that the demand for comprehensive hard news is still there and will probably keep growing. “While we in newsrooms have long recognised TikTok’s potential beyond dances and entertainment, 2025 will emphasize this further. Growth will be significantly driven by coverage of climate change, politics, and global news – areas where audiences are looking for credible information,” Erika Marzano from DW confirms.

Interestingly, legacy media like Daily Mail or Sky News use TikTok as a tool to show news rather than break them down. Meanwhile, newer newsrooms like Ac2ality or Xataka use other approaches, explaining hard topics in simple words. That is very attractive to Generation Z, which is seeking news in a convenient way.

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