Is a Media-Twitter Breakup Coming?

Elon’s “Assassination” Obsession • WaPo Drama • Rage and Radicalism

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Is a Media-Twitter Breakup Coming?

For weeks now, journalists have been testing the waters at Post.News and Mastodon in light of Elon Musk’s chaotic stewardship of Twitter, but his decision to suspend journalists, including several who cover him, may be a tipping point for news organizations, as Charlotte Klein reports. Adam Davidson, who started the journa.host server on Mastodon, told Klein yesterday how he’d “seen a huge uptick.”

Speaking of journalist drama, Klein also chronicled the frustrations boiling inside The Washington Post this week, as publisher Fred Ryan’s hasty exit—after announcing upcoming layoffs—left staffers stunned. Plus, check out Abigail Tracy’s interview with Ayanna Pressley and podcast producer Rebecca Sananès’s look back at how radicalism and extremism were all the rage with listeners this past year. Thanks for reading and see you Monday.

—Michael Calderone, editor

Will Elon Musk’s Crackdown on Journalists Lead to a Media-Twitter Breakup?

Even by the standards of Musk’s erratic tenure, the abrupt suspension of reporters from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN has only heightened anxieties among journalists and is raising questions about news organizations’ relationship to the platform.

Elon Musk, Apparently Obsessed With Idea He Could Be Assassinated, Censors Press on Twitter

Twitter suspended the accounts of multiple prominent journalists for reporting on the social media site’s new policy around the ban on @ElonJet and real-time location information. Musk said their reports violated the rules.

“Democracy Dies in Darkness, Huh?”: Washington Post Publisher Stuns Newsroom With Layoff Bombshell—And Hasty Exit

At Wednesday’s town hall, Fred Ryan didn’t take questions after announcing that a “number of positions” would be eliminated early next year, planned cutbacks that come on the heels of management killing off the Post’s weekly magazine.

“They Don’t See Us”: Ayanna Pressley Won’t Let Women Be Ignored by the Republican Majority

The Massachusetts congresswoman is eyeing a leadership role to leverage her platform and profile at a time when women’s rights are under attack in a post-Roe world, intent on working with the White House to fight back against Republicans’ agenda.

How Podcasts in 2022 Tuned In to America’s Legacy of Rage and Radicalism

As the January 6 hearings played out, listeners revisited past fights against fascism (Ultra) and explored the line between activism and terrorism (Mother Country Radicals, Project Unabom)—a way to escape the headlines and examine extremism in the rearview.