Axios’ founder Jim VandeHei is reduced to a weeping puddle after Elon Musk made a rather insightful observation about the state of media today.
Musk started it all with a simple five-word Tweet:
Musk’s words were known by everyone except for the Jim VandeHeiss of the world: a citizen journalist’s iPhone recording contains more truth and data than much of the “reporting,” done by large, well-funded media outlets such as Axios. The media has a high level of distrust because they have been degrading themselves in service of the Democrat Party for decades.
Musk’s remarks about all of us being “the media” caused much gnashing of teeth and tearing of clothing by the media. VandeHei made the same comments last week when accepting a lifetime achievement award at the National Press Club. He was annoyed.
What you do is important. “Social media people lie every day, every hour, and every minute about the latest news. What the New York Times is doing matters. “What the Wall Street Journal is doing matters.”
The fact that X exposed their lies is one of the reasons their industry has collapsed.
The following is the full transcript of VandeHei’s remarks.
Everything we do is under fire. Elon Musk sits on Twitter every day — or X today — saying, “We are the media! You are the media!” My message to Elon Musk is: “Bullsh!t! You’re not the media!”
A blue checkmark on your resume, a handle on Twitter, and 300 clever words do not make you a journalist. Twitter is not the way to do it. You can’t achieve this by just having an opinion. You can only do this by working hard.
The video fades into the applause of MSNBC “journos”, like Joe Scarborough or Al Sharpton. Their careers are in a downward spiral because Elon Musk has disrupted the media landscape. The funny thing is that they don’t even seem to realize how everything has changed and that they are left behind. It’s an injury that they have caused themselves.
Musk’s disdain at Jim VandeHei for having the nerve to enter his sandbox is evident in every word he says. Also, note the red sweat — he looks pretty angry for someone who just won an award. Fear is what’s driving the rant and not anger.
The Leftist Media has good reasons to be scared:
In the last couple of weeks, Comcast announced that MSNBC’s ratings had plummeted after the elections and that it would spin off the network and others into a separate company called “SpinCo.” This sparked speculation about the sale of MSNBC and layoffs. Rachel Maddow’s salary was reportedly cut by $5,000,000. Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, and others went to meet Donald Trump and this led many of their radical leftist audiences to turn against them and leave. It’s funny because they were trampled by their propaganda. The audience didn’t forgive them because they sold Trump as being similar to Hitler.
Musk teased that he may buy MSNBC. This idea is sure to make Jim VendeHei’s mouth water.
With all due respect for Elon Musk, it is worth noting that the real pioneer of citizen journalism, the late Andrew Breitbart, was the man who inspired the rest of us to use a cell phone and ask questions. He was a tireless seeker of truth, encouraging grassroots activists by using a smartphone and asking questions to follow in his footsteps.
Jim VandeHei and Axios are in grave danger when Elon Musk, a free speech advocate, takes over Twitter’s global town square. This begs the question: How does Axios remain in business?
Here is a sample of Axios newsletter sponsors over the past few weeks.
- Walmart
- PHRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America).
- Bank of America
It is not clear what kind of return these companies are getting for their partnership with Axios. Still, Jim VandeHei’s panicked words make you wonder whether they’re re-evaluating their options as the media landscape changes. Time will tell.
