Elon Musk, DogeDesigner criticize traditional media amid X’s ad struggles

Dogecoin’s DogeDesigner claims that there is media bias in 2024 US election coverage. The developer went on to target legacy media while receiving an endorsement from X owner Elon Musk.

Meanwhile, the two have also said that traditional or legacy media outlets have seen a decline in viewership amid X’s struggle with advertisers.

Donald Trump has 89% negative coverage

DogeDesigner, who identifies as a UI and graphic designer for Dogecoin and a developer at X, cited MRC’s analysis of the 2024 US elections coverage. The developer compared the coverage of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican counterpart Donald Trump by news networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC. The analysis suggests that major traditional networks are biased in favor of Harris with 84% positive news.

The post also claims that 89% of Trump’s coverage by the same networks is negative. X owner, Elon Musk, seems to be endorsing the analysis by a repost.  The comments come on the sidelines of their claim that legacy media viewership is falling while X breaks “new all-time usage records.”

Legacy media continues to plummet in viewers/readers https://t.co/RSsk68Fz5C

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 22, 2024

A Pew Research Center report from November 2023 also noted that viewership for traditional media has shrunk with a few exceptions. Contrarily, Musk reported in July that X surpassed 417 billion user-seconds in a single day globally. While X seems to be stacking well against traditional media in terms of user engagement, the microblogging site is reportedly losing advertisers.

Musk faces X’s ad revenue drop

According to data by MediaRadar, X advertisers spent around $744 million in H1 2024. The figure is reportedly a 24% year-on-year decline. Since ad spending made up close to 90% of X revenue, Musk sued the advertisers. Earlier in August, Musk claimed in a lawsuit that a group of advertisers had unlawfully boycotted X. Based on reports, X claims that advertisers working together against X violates US antitrust laws and hurts its business revenue.

Elon Musk is also in a tough situation with the European Commission. The EU is reportedly investigating whether X broke Digital Services Act (DSA) rules that controlled illegal content and disinformation. Reuters suggest that Musk could eventually decide to shut down X in Europe amid disagreement with the regulators.