Axios CEO rages against Musk's 'bulls---' claims that X users 'are the media now'

Axios CEO Jim VandeHei and X proprietor Elon Musk locked horns implicit who defines "the media" successful the aftermath of the election.

In the aboriginal greeting hours of Nov. 6, arsenic Donald Trump was being declared president-elect, Musk wrote to his X followers, "You are the media now," a sentiment helium has repeated successful the weeks since.

VandeHei delivered a fiery code successful effect connected Thursday arsenic helium was honored, on with his Axios co-founder Mike Allen, with the National Press Club’s Fourth Estate Award.

"I hatred this damn statement about, like, ‘Oh, we don’t request the media,’" the Axios CEO said, aboriginal arguing that, for journalists, "Everything we bash is nether fire."

"Elon Musk sits connected Twitter each day, oregon X today, saying, like, ‘We are the media! You are the media!’ My connection to Elon Musk is: ‘Bulls---. You’re not the media.’" helium said to applause. 

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Elon Musk laughs portion onstage during The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2023 astatine Jazz astatine Lincoln Center connected November 29, 2023 successful New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York Times) (Getty Images)

"You having a bluish checkmark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn’t marque you a newsman immoderate much than maine looking astatine your caput and seeing that you person a encephalon and telling you I person an awesome acceptable of tools makes maine a damn neurosurgeon, right? Like, what we do, what journalists do, what you did successful Mississippi, what Al Jazeera does successful the Middle East," helium said, referencing different grant winners successful the room.

VandeHei past appeared to telephone retired Musk again, "You proclaim yourself to beryllium a reporter? Like, that’s nonsense. Like, being a newsman is hard, truly hard. You person to care. You person to bash the hard work. You person to get up each azygous time and say, ‘I privation to get to the closest approximation of the information without immoderate fear, without immoderate favoritism.' You don’t bash that by popping disconnected connected Twitter. You don’t bash that by having an opinion. You bash it by doing the hard work."

Musk shared a clip from the code and replied, "Yeah, immoderate lmao." He past appeared to code X users successful saying, "You are the media now. And bequest media cognize it."

He besides responded to a Not The Bee nonfiction headlined "Axios' CEO had a meltdown due to the fact that Elon Musk says national reporters person eclipsed the firm media," replying,  "That’s due to the fact that it’s working. You are the media now."

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Axios CEO Jim VandeHei scorched Elon Musk and the X level for emboldening mundane radical to deliberation they tin question retired the information of existent events arsenic good arsenic journalists. (National Press Club Live YouTube channel)

"The bequest media forgot that honesty truly is the champion policy," helium added. "Now you are the media."

The time aft the election, Musk wrote, "The world of this predetermination was plain to spot connected X, portion astir bequest media lied relentlessly to the public. You are the media now. Please station your thoughts & observations connected X, close others erstwhile incorrect and we volition person astatine slightest 1 spot successful the satellite wherever you tin travel to find the truth."

The credibility and popularity of mainstream media has plummeted successful caller years.

A survey shared by Gallup successful October indicates that American's spot successful the quality media remains astatine a historical low, with lone 31% of those polled expressing a "great deal" oregon "fair amount" of religion successful the media to study quality properly.

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"For the 3rd consecutive year, much U.S. adults person nary spot astatine each successful the media (36%) than spot it a large woody oregon just amount. Another 33% of Americans explicit ‘not precise much’ confidence," Gallup Senior Editor Megan Brenan wrote.

Polling besides indicates that the quality media is the "least trusted radical among 10 U.S. civic and governmental institutions," with the U.S. Congress lone somewhat down astatine 34%.