> Podcasters need guests. To build an audience they chase boldface names. Access depends on avoiding tough questions. (...) When your business model depends on downloads and views, you do what you must: keep cozy relationships with a small circle of founders, venture capitalists, and executives you’re supposed to cover critically.
> There are fewer than a dozen journalists I can name-check those who don’t disappoint. Nilay Patel of The Verge for example. There are some veterans, but only a handful are newcomers. (...) A16z’s backing no longer means what Sequoia’s meant in 2005, and a TechCrunch launch no longer means what it did in 2008. The technology ecosystem is noise.
> To see what works in this environment, look at Sam Altman and OpenAI. Sam is everywhere. Always in the media, always talking. (...) The objective is to make OpenAI synonymous with AI. (...) It’s no surprise he’s often self-contradictory. (...) The system rewards the next Sam interview. It seeks the sound bite that gets attention, gets views, picks up speed.
> You hardly see anybody connecting the dots and writing, “Here’s what Sam Altman said about advertising six months ago, here’s what he’s saying now.” (...) That story doesn’t get written because it requires someone to remember what was said six months ago, compare it to what is being said today, analyze the gap between rhetoric and reality, and ask why the gap exists and what it means for the company’s actual strategy.
https://om.co/2026/02/01/why-tech-media-is-complicated/