Elon Musk warns 'legacy media' and 'corporate journalism': 'We have only just begun'

Hanna Panreck
Fox News
Thu, 29 Dec 2022 22:33 UTC

© Daily Mail

Twitter CEO Elon Musk and investigative journalist Matt Taibbi

Musk said legacy media should worry about their own reputation

Billionaire and Twitter CEO Elon Musk slammed "corporate journalism" and "legacy media" in separate tweets about the response to the Twitter Files and claims that his reputation is in trouble.

"Why is corporate journalism rushing to defend the state instead of the people?" Musk wrote Tuesday in response to a tweet about a Substack post headlined "In Response to the Twitter Files, Establishment Media Rushes to Defend the FBI," written by Leighton Woodhouse.

Musk has released several installments of the Twitter Files through independent journalists such as Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi.

A recent installment detailed the coordination between Twitter and government agencies went way beyond the FBI.

Musk said in the same thread that he was "open" to the idea of purchasing the Substack platform in response to a tweet from Wall Street Silver, who asked if Twitter should purchase Substack and connect the two platforms.

"Twitter plus Substack creates instantly massive competition for obsolete legacy corporate media," the account said.

Musk on Wednesday also responded to a clip posted by CNBC's Squawk Box and called out "legacy media."

In the clip, Axios reporter Hope King said that Musk's reputation was "in danger."

"All of the macro conditions are against his favor. Market-share for $TSLA is down year-over-year. His reputation with Twitter is impacting his reputation when it comes to all of his companies," she said.

Musk shot back and said that the legacy media should "worry about its reputation."

"We have only just begun," he continued.

Another installment of the Twitter Files posted by independent writer David Zweig showed both the Biden administration and the Trump administration leaned on Twitter to moderate content during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Internal files at Twitter that I viewed while on assignment for @thefp showed that both the Trump and Biden administrations directly pressed Twitter executives to moderate the platform's pandemic content according to their wishes," Zweig wrote.

"Areas of focus included conspiracies around 5G cell towers, runs on grocery stores, and misinformation that could stoke panic buying and behaviors," the memo read, according to Zweig.

Musk has also called out the media for being "against free speech."

"Why are so many in the media against free speech? This is messed up," Musk wrote on Twitter in November.

Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.

Comment: The Daily Caller adds:

Musk has sparred with corporate media since he finalized his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in April. Most recently, a handful of outlets raged at the tech mogul for suspending the accounts of eight journalists for "doxxing" his private jet's location in mid-December. The New York Times called this act "questionable and unfortunate," and The Washington Post asserted that it "directly undermines" Musk's push for free speech on the platform.

The Twitter CEO further launched the "Twitter Files" to disclose information regarding Twitter's suppression of the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story in October 2020. Journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, Lee Fang and author Michael Shellenberger have released long threads which included information about the FBI's communication and financial involvement with Twitter, and the social media company's treatment of prominent conservatives.

Musk criticized "corporate journalism" for its alleged lack of coverage on the "Twitter Files" in a Tuesday tweet.