Under the Desk News

The 27th Annual Webby Awards is honored to recognize Under The Desk News, hosted by Vitus “V” Spehar, with a 2023 Webby Special Achievement Award for making the news accessible and understandable to young people through their candid, hard-hitting, and synoptic reporting. 

TikTok’s three-minute maximum never fazed V. What started out as a series expanding on news events in a nutshell quickly became TikTok’s go-to source for news. V has mastered the art of short-form, giving audiences brief recaps of notable headlines daily. Under The Desk News promptly garnered a massive following–2.9 million to be exact–for its informal and relaxed feel. Each clip features V’s signature calm cadence, which leads viewers through a clear, digestible, and unbiased account of current events. They do this while lying under a table to ensure their audience doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the content of what they’re sharing. 

Within just a few years of starting the account, they’ve successfully built a digital space that informs and educates while centering the emotional safety of viewers. Their in-depth citizen journalism led them to collaborate with notable figures like former President Obama and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to lucidly inform and push for civic participation. They’ve even brought their laid-back coverage to audio, hosting Lemonada Media’s podcast V Interesting. V ingeniously sorts through the noise, briefing their audiences on all the essential facts. 

For their articulate and concise, but unabridged reporting, and for methodically balancing positive news with more solemn headlines, it is our honor to recognize Under The Desk News with a 2023 Webby Special Achievement Award.