News junkies turn to TikTok to chart new paths in media

To make sense of the unprecedented events of Jan. 6, 2021, Vitus “V” Spehar did what no traditional journalist would do – crawl under a desk and begin recording a video for TikTok.

Like others who watched on TV as the storming of the US Capitol unfolded, Spehar, who uses the pronoun they, felt the need to talk about it. However, “I didn’t want to make people think that I was an expert,” said Spehar, who filmed the TikTok video from their home in Rochester, New York. “So I thought, where’s a safe place to have a conversation?”

Two years later, the “Under the Desk News” TikTok account attracts nearly 3 million followers, who appreciate Spehar’s gentler take on the news of the day.