In this modern news landscape, outlets need to adapt quickly — to breaking news, to different social media platforms, to changing audience demands.
Dave Jorgenson, then a senior video reporter for The Washington Post, had spent years trying to grow the newspaper’s following on YouTube. Then TikTok came along.
“We've been hacking at it at YouTube for a couple of years, and we hadn't had a lot of success in long form. And I said, this TikTok app is, everyone's on it. Trust me, this is where we're going to get them,” Jorgenson remembers telling his editors.
Jorgenson grew up in Overland Park and graduated from Shawnee Mission North, which he said influenced his career “tremendously.”
@kcur893 Is that Kansas City’s own @Dave Jorgenson 🕺 in the KCUR newsroom? Dave visited KCUR during our fall membership drive so we got his thoughts on how we can make these videos even better! Unfortunately, he didn’t bring any costumes… 😞 He also spoke to KCUR's Steve Kraske about launching the @We are a newspaper. TikTok, starting his own company, Local News International, and his time growing up right here in the Kansas City metro. 😁Guest appearance by Dave Jorgenson (@davejorgenson) 🖥️ Hosted & edited by Gabe Rosenberg 🎬 Hosted, filmed & produced by Zach Perez 🎤 Audio assistance by Halle Jackson #kansascity #davejorgenson #newsvideo #shortformcontent #tryingourbest ♬ original sound - KCUR - Kansas City
"I think there's something about this place where you're just, you're around a lot of good people, which I'm now seeing again, having moved back,” Jorgenson said. “And a lot of that is just fertile ground for just kind of figuring out who you are and also feeling like, wherever you go, you can come back."
And at the Post, he began creating easy to understand, short and often humorous takes on trending news headlines — growing the Post’s TikTok account to nearly 2 million. Then the COVID pandemic hit, and Jorgenson, stuck in his D.C. apartment, started uploading videos every single day.
His videos cover a variety of topics including the firing and hiring of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the U.S. Supreme Court blocking then-President Biden’s attempt to cancel billions of dollars in student loan debt, and a U.S. District Court temporarily blocking President Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelans.
Many of the videos featured a can of SPAM, and a recurring bit about Jorgenson looking similar to Vice President JD Vance.
The videos are oftentimes silly on their face — featuring Jorgenson, his team, and other Post reporters dressing up or playing multiple characters — but provide fact-checked news on current events, typically in less than 90 seconds.
“[I'm] really trying to make it as funny as possible, but like, actually, as you know, communicating in the most effective way as possible,” he told KCUR’s Up To Date.
In July, Jorgenson left the Post to co-found Local News International. The new media company, launched with other former Washington Post staffers, will continue providing quick-witted and trusted takes on the headlines in both short and long form videos.
“The ultimate goal is to basically become the show that is where you're getting your news… and it still has the same feeling of, I can kind of laugh at what's happening without feeling like an existential crisis,” Jorgenson said.
- Dave Jorgenson, co-founder, Local News International
