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Munk Dialogue with Matt Taibbi

May 30, 2023
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Munk Dialogue with Matt Taibbi

Mainstream media, the twitter files, and online censorship

In November 2022, substack journalist Matt Taibbi joined us on stage for our Munk Debate on Mainstream Media. Matt and his debate partner Douglas Murray argued in favour of the resolution, Be it resolved, don’t trust mainstream media, against best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg (Matt and Douglas won a decisive victory, the biggest voter swing in Munk Debate history).

Right after the debate, Matt got on a plane to San Francisco, where he went directly to Twitter’s head office to meet with its new CEO, Elon Musk. What came next was perhaps the biggest news story to close out 2022: the release of the twitter files, which exposed content moderation decisions at the social media company, often at the behest of politicians and government agencies.

What followed was a tumultuous few months for Matt which included testifying before congress, a house visit from the IRS, a public fallout with Musk, and the end of his reporting on twitter.

On this episode of the Munk Debates Podcast, we’re joined by Matt Taibbi for an in depth chat about his life post-debate, why his reporting on the twitter files came to an end, and how growing distrust in the mainstream media could affect the 2024 US election cycle.

“I’m an independent journalist and I want the mainstream media to succeed. I think it needs to. Countries are not healthy if they don’t have a functioning mass media and nobody believes them.”

-MATT TAIBBI

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