Media Matters Staffers Announce Sweeping Lay Offs: ‘There’s a Reason Far-Right Billionaires Attack’

Alex GriffingMay 23rd, 2024, 3:59 pm
 

Media Matters for America laid off over a dozen staffers on Thursday as former employees took to X to announce they were out of a job. 

Katherine Abughazaleh, also known as Kat Abu, posted, “Bad News: I’ve been laid off from @mmfa, along with a dozen colleagues. There’s a reason far-right billionaires attack Media Matters with armies of lawyers: They know how effective our work is, and it terrifies them (him).”

Abughazaleh appeared to be referring to Elon Musk who filed a defamation suit against the progressive media watchdog last November over a report claiming that major corporate ads on X were being shown alongside white nationalist content.

Media Matters President Angelo Carusone hit back at Musk’s threat of a suit at the time, saying, “Elon Musk has spent the last few days making meritless legal threats, elevating bizarre conspiracy theories, and lobbing vicious personal attacks against his ‘enemies’ online. Even if he does not follow through with his threat to sue, the volatility of actions reinforce why major brands are rightly skittish of partnering with X.”

Carusone also released a statement regarding the layoffs, saying, “We’re confronting a legal assault on multiple fronts and given how rapidly the media landscape is shifting, we need to be extremely intentional about how we allocate resources in order to stay effective. Nobody does what Media Matters does. So, we’re taking this action now to ensure that we are sustainable, sturdy and successful for whatever lies ahead.”

Bobby Lewis added, “journalism milestone achieved (got laid off).” Alex Paterson wrote, “I got laid off from Media Matters @mmfa today, proud of the 5 years of intense work I put into fighting right-wing hatred.”

The conservative website the Daily Caller also noted, “The layoffs followed federal probes filed by Republican Attorneys General Ken Paxton of Texas and Andrew Bailey of Missouri into the outlet for possible fraudulent activity by allegedly manipulating data on ‘X,’ formerly known as Twitter.”

Below are additional announcements from former Media Matters staffers:


—

Tags:
Alex Griffing - Senior Editor

Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing