“Everything we do is under fire,” VandeHei said. “Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day—or X today—saying, like, ‘we are the media. You are the media.’ My message to Elon Musk is bullsh*t. You’re not the media.”
During the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Gala Thursday evening, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei ranted about X owner Elon Musk saying in the wake of the election that "you are the media now" in reference to the decline of legacy journalism and the rise of citizen journalism. VandeHei called the statement "bullsh*t."
"Everything we do is under fire," VandeHei said. "Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day—or X today—saying, like, 'we are the media. You are the media.' My message to Elon Musk is bullsh*t. You’re not the media."
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View on XAfter applause, Vandehei continued, "you having a blue checkmark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn’t make you a reporter. You don’t do that by popping off on Twitter. You don’t do that by having an opinion, you do it by doing the hard work."
Shortly after the 2024 presidential election, Musk wrote on X, "The reality of this election was plain to see on X, while most legacy media lied relentlessly to the public. You are the media now. Please post your thoughts & observations on X, correct others when wrong and we will have at least one place in the world where you can come to find the truth."
VandeHei's comments were met with applause by MSNBC's Morning Joe hosts and guests, with host Joe Scarborough, who has been in hot water lately with viewers because he and co-host Mika Brzezinski went to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Trump, listing of an extensive number of outlets, saying that the work they do "matters."
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