I didn’t want to return to the media world and not try to find a way to meet the moment.
By Jenny Abamu
This week, I said, “screw it,” and dived fully into video content creation.
For years, I’d been resisting going all-in on video.
It felt like a heavy lift, one of those things where you’re either fully committed or you’re wasting your time.
Half-measures don’t work in content creation, especially when everything is hypercompetitive and every piece needs to deliver real value to keep people coming back.
But I learned something. My resistance wasn’t just about the workload. It was about stepping outside my comfort zone as a professional.
My Reality Check
I have spent years watching traditional media sink like quicksand as the world revolves around it.
Few outlets have had what it takes to find a sustainable way to meet the moment, and because of that, they’ve lost funding, audience and influence.
I didn’t want to return to the media world and not try to find a way to meet the moment.
There may need to be a class taught around how Aaron Parnas uses social media as a journalist.
But what finally pushed me over the edge was this report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which after surveying 100k people said, social media was the number one medium for news consumption for the first time.
I had always been the type of journalist who said I would meet people where they were, so despite all my reservations and online security concerns, I started a TikTok. Yes, I know.
Some journalists, like Aaron Parnas, have built massive followings (he has 4 million followers, including me) by being incredibly fast with breaking news updates.
I find myself checking his feed before opening news apps because he’s often ahead of the curve.
The pace feels unsustainable to me personally—especially with family constraints—but there’s no denying the reality, this is where attention has moved.
I decided to do something more sustainable for me as a mother: a 90 second round-up of stories I thought were important, wanted to cover but didn’t have the time to.
Note: This is part of The Grade’s coverage of nontraditional voices, innovative approaches, and emerging platforms in education journalism. See recent installments here and here.
This is my one week or so of TikToking lol
And so far the response has been delightful.
I received tons of engagement, a good amount of comments and a good amount of followers.
And as a reporter, knowing the information you give provides value to the community is everything.
The Career Pivot Framework
This experience taught me something valuable about professional adaptation that applies beyond content creation:
Step 1: Recognize the Resistance
I spent months knowing video was important but finding reasons to avoid it. The “heavy lift” concern was real, but it was also a convenient excuse. When you find yourself repeatedly avoiding something your industry is moving toward, that’s your first signal.
Step 2: Understand the Stakes
The content world doesn’t reward partial commitment. You can’t dabble in video and expect results, audiences can sense half-hearted efforts immediately. This forced me to confront a bigger career question: was I willing to evolve with my field or risk becoming irrelevant?
Step 3: Find Your Sustainable Version
I’m not trying to become Aaron Parnas. I can’t and won’t update every hour on breaking stories. But I can find my own approach to video content that works within my constraints while still meeting the market where it is.
Step 4: Commit Fully (Within Your Parameters)
Once you decide to adapt, commit completely to your version of it. Half-measures waste time and energy while delivering poor results.
What This Means for Your Career
This comment on my video cracked me up because I am “extra.”
We are living through times where it feels like every industry is shifting, where professionals either adapt to new realities or get left behind.
Maybe for you it’s not content creation. Maybe it’s AI tools, remote collaboration platforms, or new client communication styles.
The key is recognizing when your resistance to change may actually be resistance to growth. Sometimes the thing that feels like the biggest lift is exactly what your career needs and maybe also aligns with your values.
The uncomfortable truth is that our professional comfort zones shrink in value over time.
What felt like solid ground five years ago might be quicksand today.
The question isn’t whether your industry will change, it’s whether you’ll change with it.
Jenny Abamu is a Maryland politics reporter, sci-fi writer. former diplomat, former education beat reporter, wife and mom of two kids. You can find her Substack here. Her Twitter tag line is “Follow me—I write to make sense of the maddness.” This piece was originally published on her Substack as TikTok and the New News Media. Republished with permission.
Previously about this author
Star reporter Jenny Abamu explains why she left journalism — and ways to fix education news
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