During Thursday evening’s National Press Club Fourth Estate Gala, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei delivered a fiery critique of X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk, specifically targeting Musk’s post-election commentary about the evolving nature of journalism.
Musk had recently claimed that the decline of legacy media and the rise of citizen journalism meant, “You are the media now.” VandeHei rejected this notion, calling it “bullsh*t.”
“Everything we do is under fire,” VandeHei remarked, referring to the challenges faced by traditional journalism in a rapidly changing media landscape.
He directly addressed Musk, saying, “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.”
🚨Meltdown by Axios CEO Jim VandeHei.
VandeHei goes on a rant about Elon telling X users “You are the media now”. “My message to Elon Musk is b*llshlit. You’re not the media!”
Two things are going on which are triggering Jim VandeHei
1) He is losing audience, his revenue is… pic.twitter.com/OlVscBYtWe
— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) November 25, 2024
The audience responded with applause as VandeHei elaborated on his argument. “Having a blue checkmark, a