There are a lot of celebrities in Hollywood, but there is only one that has become an institution: Jimmy Fallon. With his hilarious monologues and awkward interviews, the host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” has established himself as the patron saint of late-night TV interviews. Now that the Golden Globes have been handed out and the Academy Awards season has begun, we can look back at Fallon’s glorious reign and reflect on how he did it.
Just last month, another institution was laid to rest when Charlie Rose left “CBS This Morning” for good. For decades, the anchor had been the gold standard of interviewers, and his absence will be felt. On the other hand, fans of “The Tonight Show” will rejoice as Jay Leno returns as its host this weekend.
But what about the future of interviews? Will traditional outlets like newspapers and magazines continue to thrive in a digital world? What will make up-and-coming journalists choose to become interviewers rather than reporters? John Stewart, host of the “Daily Show,” sat down with Robert Pattinson this week to discuss these topics and more. Check out the interview below.
The Rise Of TikTok And The Threat To Old Media
When it comes to news, many people turn to traditional platforms like Twitter and Facebook to keep up with the times, but the rise of TikTok has shaken all that. For those unfamiliar, TikTok is a video-sharing platform that allows users to post short-form videos with bright, inviting fonts and simplistic designs. Although it has only been around since early 2016, its popularity has exploded and it now boasts over 500 million monthly active users. If that kind of figure seems unfamiliar, it’s likely because you’ve never heard of it. But if you’re reading this, then it’s likely you’ve seen or used it. TikTok is incredibly addictive and its designers know exactly how to keep users engrossed.
There are several reasons why the ascension of TikTok is being heralded as the end of journalism as we know it. One of the most telling is simply that it is extremely difficult to actually do a proper interview on the platform. Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok are all centralized, and users are incentivized to keep the stream of content coming. This creates problems for established journalists like John Stewart, who relies on interviewers to keep him abreast of the news. Now, with the pendulum having swung away from the formalities of an interview, all that’s left is to laugh or cry at the misfortune that befell a once-proud profession. But while we’re at it, let’s have a laugh at how the world’s biggest interviewers have fallen victim to the changing times…
How Did You Get The Interview?
I saw an interview with Robert Pattinson on TikTok, and I thought it was a great way to start my show. I have a lot of respect for the actor, and I figured that having him on my show would be a good opportunity to discuss his work. I try to do a few interviews per week, and I saw that he was available so I decided to give it a shot. The good thing is that it didn’t take me long to set up the interview. I messaged him on Twitter and he wrote back with a request for more information. I sent over the files, and a couple of days later I had a phone call from his representatives. It was pretty organized, though it took a few days longer than I expected to get the paperwork done. But it wasn’t difficult. I just had to follow the proper procedure.
The Downside To Interviewing On TikTok
One of the major drawbacks to interviewing on TikTok is that you give up a certain amount of control over the interview. Because there is such a high volume of videos being uploaded every day, you can’t be sure that your interview will be seen by anyone. This makes it really difficult to get your point across to viewers, and you also run the risk of having your interview drowned out by all the other talking points in the stream.
The other major drawback is that the service is highly centralized, which can lead to instability and unexpected downtime. For example, on April 24, 2018, the whole platform went down for about four hours, leaving all the journalists and interviewers without a means to disseminate the content they had stored on the site.
TikTok And The Formalities Of An Interview
TikTok is all about quick videos, and as a result, most of its users are highly uninterested in, or even aware of, the formalities that go into an interview. Since they don’t have time to watch long videos, they don’t have the patience to watch someone else’s bad interviewing skills, either.
In addition, much like Twitter, Facebook, and many other social platforms, TikTok rewards users for participating, which further encourages them not to participate in the traditional way. Doing an interview on TikTok doesn’t require much skill, and as a result, the videos often don’t have the polish that you would get from a professional video editor. This is both a blessing and a curse, and it’s something that you have to deal with as an interviewee.
There is also the question of whether or not this is even a proper form of journalism. Although it’s impossible to know for sure, it would certainly be a form of self-expression that is completely devoid of any journalistic value. And that, my friends, is a trend that simply won’t die.
New Platforms Like TikTok Promise To Revolutionize Interviewing
For nearly 20 years, the traditional model of a journalist-subject interaction has kept relevant, but the world is changing, and so is journalism. The rise of Twitter and Facebook during this time has allowed for journalists to gain a larger audience and engage with their readers, but those platforms have their downsides. One major drawback to being on Twitter is that you have to keep the content consistent with the platform’s algorithms and the formalities of a good tweet. Like most social platforms, it is highly centralized and subject to the whims of a few over-lords.
Then there’s the question of whether or not the audience truly cares about the information presented. People following and engaging with content on Twitter do so because it is easy for them to stay abreast of the news and, in many cases, it allows them to follow the content of their favorite journalists.
What is most exciting about the rise of TikTok is that it offers a completely new way of interacting with content, one that doesn’t involve a traditional TV screen, a magazine, or a newspaper. Even more exciting is that it offers a way for journalists to continue to do their jobs while adapting to the changing times. So while the demise of many a traditional outlet may be lamented, it is also celebrated as a sign of progress that journalism as we know it is being revolutionized by technology.