Drew Harwell

"The Washington Post continued to run Twitter ads to boost views to its branded content campaigns on the platform late last month, despite one of its reporters being banned a few weeks prior"

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-media-trends-1f66ce7b-9a47-400c-ac21-1c4efa4d5eba.html

I'm that reporter. It's now been more than a month since I was suspended on Twitter for sharing factual journalism. I miss a few people there, but the website has been easily replaced.

Axios Media Trends: ✂️ WSJ restructuring, layoffs

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Axios
Jan 17, 2023 at 4:30pmWeb
Show threadflexghost.Jan 17, 2023

@drewharwell I wonder why the Washington post decides to fund an alt right website? One that bans journalists.

Maybe it’s time to wake them up and cancel subscriptions.

Show threadRob LandleyJan 17, 2023
@flexghost @drewharwell It looks like they negotiated multi-year deals and they're letting them play out rather than paying extra to get out of them.
Show threadRenéeJan 17, 2023

@landley IF this is true, they're hedging their bets. Chances are if they have a contract that includes a discount, there's some sort of TforC with a penalty attached that is almost always still less than the term. They just don't want to pay it, in case....

If they're really motivated by principle tho they should look *very* closely at the rest of the terms, my money is on Twitter not adhering to many of them already.

@flexghost @drewharwell

Show threadflexghost.Jan 17, 2023
@reneestephen @landley @drewharwell the terms have been breached and violated what MSM is doing is totally by choice and calculated
Show threadRob LandleyJan 18, 2023
@flexghost @reneestephen @drewharwell Nah, smells like path of least resistance. Lotta stuff continues on autopilot when nobody wants to attach their name to changing it.
Show threadmonorail timesJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell it's pretty common though for ad side to not have any sort of influence from editorial and vice versa
Show threadJonoJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell. Fuck Twitchan! I just view posts of people I like. I have no account and reading the cringworthy sycophantic behaviour of the Elon cult under everyone of his tweets ( even more cringworthy than his own posts) I think it's healthier not to be on it.
Show threadChrisJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell That's disappointing to hear. As a WaPo reader, I don't want my subscription dollars going to Twitter.
Show thread/C\a/r\l/o\s/Jan 17, 2023
@ciphermonger @drewharwell Mine either.
Show threadLaimisJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell it makes sense to me. Majority of eyeballs are on twitter still
Show threadJoeJan 18, 2023
@laimis @drewharwell Not really; even though Facebook is no longer cool, it drives more traffic to media sites than Twitter does. Twitter matters because the journalists are mainly on Twitter, and this is very dangerous when the Twitter chief openly says that his mission is to destroy what he calls the "woke mind virus". Time to transition, to any place other than Twitter.
Show threadLaimisJan 18, 2023

@not2b @drewharwell agreed on the need to depart from there!

What I meant by most eyeballs still being there, majority of twitter users that were there before musk take over are still there. They are not budging. So I guess marketers will do marketing and buy ads, ya know? They need to hit their numbers...

Thank goodness Mastodon exists and is already a decent place, it helped some of us to find new places to hang out.

Show threadMartha HowellJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell Question: Does WaPo track clickthrus from Mastodon?
Show threadProgGrrlJan 17, 2023

@drewharwell

GOOD.

And if you’re craving a jolt of schadenfreude today, go read the Verge piece.

Show threadDan AnconaJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell Drew I'm a subscriber and nothing about this is OK with me. I don't know if you can answer this question, but what are the pressure points we could focus on to get the Post to change this? Are there even any? Second time in the past few weeks I've wished we had a subscriber's union.
Show threadGrassroots JoeJan 18, 2023
@danancona @drewharwell
The best thing to do, IMO, is encourage and help friends, family, acquaintances & your Twitter network move to Mastodon.
Show threadnaderJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell "easily" isn't very accurate, We're being bullied out of twitter, found a platform with better policies but still new and with a tiny fraction of Twitter's user count and influence circle. Facebook had the same migratory wave a few years back, and it is still a strong source of information, or disinformation for that matter, and sadly billions are still using it.
Show threadsirgetagripJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell It is getting ridiculous, half my feed is filled with posts with a tag line "you may like" with the majority of them being things I actively hate. A year ago they were more things like cute animal videos that went viral, now it is filled with people who pay $8 a month to be noticed who I never want to notice.
Show threadEveyJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell Drew, I am happy to hear that you are sharing factual journalism, we need people like you in the world. Glad you are on Mastodon. I also got kicked off for good after 3 offenses.
Show threadAssiduous RabbitJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell Why aren't more Washington Post journos on Mastodon? There's a ready audience here for them
Show threadEwen at LargeJan 17, 2023

@drewharwell

This is why we can't have nice billionaires.

Show threadBrotherd66Jan 17, 2023
@drewharwell What’s “Twitter?”
Show threadParanoid FactoidJan 17, 2023

@drewharwell

Hey, the link is bad. Could you fix that please?

Show threadHeath BordersJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell I hope more of your colleagues leave. It's very hard for me to understand why journalists stay on Twitter after Twitter attacked journalistic integrity.
Show threadYahia LababidiJan 17, 2023

@drewharwell I’m sorry this happened to you, Drew, and am happy you’ve found a home on #Mastodon .

As a #writer who covers #art & #culture , I’m looking to find a new audience, here:

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/author/yahia-lababidi #writing #twitter #Immigration

Please, #boost 🙏🏼

Yahia Lababidi

World Literature Today
Show threadBduzBoopJan 17, 2023
@drewharwell I wish you could convince others
Show threadIan HawkinsJan 18, 2023

@drewharwell A few people have suggested news organizations should run their own Mastodon instances, membership restricted to their own staff but open to the whole fediverse.

No need for external verification, and WaPo would have control over moderation instead of random third parties with their own agendas.

Show threadJeffJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell I cancelled the WP
Show threadHalf Cocked LawJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell Democracy dies in ad buys.
Show threadBuster HymenJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell It's terrible how libtards are getting kicked off of Twitter the way conservatives did in the past. It's just not fair.
Show threadDavidJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell There have been many accounts suspended for factual reporting. This is particularly clear with the Twitter files, internal communications that the participants probably never wanted to be made public. We are seeing things like the FBI using disinformation tactics to block the laptop story. These are the techniques the FBI and CIA use to overthrow banana republics.
Show threadShannonJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell So, how do you feel about the Washington Post not backing you?
Show threadJoeJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell I'm kind of wondering whether management is also advising reporters who haven't been suspended yet to avoid offending Elno, which might mess up its branded content campaigns.
Show thread72mzJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell Ads are easily blocked.
Show threadZJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell what I hate the most is that there are surely tens of millions of users who won't ever replace it until the very end when it actually shuts down
Show threadMaherashiJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell Your employer doesn’t have your back. I canceled my subscription.
Show threadTJ109Jan 18, 2023
@drewharwell good for you .I hope you do well here . The truth speaks volumes and is a valuable asset! Thanks
Show threadAdron 🤘🏻Jan 18, 2023
@drewharwell @VisualStuart glad you’re here!
Show threadnewsorpigalJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell
the Washington Post has no backbone.
Show threadRicardo HarvinJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell I really hope you're actively looking for, and find, a new job, elsewhere.
Show threadCherieAnneJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell I do miss my friends there, too.
Show threadbobchauvinJan 18, 2023

@drewharwell #Axios doesn't support sharing to #mastodon #smh

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-media-trends-1f66ce7b-9a47-400c-ac21-1c4efa4d5eba.html

Axios Media Trends: ✂️ WSJ restructuring, layoffs

Today's Media Trends, copy edited by Sheryl Miller, is 1,676 words, a 6½-minute read. Sign up.

Axios
Show threadbobchauvinJan 18, 2023

@drewharwell

#markcuban and other "smart" people won't support a platform they can't monitize.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danrunkevicius/2022/11/07/looking-for-mastodon-stock-this-twitter-alternative-just-hit-1000000-users-heres-how-to-invest-in-it/

Looking For Mastodon Stock? This Twitter Alternative Just Hit 1,000,000 Users

Heard of Mastodon? Here's how to invest in the new movement of open-source social networking

Forbes
Show threadOld Man MikeJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell WEAK AF
Show threadleadZEROJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell would it be possible for you to do a piece on ad performance pre and post acquisition? I know this might be a sensitive topic for your marketing department. But I bet I'm not alone in being really interested in how Twitter's ad customers have been impacted
Show threadBlueTurtleJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell There were rumors, that the Washington post would run their own Mastodon instance. Is there any news?
Show threadtallshipJan 18, 2023
@drewharwell Boo Hoo!

Nobody cares about your past #tweeter life dude - this is the #Fediverse. Get over yourself and stop conflating the two.

And you can't post any kinda of worthwhile journalism in 500 characters either. Get off of mastodon and get yourself a #Friendica, #Soapbox, #Mitra, or #Calckey account where you can write articles of any length you need.

You can launch a capable Fediverse accounthere:

Soapbox.pub

This time, don't be a freaking idiot and instead,publish newsworthy articles.

I hope that helps!

#tallship #Fediverse #journalism

⛵

.
Soapbox

Soapbox is customizable open-source software that puts the power of social media in the hands of the people.

Show threadJohn Douglas PorterJan 19, 2023
@tallship Isn't there some way you could have made your point without being a d!ck about it?
Show threadtallshipJan 21, 2023
@johndporter Yes indeed!

I certainly could have 👍

I chose not to.

#tallship #FOSS #Fediverse #self host

⛵

.
Show threadMade In CanadaJan 25, 2023
@drewharwell Musk continues to slip into the mud and Trump will soon be supporting their downward spiral, these are people who couldn't care less about anyone but themselves. The tweetverse often dragged me down into that mud, some primal instinct to judge or hate got poked and it wasn't pleasant. I have felt better ever since leaving.