Why Authentic Voices Are the DNC’s Best Weapon Against Misinformation
Akeima Young shares how the DNC is using long-form storytelling to amplify voices nationwide.
My name is Akeima Young, and I’m the Video Director at the DNC!
I oversee the DNC’s YouTube program and long-form video strategy, and over the past year, our team began asking: What would it look like to treat long-form storytelling as permanent infrastructure, rather than something we only activate during election season?
As we moved through 2025, our goals became clear: Grow our YouTube audience, understand the platform more deeply, and build video formats that could perform consistently beyond an election cycle.
The media environment now demands that shift. Attention is fragmented, trust is low, and audiences are skeptical of political messaging that feels transactional or overly polished. People don’t need to be convinced to care about issues that affect them — but they do need clarity about how those issues connect to others and the policies in Washington.
We began to see long-form storytelling as a way to build that clarity — not as a replacement for rapid response or short-form content, but as a complement to it. These mini-documentaries aren’t designed to tell people what to think; they’re designed to show what is happening by letting people speak for themselves, on camera, in their own communities.
That philosophy is what guided our first major project.
Our first long-form piece focused on a soybean farmer impacted by Trump’s tariffs, and we approached it the same way we aim to approach every platform: by creating content that is native to where it lives, and grounded in topics people are already searching for, discussing, and trying to understand. There was clear online interest in the issue of how tariffs were affecting soybean farmers, but little accessible, high-quality explanation or first-hand accounts.
Me and John Bartman, soybean farmer, on his tractor after filming
The video was directed and produced by our team, shot on location, and supported by a coordinated interdepartmental effort. While our team handled production, partners across our communications team helped amplify the story through press outreach, and we cut the film into vertical segments that traveled across short-form platforms. The result was the highest-performing video the channel had ever published — over 475,000 views
(and counting), far exceeding anything we had previously seen on the platform.
More importantly, it gave us a repeatable model.
This is John Bartman, our first Mini-Doc subject, after shooting!
What became clear quickly was that this wasn’t just about YouTube performance. The format translated seamlessly into vertical video, paid media, and rapid response moments. It earned local press coverage, strengthened coordination with state parties, and proved that long-form storytelling could anchor an entire distribution ecosystem rather than exist as a one-off asset.
As we continued to build, two farmer-led videos ultimately became the highest-performing organic videos ever published on the channel, generating:
9.3 million organic impressions
725,000 organic views
4,000 watch hours
3,400 new subscribers — accounting for nearly 20 percent of total channel growth
Now, the focus is on scale. We’ve formalized production workflows, reduced turnaround time, and are building a deployable storytelling model that allows us to respond quickly while still centering real people. My team and I are ready, but we need your support. Your donation helps pay for travel and the latest technology we need to continue uplifting voices from across the country.
At its best, this work positions the party not as the narrator of events, but as a facilitator — creating space for people to see what’s happening around them clearly and honestly. As we move toward the 2026 midterms and 2028 election, the stakes of that work are unmistakable.
In the face of an administration that continues to undermine democratic norms and attempts to redefine the country through misinformation and fear, our responsibility is to document reality, to capture the real stories of America, and to remind people what we are fighting for.
Akeima Young
DNC Director of Video
Share your story with us: http://win.dnc.org/TellUsYourStory
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This is fantastic to hear! I think social media is such an important medium to pursue aggressively. I just started reading on Substack, probably from getting your updates in my inbox, but I know how important it is to everyone. And your level of success surpassing all expectations is amazing! Keep up your good work, this makes so much difference in reaching much larger audiences. Thank you for all your work and for keeping us updated!
America needs sound bites. Short attention span made worse by Social Media.
No doubt stories are good. Did you do a short version and distribute-Facebook, Twitter, etc.?
Many people will tune out if it is too long. Not all. But many.
I would like to see daily sound bites talking about the NEW Democratic Party. And talk about
what the Democrats policy is and what are some implementation steps. Affordability. Immigration. Due Process. Freedom of Speech, Education. Foreign Policy. Taxation. Etc., Etc. Keeping it simple and direct.
Where are the Democratic Leaders? Few speak out. Should be several Democrats talking several times a week in each State pushing this platform. Put them on the road to purple and red areas. As to Schumer and Jeffries-time for a change! Who are they leading? Public is mostly tuned out.
Americans deserve better.