Ax / Axios

[Azrael]

Ben Montgomery fired for flippant email reply to Florida governor's office "press release."



Montgomery isn't wrong here. Nor is he right.

Axios management? Perfectly craven.

 

[The Big Ragu]

Completely agree with you right down the line. Feels like there are no winners here.

DeSantis' people are complete shirts. ... I guess they have a right to be jerks; I wish voters would address it, but they won't.

Montgomery shouldn't have sent the e-mail. Not even close to a fireable offense in my opinion, but it still was very ill advised.

To me. ... his real problem should be with his employer, Axios. What they did was cowardly, and it doesn't even serve them that well in any practical way. They lose way more credibility (even if it is a subtle thing, because nobody will even care or notice) than they gain by placating Ron DeSantis.

 

[Azrael]

 

[The Big Ragu]

I know those kinds of knee-jerk decisions never have any critical thinking behind them.

But what does Axios gain? Ron DeSantis' brand is attacking the media. It doesn't matter who you are, or what you do. He's going to do it. Do they think that axing the reporter is going to give them cover? Do they think it is going to make Ron DeSantis act any differently toward them during his presidential run?

They gain absolutely nothing from this. ... but they have Twitter lit up with all kinds of negative things about Axios and how they caved.

If anything, DeSantis is now going to use it as proof of their "bias."

 

[Azrael]

 

[MeanGreenATO]

This is very, very disheartening to see. Sure, Ben probably shouldn't have sent the email. But just suspend him for a week to placate DeSantis/Republicans and move on. Firing him seems a bit excessive. It's a misstep for a news brand that is definitely gaining a lot of traction in cities. Ben was a big part of that.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

No surprise Axios axed this guy. I remember their main account Tweeting something showing their reporters hobnobbing with Trump in January 2017. It was pretty clear then where they were headed. It's like a shirtty USA Today for the Twitter generation.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Axios was founded by Jim VanderHei and Mike Allen, who in their own Washington reporting careers were perfect courtier suck-ups to power. No surprise their institution believes it is there to comfort the comfortable.

 

[Songbird]

Why is it so hard to post the actual thing he said that got him fired? JFC.

 

[Azrael]

Why is it so hard to post the actual thing he said that got him fired? JFC.

It's in the very first post.

 

[Songbird]

It's in the very first post.

No, it's not. You have to click on the tweet to get into the story then scroll to find the offense.

Sometimes just posting the actual thing is OK.

 

[Azrael]

No, it's not. You have to click on the tweet to get into the story then scroll to find the offense.

Sometimes just posting the actual thing is OK.

It's one click.

Seriously.

One.