TikTok ‘brings viewers into our process,’ a Wisconsin student editor says
Potential ban pushes student journalists to rethink audience strategies
Student editors at The Spectator at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire have turned to TikTok to offer an authentic, behind-the-scenes look at their newsroom.
Instead of posting news summaries, they’ve embraced “lighthearted” and trendy content, tapping into meme culture to connect with their young audience, many of whom increasingly rely on TikTok for news.
But with the app’s future in question, they’re exploring alternatives in case they need to pivot to other platforms.
The uncertainty followed TikTok’s brief shutdown last Sunday before an executive order delayed a potential 75-day ban.
The Spectator joined TikTok in February 2024. Arts and Life Editor Kyra Price, who leads the effort, said the goal was to engage students with news in a relatable way.
The videos range from interviewing editors to showing moments like scrambling to write last-minute opinion pieces or getting sidetracked while “yapping in the managing editor’s office.”
“People think of the news as something that’s always completely serious,” Price said. “But we like to show our personalities, and I think that behind-the-scenes content is what really interests people in us and in our organization.”
Editor-in-Chief Cade Fisher said TikTok’s primary purpose is building awareness for the newspaper, unlike LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook, which aim to drive traffic to the website.
“I really enjoy how we find new trends that are going on and use those as avenues to bring viewers into our process,” he said.
Asked about success measures, Price said they’re just focusing on building up their audience so they “haven’t been super nitpicky about specifics.” The newspaper recently switched to a business account for access to more analytics.
The account has 134 followers, and its most-viewed video has around 7,400 views. The university enrolls about 9,500 students.
“We're just trying a little bit of everything and seeing what sticks and seeing what we enjoy making and putting out,” Price said.
Looming ban raises questions
TikTok, which has more than 170 million U.S. users, faces pressure to divest from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or risk a ban under a bipartisan law passed last year.
A reprieve was granted through President Donald Trump’s executive order, but the app’s future remains uncertain.
Price said the potential ban is concerning because TikTok’s format makes it a unique news source.
“It reaches a more extensive and diverse audience than Instagram because you don’t have to go look for things so specifically, (they) just pop up on your feed,” she said.
According to Pew Research, about half of TikTok users say they regularly get news on the site — though fewer than 1% of Americans follow institutional news accounts.
Price said the uncertainty has made her reevaluate platforms, thinking about how to replicate TikTok’s benefits elsewhere.
Fisher agreed and posed these questions: “Do we remake these in reels?” “Is this something only TikTok could do?” “How TikTok is going to run now?”
He described the uncertainty as “scary.”
As The Spectator looks to hire a new social media manager, Fisher said they’ll analyze each platform to see what best matches their audience and content.
“These will be big questions when we hire someone,” he said. “I think we’re doing a lot of investigating.
Student journalism leaders react
The uncertainty surrounding TikTok is affecting student journalists across the country.
Editorial boards at high schools and colleges have weighed in on the potential ban. Here are some I read:
The Pearl Post at Los Angeles’ Daniel Pearl Magnet High School criticized the ban for addressing TikTok’s data privacy concerns but failing to tackle broader issues of alleged surveillance and data collection by U.S. companies.
The Pitt News leadership said, “America has it all backward on censorship,” pointing to the TikTok ban and Meta’s discontinuation of its fact-checking program.
Delaware’s Lake Forest High School’s The Forest Scout’s top editor supported the ban, calling TikTok addictive and warning of data privacy risks.
The Shorthorn at the University of Texas Arlington urged students to improve their media literacy rather than relying on tech companies or the government for online safety.
Watch: TikTok highlights from student newsrooms
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
💬 I want to hear from you! How is your publication using TikTok different from other social media platforms? Email me at nutgrafnews@gmail.com.
Story Spotlight:
🦅 Here's the inauguration coverage from student newspapers in Washington
The Augur Bit at Georgetown Day School noted only eight students protested the president this year, down from over 100 in 2016.
The Georgetown Voice reported GU Democrats hosted an inauguration “Watch Unparty.”
The Hilltop at Howard University highlighted student safety concerns due to past threats and heightened tensions.
📲 How the TikTok ban in the U.S. could silence Gen Z’s newsrooms, Journalism.co.uk reports. Traditional media will have to re-evaluate their strategies to engage with younger audiences.
🚨 Stanford University dropped the case against a student journalist from The Stanford Daily who followed protesters into the president’s office, San Francisco Chronicle reports.
✨ Last fall, a student editor was fired and others went on strike at the University of Texas Dallas over alleged retaliation. Now, a new student newspaper, The Retrograde, has launched and published an investigation revealing over 1,000 internal emails about last year's encampment crackdown.
Featured Opportunities:
SFGATE in San Francisco is looking for a Stanford Rebele Summer Intern 2025.
American Public Media has multiple internship openings across departments in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The IJNet is hosting a webinar about tips and resources for student journalists Jan. 29.
Asian American Journalists Association is accepting for its JCamp 2025 for high school journalists until Jan. 31. All costs to attend this program in the summer in Seattle are covered.
New England First Amendment Coalition is hosting a 30-minute crash course on business reporting Jan. 31.
Submit your work to Headliners in Education's Best Journalism of 2024 for free before Jan. 31.
Applications for Report For America are due Feb. 3. More than 80 openings!
The SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards, honoring the best in student journalism, now accepts entries until Feb. 4.
Foreign Policy is hiring an editorial fellow with applications due Feb. 10.