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March 28, 2024

On the face of it, it was a classic example of reporting: A reporter obtained internal documents from a major company that revealed a political row erupting in the closing days of the 2020 presidential campaign.

But when it comes to Elon Musk and Twitter, nothing is typical.

Independent journalist Matt Taibbi ignited a firestorm Friday night among pundits, media ethicists and lawmakers from both parties when he posted the so-called Twitter document. It also offers a window into the fragmented landscape of modern journalism, where a story’s acceptance often depends on readers’ assumptions about the reporter’s and subject’s motivations.

The storm began when Mr. Musk teased the release of internal documents he said would reveal the story behind Twitter’s 2020 decision to limit links to posts linked to New York Post reports about Joseph R. Biden’s son Hunter. .

Mr. Musk, who has accused tech companies of censorship, then pointed readers to the claims of Mr. Taibee, an iconoclastic journalist who shares Mr. Musk’s disdain for mainstream news outlets. Mr. Taibi’s report came in the form of a lengthy Twitter thread that included images of emails being exchanged between Twitter officials over how to handle the spread of the Post’s story on its platform.

Mr. Musk and Mr. Taibi saw the exchanges as evidence of liberals’ hierarchical censorship and pernicious influence. Many others — and even some ardent Twitter critics — were less impressed, saying the exchanges merely showed a group of executives seriously debating what to do with unverified news stories based on stolen laptop information.

Like much modern news reporting, the Twitter file was quickly weaponized to serve a dizzying number of established arguments.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who often accuses liberals of stifling speech, claimed that “these documents show a systemic violation of the First Amendment that is the greatest example in modern history.” House Republicans investigating the business dealings have asserted, without evidence, that the report showed systematic collusion between Twitter and aides of then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden. (Twitter’s then-CEO, Jack Dorsey, later upside down Stopping the Post from reporting it and telling Congress it was the wrong decision. )

Former Twitter executives who have lamented Mr. Musk’s chaotic management of the company have cited the release of the documents as another sign of recklessness. Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, said publishing unredacted documents — some of which included the names and email addresses of Twitter officials — was “simply unacceptable” and put people “at risk” . (Mr. Musk later said, in hindsight, “I think we should have excluded some email addresses.”)

The central role of Mr Tabby, a polarizing figure in the press, has sparked an uproar.

Once a prominent voice for the political left, Mr Taibi rose to prominence as an unbridled truth-teller. He is perhaps best known for calling Goldman a “vampire squid” in an article that stoked public outrage against Wall Street. But his comments about former President Donald J. Trump differed from those of many Democrats — for example, he questioned claims that Russia colluded with the Trump campaign — and his base shifted.

On Friday, Mr Taibi wrote that his Twitter posts were “based on thousands of internal documents obtained by Twitter sources”. Mr Musk has previously hinted at disclosing information about Twitter’s handling of the Hunter Biden report. On Friday, shortly before Mr. Tabby’s report, Musk wrote, “This is going to be awesome,” adding a popcorn emoji, the eagerly anticipated ubiquitous online symbol. Mr Taibi also said he agreed to “fulfill certain conditions” in exchange for the documents, without giving details.

Mr Tabby’s skeptics seized on the seemingly orchestrated disclosure. MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted: “Imagine volunteering on a Friday night to do an online PR job for the world’s richest man in the service of a naked and cynical right-wing narrative, then pretend you’re in Speak the truth to those in power.” Post.

Mr Tabby clapped back on Saturday, writing: “Looking forward to scrolling through all the tweets complaining about ‘richest man on earth’s PR’ and seeing how many of them post stories for anonymous sources in the FBI, CIA, Pentagon, White House, etc.”

Mr. Musk and Mr. Taibi did not respond to requests for comment.

It should come as no surprise that Mr. Musk is a fan of Mr. Taibbi, who left Rolling Stone to start a newsletter on Substack; Mr. Musk has often extolled the virtues of citizen journalism. On Saturday, during a Twitter live audio conference, Musk said he was disappointed that more mainstream media outlets hadn’t covered Taybee’s story.

The New York Times requested a copy of the document from Musk, but did not hear back.

Mr. Musk said Saturday that he also provided documents to former Times editor and columnist Bari Weiss, whose Substack newsletter, Common Sense, bills itself as an alternative to traditional news outlets. Weiss declined to comment on Sunday.

The commotion also produced some strange bedfellows. Mr Taibi once compared former President George W Bush to a “donkey”. House Republican leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy defended his reporting in an interview with Fox News on Sunday. “They’re trying to discredit someone who is telling the truth,” Mr McCarthy said of Mr Musk.

Perhaps the only generally accepted takeaway from the release of the Twitter document is a sentiment expressed by Mr. Taibi himself, at title On his Substack page, which offers previews of his upcoming posts.

“Note to the reader,” Mr. Tabby wrote. “It’s going to get weird here.”





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