By Mackenzie Murtaugh
When the Washington Post joined the video-sharing app Tik Tok last fall, many journalists, including myself, were confused. The 142-year-old established newspaper found an interesting, progressive niche that no other paper, at least for their caliber, thought of. The videos can be comical, informative and cringey — the triple-shot concoction that makes Tik Tok so addictive. The content of the videos usually intend to put a funny spin on the latest news, but the most bewildering, if not amazing, videos feature different WP journalists and editors trying to bridge the gap between their Tik Tok audience, most of which have probably never picked up a newspaper, and the news-making process. This content is the most cringe-inducing to journalists because of the desperation of increasing interest in the work exuding off of them. Or maybe I’m just cynical?
The account’s face, Dave Jorgensen, was hired as a member of the paper’s new creative video team, with his title being the head of the “Department of Satire.” According to an article from The Atlantic, Jorgensen found out about the app and immediately pitched it to his editors. Now, the account has 370,600 followers as of Feb. 6, and over 19 million likes. The only two accounts it follows are two fake accounts, one under the name “nytimes” and the other “ashtonkutcher.” This fact did make me laugh out loud because I know that Jorgensen or someone on his team thought “you know what would be funny?” And it worked. I did laugh.
Somehow, Jorgensen and his team have infiltrated this niche-comedy app and made a pretty good name for themselves amongst the app’s majority 16-to-24-year-old demographic, according to statistics from December 2019. The question on my mind is: is it ethical? Is it just marketing? Obviously, yes. It’s a great marketing strategy. From those same statistics, only four percent of the United States’ social media marketers use the app. WP is ahead of the curve because, soon, most media outlets and public figures will attempt to replicate what the paper is doing. I doubt they will be as successful.
Jorgensen is a funny, probably talented journalist, but his job has now evolved into social media marketing manager. At the moment, he still produces content for the paper’s video team, but let’s be honest — now everyone knows him as the Tik Tok guy. Now, I understand that Tik Tok is not the platform for hard-hitting, breaking news (though with its reliance on virality, that might actually work one day), the WP account serves the simple purpose of entertaining young people. This demographic is obsessed with fast, bite-sized bits of content, and WP is serving them up a perfect dish.
The account’s content has made a huge change since its inception. It used to give little glimpses into newsroom life, reporting how-tos and self-aware funny clips. Now, Jorgensen and his team have realized their unique position on this app. They don’t have to report on mass shootings or family annihilators — they can get lost in making a 20-second clip about a popular dog and receive more clicks than the hard news. This is a sad reality of the news today.
It has and will always be difficult to reach the younger generation for news outlets. The old-school producers probably don’t understand why Jorgensen’s Tik Tok makes headlines or gets clicks. Maybe, young people are easily amused? No, that isn’t true in the slightest. Hillary Clinton failed to bridge the gap between her generation and the young ones now — “Pokemon Go to the polls” still haunts me. Jorgensen must spend hours on the app and analyze what trends consumers want to perfectly cultivate his content. It’s hard to say if I’m impressed or saddened by this. I think I feel both simultaneously. I’m very impressed from a marketing standpoint, but that’s just the problem. Instead of creating groundbreaking videos, Jorgensen and his team spend their days making fun of themselves on an app. The only respect I can give to them is that they have expertly bridged the gap between the media and the younger generation. I just hoped it would have been through different multimedia tools than a viral-video app.
Okay, fine. I am cynical.