Who are Matt Taibbi (right), Bari Weiss (Left) and why did Elon Musk (centre) choose them for Twitter Files. AP.
New York: Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter, the social media platform has seen a sea-change. This includes the Tesla CEO bringing in new people to the organisation, including anti-establishment writers Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss among others.
In fact, the two (Taibbi and Bari) were some of the few who were given intimate access to the Twitter Files and subsequently made public on the micro-blogging site, things that were hitherto unknown.
For the unversed, Weiss and Taibbi are controversial figures who struck out alone after working for major media outlets.
Why did Musk choose Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss?
The Twitter Files, on release, had caused much debate, with some heralding it for proving big tech censorship, while other slamming it for not adding to public understanding how Twitter dealt with some of its most controversial problems (including the ban on Donald Trump).
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Musk had, on his part, handpicked the journalists who were given access to internal material and they included writers like Matta Taibbi and Bari Weiss, who have on multiple occasions, proven themselves to be anti-establishment, speaking against trans rights and COVID-19 among other issues.
Who are Bari Weiss and Matt Taibbi?
Major figures in US’ media scenes, both Weiss and Taibbi abandoned high-profile roles in journalism to pursue their own reporting, using scathing criticisms against the US government and policies – a trait shared by Musk.
Taibbi is a journalist, active since the 1990s, shelling out some of the major news of the time. However, post 2015, he became hostile towards mainstream media speaking out on how it was destroying itself. Taibbi was a vaccine sceptic at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as well.
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Bari Weiss wrote for The Wall Street Journal and later New York Times (NYT), before resigning, stating bullying by colleagues for her views as a reason. She is known for her gender-critical views.
Twitter Files
The much-hyped Twitter Files consists mainly of correspondence between Twitter employees and executives discussing their decision in 2020 to block access to a New York Post article detailing material on Hunter Biden’s stolen laptop.
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However, as per a report in Insider, the level of access Musk has given to Weiss, is typically reserved for employees. Matt Taibbi, the other newsletter writer through whom Musk has released the Twitter files, has not received this kind of access.
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