Washington,June 25, 2023
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, once again expressed his disapproval of traditional media, claiming that by the time they publish news, it is no longer relevant. Known for his criticism of traditional news outlets, Musk highlighted the negative tone prevalent in today’s stories, which he finds to be disheartening.
In a tweet, Musk stated, “The thing about the traditional news is that, by the time they actually publish anything, it’s not news anymore.” He further emphasized that these stories often carry a negative tone, adding to the overall sense of gloom.
Back in April, Musk had proclaimed that his micro-blogging platform, Twitter, poses a “serious danger” to traditional media as it allows influential users and celebrities to have a direct impact on the narrative. This remark came alongside his decision to restore legacy Blue checkmarks for such users.
Entrepreneur Mario Nawfal, CEO at NFT Tech and founder of International Blockchain Consulting (IBC), recently expressed surprise at the media’s animosity towards Musk, to which the tech billionaire responded, “Yup. Twitter is a serious danger to their ability to control the narrative.”
Musk’s strained relationship with traditional media has been ongoing. In April, Twitter, under Musk’s guidance, removed “government-funded media” labels from accounts belonging to traditional and digital news outlets following substantial backlash. The platform instead assigned a “publicly-funded” label to the BBC account and identified the US-based NPR as “government-funded.”
Subsequently, Twitter extended the “government-funded media” labels to global news outlets such as ABC Australia, SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) in Australia, RNZ (Radio New Zealand), SR Ekot and SVT in Sweden, and TV3.cat in Catalonia.
Musk’s criticisms reflect his belief in the transformative power of social media platforms like Twitter, allowing individuals to shape and influence public discourse, thereby challenging the traditional media’s control over the narrative.
