Elon Musk apparently isn't satisfied with shaking up the world of social media...now, he's going after the news media. Following Musk's release of the Twitter Files showing how the White House and the FBI worked directly with Twitter to censor and suppress information and users based on content, the new Twitter CEO called out the establishment media for their response to the revelations. "Why is corporate journalism rushing to defend the state instead of the people?' Musk wrote on Twitter this week in response to an article about the media defending the FBI.
Later, in response to a video clip of a reporter on CNBC saying Musk's reputation is "in danger" because of his activities as Twitter CEO, Musk tweeted, "The legacy media should worry about its reputation. We have only just begun."
Whether it's just bluster or a legitimate shot across the bow, this Musk vs. Mainstream Media showdown bears watching. "Elon Musk is in a position now, where he's disrupting the legacy media, and he's in a position to help change the news agenda," says Jeff McCall, media studies professor at DePauw University. "The big time media now are on the defensive, because one guy with resources is calling them out, and calling them out for the frauds that they are."
McCall tells KTRH Musk has a legitimate point in calling out the establishment media's role. "In recent years, the establishment media have not been surrogates of the public, as they should be, but have been working their own agendas," he says. "And I think that's disruptive to the free flow of information in a democracy."
Musk has even said he's open to the possibility of buying the independent journalism platform Substack and pairing it with Twitter. McCall believes Musk has a chance to invoke real and needed change in the media landscape...but it could be an ugly battle. "(Musk) surely knows that when he takes on the establishment media, they're going to come back after him and try to discredit him in any way, because they don't want to give up the power," says McCall. "Frankly, they have too much power and that's why they feel threatened by Musk taking them on."
Photo: Burbach, Brian (uploader)