SIts name may not mean anything to you, but it has become one of the primary sources of information for millions of young Americans. Aaron Parnas, 26, embodies a new generation of news providers: alone in front of their phones, they tell world stories in a few tens of seconds and shape the way a generation of young Americans get information. American Magazine Atlantic recently dedicated a lengthy portrait of the phenomenon to Aaron Parnas, highlighting the influence and limitations of his model.
Aaron Parnas is a phenomenon because of his audience: more than four million subscribers on TikTok, hundreds of millions of views, and influence that rivals major cable news channels. A lawyer by training, immersed in politics since childhood (his father, Lev Parnas, was a former prison associate of Rudy Giulani), he comments directly on Supreme Court decisions and geopolitical crises, in a direct, unadorned tone.
On TikTok, on YouTube, on Instagram, he is a reporter, presenter and in-house editorial. His strength: responsiveness. As soon as the president’s announcement was made, Parnas turned on his camera; within a minute, his subscribers already had the news in their feed.
Traditional media is struggling to adapt
This model, typical in the TikTok fiber, relies not so much on inquiry as on reformulation and staging. Political commentary is created against the backdrop of popular songs, using aesthetic filters and quick cuts, even for the most serious news. It’s no surprise: TikTok’s algorithm favors expressive faces and simple stories, not complex analysis. For a generation that gets its news between two entertainment videos, this simplified approach has its advantages: it makes the news accessible, emotional and shareable. But it also has its drawbacks: shallowness, lack of hierarchy, reliance on China’s ByteDance algorithm, which Washington fears will be manipulated by Beijing.
According to the Pew Research Center, 39% of people under thirty in the United States now get their news from TikTok. Less than 1% of content followed on the platform comes from traditional media: the vast majority comes from influencers, comedians or activists.
To find
Kangaroo today
Answer
Faced with these changes, newspapers liked Washington Post trying to adapt, adopting TikTok’s own codes: sketches, staging, absurd humor. But in this war for attention, media institutions are playing on territory that does not belong to them. On TikTok, the lines between information, spectacle and propaganda are blurred. Aaron Parnas denies this: he claims factual and sincere journalism.
The news, for millions of young Americans, is now consumed on two reels, with a catchy musical backdrop. The era of TikTok News is here.
