Media Matters Might Finally Receive Its Comeuppance, As Layoffs Begin Following Elon Musk Lawsuit

Media Matters for America laid off many of its staffers on Thursday. Media Matters (MMFA) is a George Soros-funded left-wing media watchdog. The organization serves the sole purpose of stalking conservative media outlets and coercing their sponsors to boycott them. 

MMFA is perhaps best known for deceptively editing clips from Fox News and then willfully posting them out of context. 

Anyone who works for Media Matters is a vulture – be it out of jealousy, detestation or desperation.

Staffers who announced their firings included Kat Abu and Bobby Lewis, the latter of whom woke up each morning to hate-watch "Fox & Friends" for a paycheck.

What makes the layoffs newsworthy is the timing. 

Media Matters President Angelo Carusone, a very unpleasant and awkward man, released a statement regarding the layoffs, citing legal concerns.

"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," Carusone said. "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."

Abu added in an X post that " far-right billionaires" were responsible for the budget cuts:

"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)."

She appears to reference Elon Musk.

Last November, Musk and X Corp. sued Media Matters for defamation. Musk threatened the watchdog with a "thermonuclear lawsuit." He delivered.

The lawsuit stems from MMFA triggering an advertiser exodus on X after publishing a report that claimed the social media service placed ads from blue-chip sponsors next to "hateful" and pro-Nazi content.

However, X CEO Linda Yaccarino claimed in a rebuttal that internal data shows Media Matters manipulated the algorithm to make it seem as if X was enabling posts that worship Adolf Hitler. 

"If you know me, you know I'm committed to truth and fairness," posted Yaccarino. "Here's the truth. Not a single authentic user on X saw IBM's, Comcast's, or Oracle's ads next to the content in Media Matters' article. Only 2 users saw Apple's ad next to the content, at least one of which was Media Matters. Data wins over manipulation or allegations. Don't be manipulated. Stand with X."

Uhh, what?

Let us explain:

Yaccarino says Media Matters searched for random videos on X with view counts of "around zero" that demonstrated "hateful content" and then repeatedly clicked on the video to increase its view count.

Per Yaccarino, MMFA then turned over the videos with manipulated view counts to advertisers, convincing them they were subsidizing the content. 

The CEO of Rumble, a free-speech alternative to YouTube, says he has data from Google Analytics that shows Media Matters applied the same deceptive tactic to Rumble.

Take a look:

Republican Attorneys General Ken Paxton of Texas and Andrew Bailey of Missouri have since launched federal fraud probes into the claims that Media Matters manipulated data to sabotage X.

"We are examining the issue closely to ensure that the public has not been deceived by the schemes of radical left-wing organizations who would like nothing more than to limit freedom by reducing participation in the public square," Paxton said in a release in November.

Consider that Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and (especially) TikTok were safe havens for pro-Hamas propaganda last October, yet MMFA left them alone.

See, Media Matters doesn’t seek to police hate or antisemitism. Media Matters seeks to police speech that runs afoul of left-wing orthodoxy. 

More specifically, Media Matters wants to de-fund any influential brand that distributes information that George Soros doesn’t want distributed.

"George Soros fundamentally hates humanity," Musk explained to Joe Rogan last November. 

Media Matters for America uses threats, lies, and deceptive measures to threaten free speech online and in the press. There should be no place for an organization like that in society. 

Elon Musk brands himself as a free-speech warrior and absolutist. He purchased Twitter to restore free speech on the internet. Purchasing X was a win for free speech. 

But bankrupting Media Matters would be Elon’s greatest free speech victory yet.

Disclosure: Fox News and OutKick share common ownership.