Elon Musk dropped the hammer on The New York Times stripping the factually challenged media outlet of its coveted verification badge. And he put other media companies on notice that he was going to yank theirs too.
Musk has implemented new policies with the coveted badge. He democratized it to anyone who can pay a small fee per month ending the shadowy system that rewarded the legacy media.
He also decided to charge large organizations that rely on Twitter for a large part of their business to pay $1,000 monthly for the check mark. Plus $50 per month for each employee they list.
The New York Times refused to pay as did other legacy media outlets in what can be best described as a coordinated temper tantrum.
The Washington Post and CNN said they won’t pay,
Biden’s White House is playing with fire and said they won’t pay.
“It is our understanding that Twitter Blue does not provide person-level verification as a service,” White House director of digital strategy Rob Flaherty told staffers.
“Thus, a blue check mark will now simply serve as a verification that the account is a paid user.”
Enter Elon Musk:
“The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting.
“Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable.
“They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles.
“Same applies to all publications.
“You could literally film a Walking Dead episode unedited in downtown SF.
This is where San Francisco politics leads and Twitter was exporting this self-destructive mind virus to the world.
“With some exceptions, other tech companies are still doing so.
“Evil in guise of good.
The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable.
They would have far more real followers if they only posted their top articles.
Same applies to all publications.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2023
You could literally film a Walking Dead episode unedited in downtown SF.
This is where San Francisco politics leads and Twitter was exporting this self-destructive mind virus to the world.
With some exceptions, other tech companies are still doing so.
Evil in guise of good.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2023