If you've been paying attention you will notice a concerning dynamic between mainstream media & @FTX_Official
Let's dive into some examples & try to understand the reasons behind this trend 🧵
1) @nytimes puff piece released the day after it became public that FTX was insolvent:
-Painted Sam as a good person that just made a whoopsy
-Let Sam shill a game he is an investor in
-Highlighted how Sam has been sleeping fine (despite ruining lives)
nytimes.com/2022/11/14/tec…
2) @Reuters article arguing FTX collapse is a good thing actually 🥴:
-Pick favorable picture of Sam when he was much healthier
-Argue this is good because it will bring more scrutiny to crypto & slow crypto adoption
reuters.com/breakingviews/…
3) @Forbes painting Caroline as an innocent nerd stuck in a bad situation:
-Describe her as a 'math whiz' who 'loves Harry Potter'
-Try to absolve her by painting her as "rare female leader in male dominated industry" & victim of "nasty criticism"
forbes.com/sites/davidjea…
From just these couple of articles, it's clear that the mainstream media is attempting to provide cover for people that appear to have committed fraud on a massive scale.
The next question is, WHY are they doing this?
I believe there is a few reasons...
1) The first is some sort of sunk-cost fallacy.
A large part of the reason SBF/FTX rose to prominence, was because of support from the media.
These publications have been publishing positive pieces for years. They likely feel a need to defend the image they helped create.
2) The second, is due to financial incentives.
@SBF_FTX was directly investing in many media firms such as @propublica & @semafor.
Also @Forbes, is integrated with Whale Media, who received an investment from Binance (who held FTT).
tabletmag.com/sections/news/…
3) The last angle I believe has to do with Politics
SBF was a major Democratic donor (#2 to the entire Biden campaign)
Almost every mainstream media outlet has a political leaning & SBF fit well with the views many of them were trying to push
They just lost their golden boy
So the question at this point, is how do we push back & make sure people understand who SBF really is?
I think the answer is citizen journalism.
Between Twitter spaces, threads, & newsletters, independent voices are shining light on the truth...
Crypto twitter were the first ones to start raising the alarms on SBF, while most of the media was still fawning over him.
It will be up to all of us, to hold him and the other bad actors at play accountable.
Because if we don't, no one else will.
On the topic of independent media. I've been covering the FTX situation as objectively as I can with my @web3pills newsletter.
Sign up if you haven't already. It's FREE 👇
web3pills.com/p/nov-17-22
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