“It is just over,” journalist @caseynewton told The Post.
“If you wouldn’t join Gab, or Parler, or Truth Social, there’s no reason you should be on X. I think it’s time for journalists and publishers, in particular, to acknowledge the new reality and to get the heck off that website.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/19/antisemiticism-interent-elon-musk-israwl-war/
@taylorlorenz this is foolish.
If journalists can report on the platform and find readers there then they should. That’s their job.
This take is like a doctor refusing to serve an accident site because he doesn’t like the type of people who frequent that venue.
No, X is a place where journalists can effectively publish their work. If they are avoiding the platform purely because they don’t like the way it looks then they are not doing their jobs, they are letting bias override their work.
@waitworry what analogy?@taylorlorenz @caseynewton
@volkris @taylorlorenz @caseynewton "This take is like a doctor refusing to serve an accident site because he doesn’t like the type of people who frequent that venue."
@volkris @taylorlorenz @caseynewton anyway to cut straight to the point it's not actually a reporters job to track down people to read their stories so your take makes absolutely no sense
@waitworry A reporter who picks and chooses publishing media based on personal grudges instead of effectiveness of disseminating information is doing a disservice.
@volkris @taylorlorenz @caseynewton counterpoint: no you're just making up weird new jobs for reporters
if anything posting on a platform where the audience is predisposed towards to not wanting to hear you or your opinion is an even greater waste of their limited time
@waitworry so you’re basically arguing that we should only preach to our own choirs, only stay in our own echo chambers.
No I would say that it’s exactly the audience predisposed toward not wanting to hear the truth that needs to be courted the most heavily.
Folks who already know what’s going on in current events aren’t the ones who most need to hear good reporting. It’s the people who are disconnected and falling for false narratives that we really need to throw good reporting at.
@volkris It isn't about personal grudges. It's about the company encouraging racism, sexism, hate speech, and harassment. It's about Musk reinstating the banned accounts of literal neo-Nazis. Ben & Jerry's said this when they quit advertising:
"The platform has become a threatening and even dangerous space for people from so many backgrounds, including people who are Black, Brown, trans, gay, women, people with disabilities, Jewish, Muslim and the list goes on."
@waitworry
@volkris Imagine you're a reporter, and I have a website called Z.com, where I allow neo-Nazis and other pieces of shit to do whatever the hell they want. You decide not to post your content on my website. Then, people criticize you, claiming it's somehow "your job" to post on Z.com, a website owned by my private company that you don't even work for.
That's how ridiculous you sound.
I'm a former reporter who pioneered journalism on Twitter.
You're just a fool.
@pixplz well we clearly disagree about the importance of this reporting.
I mean I take your example and say YES if what I’m reporting is substantial and worthwhile then I would post it on that website even if I disagree with how it’s being run.
Ridiculous? No, in line with my goal of getting good information to the public. Practical and effective.
I think you’re a fool for giving up that platform, but great, we both think each other are fools. Yay social media.
@volkris "disagree with how it's being run" is a euphemism for the fact that the company is allowing and even encouraging hate speech, harassment and death threats (see Libs of Tiktok for example).
I'm not letting you get away with that. Your comment is in bad faith.
Walk it back, or catch a block.
@pixplz euphemism? No. Accurate description.
Great, you don’t like how Twitter is being run. Fantastic.
But that’s a you problem, and if you would like to actually engage in effective journalism then you’re going to have to suck it up and engage with some people that you don’t necessarily like because they are the ones who need to have their misinformation debunked.
Sorry that’s not your choir to preach to. But it is the echo chamber that needs to be pierced for the good of society.
I’m sorry journalism is hard. I’m sorry the real world involves people you don’t like.
But if we’re going to work for the good of society then sometimes we have to engage with the problems of society.
As gross as that may be to you.
@volkris That's nice, bye now 🖕
@volkris @pixplz I could easily bring up tons of studies on why "debunking" usually is counterproductive but that's not even the main issue here
why are reporters supposed to post on twitter specifically? why not gab or truth social? there's a ton of social media sites out there why do they need to post on the one Elon Musk has turned into the thunderdome for calling people slurs?
reporters already have platforms to publish their stories on that they're getting paid for anyway
@waitworry I would say reporters might post on Twitter because they want the tremendous audience that that platform represents.
I would encourage them to post on gab and Truth as well since they presumably want their content to be in front of as many people as possible.
And I don’t give a damn about Elon Musk.
If reporters want their content to be seen then they should post it where it will be seen, and Twitter is a particularly good place to have it seen.
But if a reporter doesn’t care about their content being seen, shrug.
@volkris @taylorlorenz @caseynewton
Defending the undefendable demonstrates the value of ones integrity
@rticks well that’s my point, to call out the undefensible, and I sure wish more people on this platform would join me.
@volkris @taylorlorenz @caseynewton The original post didn’t say “avoid X”, it said “treat it like parlor”.
Which seems right. If you have reporting that needs input from the radical right or that you believe is valuable to advertise to the radical right, then parlor is a good place to do that. X is increasingly the same.
@birwin but again that overlooks the role of journalism in putting out solid information through mass communication.
You say needs input from the radical right, but reporting is not about getting input. And posting reports to Twitter can inform that audience, which is the fundamental task of journalism.
It has nothing to do with getting input.
So X represents an audience for good information, I imagine a much larger audience than parlor but I don’t care to check, but heck, yeah post on both!
Fine, treat them the same, seek to inform both audiences.
Sounds good to me.
@volkris @taylorlorenz @caseynewton this analogy makes sense because people would not read the news if reporters were not on twitter