The free speech gate swings open, much to the dismay of the gatekeepers.
By: Leesa K. Donner | May 15, 2023 | Liberty Nation News Opinion
The announcement made by Tucker Carlson on Twitter must have sent shivers up the spines of every working member of the legacy media business last week. It was not a glancing blow but nothing less than an in-your-face knock-out punch. In just under three minutes, the former Fox star labeled the establishment media “thinly disguised propaganda outlets” and committed to bringing a new version of his wildly popular program Tucker Carlson Tonight to Twitter.x
What? This means no editorial boards, television news executives, or gatekeepers of any kind will be around to muzzle Carlson. Most of the big outlets have tried that already. The San Francisco native’s journalistic career has taken him to CNN, PBS, MSNBC, and for the past six and a half years Fox News. These are merely the news outlets: Carlson also has written for numerous print publications. Most of the time – though not always – the well-heeled, well-schooled Carlson found himself on the receiving end of a pink slip. “The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can,” the 53-year-old intoned. “But there are always limits. And you know if you bump up against those limits often enough you will be fired for it. That’s not a guess – it’s guaranteed,” he said, speaking from personal experience.
But all that is about to change.
Tucker Carlson and Twitter Unite
As is often his wont, the former Fox man sought to define a free society and how the gatekeepers corrupt it. “You can’t have a free society if people aren’t allowed to say what they think is true. Speech is the fundamental prerequisite for democracy,” he told millions of Twitter viewers. Then he went on to sing Twitter’s praises as the last platform that permits free speech. However, Carlson argued that the system Twitter has been using, which largely consists of people responding to news gatekeepers, needs to be torn down. “We think that’s a bad system. We know how it works, and we’re sick of it,” he asserted. In its place, Twitter will move from a platform promoting gatekeepers to encouraging myriad content creators to join the dialogue – some famous like Carlson, others not nearly as well-known, but with something to say.
What does this mean?
It effectively removes the news media from its lofty perch. Elon Musk’s Twitter will be overhauled and become the wild west of a new, more dynamic Fourth Estate. Musk has more than hinted at this and is prepared to reward those who create engaging content on his mega platform. “Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators. Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (coming soon), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with the content,” Musk tweeted.
This is a huge uh-oh for the establishment media. It’s impossible to keep the gate closed if the fence has been trampled, and that is precisely what will happen when folks begin to use Twitter as their main outlet for news and information.
The activist media may be breathing a subtle sigh of relief with Elon Musk’s appointment of Linda Yaccarino as the new CEO. After all, she has an employment history that ticks all the progressive boxes including BLM support, the WEF, and many other globalist organizations. However, the mercurial Musk has been known to fire a Twitter employee or two in his time, and should the new boss lean towards the authoritarian, that particular job spot may be open once more.
Of course, this won’t happen overnight, and it does necessitate a few changes. The older generation will have to become more Twitter-savvy because that’s where all the action will occur. Perhaps Musk could help that learning curve by simplifying his platform. Two, it will be survival of the fittest. Those who can create content that others are interested in will be rewarded. Yet popular voices will necessarily drown out those who don’t earn a large number of followers. And true freedom lovers know and understand the tyranny of the majority. Thus, Twitter must somehow support the small guy out there who has something to say and can say it well.
As Twitter offers more and more news and analysis, the content creators will destroy the elite media. And in lowering the “propaganda outlets” from their high and mighty post, the Twitter-verse will become more of a dialogue and less of a monologue. Free thinking and free speech will no longer be soiled by the dirty machinations of the advocacy press. There are also more opportunities for both the truth and lies to coexist, but it will be up to the reader, viewer, and listener to discern fact from fiction.
The wild west, indeed.