Look, there is no denying there is ongoing drama taking place at Twitter. Elon Musk’s takeover has led to all manner of hyperactive emotional responses, but what has been amusing is the melodramatics playing out in the press in reaction to the Musk takeover. The journalists seem intent on cataloging a demise, over-hyping any threats of celebrity flight, and generally sounding as if they are rooting for the company to now fail.

This also requires that they avoid looking at positive news, such as the number of users swelling after Musk took the reins. This overzealous coverage led to a revealing event where reporters camped out at the headquarters were pranked by two hoaxsters, leading to news reports of the firing of two employees who never actually worked at the company. Joining in on the chorus of outlets covering Twitter obsessively has been CNN.

In his announced plan to revamp CNN, the newly arrived CEO Chris Licht has delivered a number of decrees to his talent on what he expects going forward. One order is to welcome more Republicans on the air. Another is to scale back on the anti-Trump coverage. And one more was a direct edict for the media coverage wing, and that was to pull away from the incessant coverage of their competitor, Fox News.

One remedy for that last mandate was the removal of Brian Stelter from the airwaves, but this has seemingly impacted his former understudy, Stelter’s Boy Wonder, Oliver Darcy. Not long ago, Ollie was tasked with reinvigorating the Reliable Sources property through a revamped email newsletter. In that, it is notable how there seems a departure from the almost daily ranting about Fox. But, as I recently joked with another writer, it has been a case of Darcy transferring his obsession onto Twitter now.

The most recent event for the press to latch onto is Musk’s declaration that he will be shuttering the headquarters until Monday, while he continues to see how his reorganization plays out. In what amounts to basically an extended weekend, many in the press are regarding this to be the inevitable rendering of the company. CNN is in lockstep with this measurement.

Death is in the air on Twitter. https://t.co/ABljA9Lk7A

— CNN (@CNN) November 18, 2022

The mix of obliviousness and a lack of self-reflection permeates Darcy’s piece, beginning with the fact they are promoting this piece with a tweet. Then, in his opening, Darcy notes that there was a significant hashtag trending.

On the platform Thursday evening, where #RIPTwitter was the top trend worldwide, users wrote what they feared might be their last posts, offering apprehensive goodbyes and listing the other (more stable) social media platforms where they can still be found.

It did not strike him as at all ironic, or contradictory, that a supposedly dying outlet had that phrase trending because it was so popular?! It was a remarkably high number of people declaring the place was not popular, we have to suppose.

Then Ollie bemoans what the demise of Twitter would mean. He notes all of the various factions of our culture that use and rely upon Twitter as an important communication tool, and were it to go away, it would have adverse effects across the globe.

No single space would immediately replace it and communications could become fractured across multiple social media websites, leading to a seismic disruption and slowdown in the flow of information. 

What goes unaddressed is the reason behind the upheaval. Musk has become a lightning rod for criticism and has been demonized by the media for his desire to open up the platform to more expression. Darcy here is crying about the potential loss of the flow of information, and it is directly due to Musk having the goal of allowing a heavier flow of information by scaling back the restrictions that have been imposed on the site. The irony is enough to clear up my anemia.

Then of course is the simple reality missed by Darcy and others at his network: While cheering the alleged fall of Twitter they need to overlook their own issues. While detailing Twitter departures CNN is facing its own impending layoffs. They are alleging user flight on the platform while overlooking their own dismal ratings. And how can anyone at CNN discuss any type of content restrictions when they have systematically been keeping one political party off of its airwaves?

This is like a case of a newsman filing a report from a forest fire, while behind the cameraman, his own house is going up in flames.

I know, Elon should rebrand the company as "Twitter+".

That should at least buy him about 3 more weeks in existence. https://t.co/GPxtqBYLlX

— Brad Slager: Polling For Soup (@MartiniShark) November 18, 2022