CEO and co-founder of Axios Jim VandeHei had a meltdown over Elon Musk encouraging social media users to participate in citizen journalism on X as trust in the mainstream media sits at an all-time low.
Speaking at the National Press Club last week, VandeHei complained that “everything” journalists do these days “is under fire.” Part of the reason for the massive distrust in the mainstream media is the media’s years-long bias against conservatives and President-elect Donald Trump. Despite the loss in confidence, it seems most of those in the industry have no plans to improve their practices.
‘It needed to be said, it continues to need to be said.’
Calling out Musk by name, VandeHei said all the billionaire does is sit on X all day and say, “‘We are the media! You are the media!'”
He then addressed Musk directly: “My message to Elon Musk is: Bulls**t! You’re not the media! You have a blue check mark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn’t make you a reporter.”
“What we do, what journalists do, what you did in Mississippi, what Al-Jazeera does in the Middle East. You don’t proclaim yourself to be a reporter! Like, that’s nonsense! Like being a reporter is hard, really hard! You have to care. You have to do the hard work,” he continued. “You have to get up every single day and say, ‘I want to get the closest approximation to the truth without any fear and without any favoritism.’ You don’t do that by popping off on Twitter.”
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” played VandeHei’s remarks during Monday’s episode with the CEO on as a guest. When the video clips were finished playing, the entire MSNBC panel gave VandeHei a round of applause.
“It needed to be said. It continues to need to be said. … Social media people lying every day, every hour, every minute about the news, what you do matters. What the New York Times does matters. What the Wall Street Journal does matters,” host Joe Scarborough said.
A user on X known only as Wall Street Mav posted a clip of VandeHei’s comments and accused him of being upset because of the vast audience X has, resulting in false media narratives being quickly debunked. In response to Wall Street Mav’s assessment, Musk simply replied, “Exactly.”
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Politics, Media
