There is an “information war” taking place, according to Axios CEO Jim VandeHei. VandeHei made the declaration after giving an acceptance speech for winning a journalism award, where he also called out Elon Musk, the owner of X, who advocates for citizen journalism over traditional news outlets.
In his speech, VandeHei referenced Musk’s posts on X, where Musk declared, “You are the media now.”
“Our industry, make no mistake about it – I’m not going to sugarcoat it – everything we do is under fire. Elon Musk sits on X every day saying, ‘We are the media, or you are the media.’ My message to Elon Musk is bulls–t,” VandeHei said.
“You having a blue check mark, a Twitter handle, and 300 words of cleverness doesn’t make you a reporter,” he added.
In response to a clip of VandeHei’s speech on X, Musk posted, “Yeah, whatever. You are the media now, and the legacy media knows it.”
After the viral speech, VandeHei appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where hosts applauded his remarks.
“Slow clap, everyone. First of all, I gotta say, extraordinary content. It needed to be said. It continues to need to be said,” said host Joe Scarborough.
“I listen to so many reporters who feel like the industry is going to hell, that nobody trusts them, that they’re demoralized,” VandeHei said in response. “We don’t have time to be demoralized. We don’t have time to whine. We have to do our job.”
The media industry is undeniably undergoing a significant shift, as Straight Arrow News has reported.
From a drop in viewership and ratings for mainstream networks to polls showing record-low trust in traditional news outlets, the industry faces numerous challenges. Most recently, SAN coverage highlighted rounds of layoffs in the news sector and a growing reliance on paid subscriptions, such as the model Axios has adopted as a means of revenue.
