In the charade that is the liberal media, the D.C. outlet Axios and its CEO Jim VandeHei stand out as prime examples of the self-importance and fragility of our Fourth Estate. On Thursday, VandeHei provided a perfect depiction of the delusional nature of elite media as they attempt to maintain their dwindling power and influence.
Desperate to hold onto their diminishing relevance, Axios hails itself as the epitome of “Smart Brevity” and prides itself on being the mouthpiece of the most powerful institutions in the country, from Big Tech to Wall Street. Its stories read like corporate press releases, completely devoid of any journalistic integrity or accountability. And the sad truth is, Axios is just a microcosm of everything wrong with the corporate media.
But thanks to social media and technological advancements, they have lost much, if not all, of their once coveted influence. This is perhaps why VandeHei was reduced to trembling and blustering on stage during an event at the National Press Club, where he and Axios co-founder Mike Allen were given a meaningless award for being complicit in perpetuating the establishment narrative.
In an ironic twist, the award is called the “Fourth Estate award,” meant to honor those who act as a check on government and corporate power. Yet Axios is anything but that. VandeHei’s comments on the media landscape were drenched in hypocrisy as he blasted Elon Musk for claiming that social media has made everyone a journalist.
According to VandeHei, “Being a reporter is hard. Really hard.” Yes, it’s hard to push the narrative of your corporate masters without any regard for the truth or the people you’re supposed to serve. It’s hard to blindly support one political party while pretending to be unbiased. It’s hard to ignore the rampant corruption and incompetence of those in power. But it’s not hard to see through the facade of the liberal media and its self-righteous claims of being the only ones qualified to report the news.
As VandeHei continued to pontificate about the hard work journalists have to put in, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” replayed the clip with a panel of fellow delusional media elites giving him a round of applause. Host Joe Scarborough, who spent the entirety of Biden’s campaign gaslighting viewers about his mental acuity, had the audacity to claim that MSNBC and other irrelevant media outlets still matter.
NEW Axios CEO melts down over @elonmusk telling 𝕏 users “You are the media now” — mounts passionate defense of dying legacy media:
"My message to Elon Musk is b*llshit. You're not the media!"
The MSNBC panel applauds:
“Social media people lying every day, every hour, every… pic.twitter.com/SBwgI9hFfC
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) November 25, 2024
The irony was not lost on the Reverend Al Sharpton, who watched in awe as his MSNBC colleague spewed his hypocritical rhetoric. But as they cling desperately to their failing empire, the liberal media fails to see that they are the problem, not the solution.
h/t: Steadfast and Loyal
