Media vs. reporting
The epic fight over funding the government captures the power—and flaws—of the new information ecosystem. Elon Musk and his followers on X proved they dominate the Republican media industrial complex—using a digital revolt to kill a spending bill, and open the door to a government shutdown. That revolt was powered by some false information, tweeted with total self-certainty. "We aren't just the media here now. We are also the government," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted to his 13 million followers. This reality highlights the difference between media (what people consume) and reporting (a set of standards for pursuing fact-based information). In the new world order, media and reporting are tossed together with a mix of truth, opinion, and nonsense. This helps explain the confusion that engulfs almost every real-time topic, from drones in the New Jersey skies to whether billions were stuffed into a spending bill for a new D.C. football stadium. (The bill banned the use of federal funds for the stadium.)
Media vs. reporting