The Destruction of the Cathedral

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Part 1: Trump's Assault on the Media

Feb 22, 2025

Eric S Raymond wrote an essay about open and closed systems called “The Cathedral and The Bazaar” in 1999.
Yarvin applies this term to the intellectual institutions (media and academia), arguing that they form a central, doctrinal organism similar to the church.
Similar to Herman and Chomsky’s “Propaganda Model” which also asserts that the media has some control over public discourse.
Only Yarvin’s Model does not account for media ownership, and instead claims that all of the power lies with the journalists themselves.
Yarvin believes that the Cathedral has a false claim to knowledge that it uses to reinforce the legitimacy of an illegitimate state and leadership. It therefore needs to be dismantled.
Trump has already referred to the press as the “enemy of the people”.

The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times both pulled their endorsements for Kamala Harris during the election.
CNN staff were given direction to not criticise Trump on inauguration day, and to not express outrage at anything he might say
A number of high profile staff have left their organisations due to increasing editorial control and constraints on their work
- Jim Acosta from CNN
- Chuck Todd from NBC/MSNBC
- Paul Krugman from The New York Times
- Charles Blow from The New York Times
- David Hoffman from The Washington Post
- Molly Roberts from The Washington Post
Other journalists seem to be adjusting their analysis in order to retain their access to the administration. The most notable example being Joe Scarborough from MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

The Associated Press have been removed from Press Room because they refuse to report on the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Karoline Leavitt talks about holding the press accountable for reporting lies in relation to AP having their access revoked.
Stephen Miller talks about replacing the Associated Press with media organisations that are “extraordinarily independent”.
The White House Correspondents’ Association have circulated a letter of support for the Associated Press.
The Pentagon has taken away permanent office space from NPR, The New York Times, NBC News, and Politico. Office space will be given to The New York Post, Breitbart News, One America News, and The Huffington Post.

Brendan Carr, a Trump loyalist, has been appointed to head the Commission
Carr has launched an inquiry into Comcast (NBC Universal) over their DEI programs.
Carr has launched investigations into NPR and PBS saying that they should no longer be funded by the taxpayer
A probe into CBS over “news distortion” has been opened in relation to the 60 Minutes interview of Kamala Harris.
A probe into ABC over it’s handling of the Presidential Debate has been reopened.
Some radio stations are being investigated for reporting the presence of ICE agents in their respective cities.

Kash Patel has threatened to use the FBI to go after journalists
The last Trump administration investigated eight journalists as part of probes into 334 leaks during his time in office. The Justice Department seized phone records for reporters at The Washington Post, The New York Times and CNN.
Trump threatened to change libel laws to make it easier to sue media organisations, but libel laws are under the purview of the states so he actually can’t change them.
The plea deal signed by Julian Assange last year created some dangerous precedent for press freedom, especially in terms of how journalists work with confidential sources.

Trump sued ABC for saying that he was liable for rape instead liable for sexual abuse by George Stephanopolos on This Week.
- ABC settled the case, even though many legal experts believed that they should have fought the case. They have expressed concern about precedent.
Trump has filed a lawsuit against CBS for $20 billion over Deceptive Trade Practices over how they reported on the Presidential Election.
- CBS were forced to give over transcripts by Brendan Carr, who then released them to the public.
- CBS are likely to settle because of a forthcoming merger with SkyDance Media. Skydance is owned by David Ellison and the merger must be approved by Brendan Carr before it can go ahead.
- The lawsuit has been filed in Amarillo, Texas where there is only one judge, a Trump appointed Christian fundamentalist who has made a habit of ruling on politically controversial cases.
Peter Thiel used lawfare to bankrupt Gawker Media in 2016, demonstrating how smaller publications are at high risk of being silenced.
Elon is using DOGE to cancel government subscriptions to media organisations, in an attempt to undermine their importance. This has happened to the Associated Press, Reuters, and Politico.

Journalists are leaving organisations to publish independently and audiences are also turning to independent media.
Independent media lacks editorial oversight, funding, reach, and access.
Audiences are exposed to less perspectives as their media exposure becomes siloed. This is made worse by the subscription model, as most people can only afford to subscribe to a few publications.
Substack is funded by Andressen-Horowitz and Marc Andressen has used the platform in notable ways.
There are examples of strange political shifts from journalists after joining substack. These are, of course, correlations not causal connections.
- Glenn Greenwald, Matt Taibbi, and Bari Weiss were all early publishers on substack.
- These figures are explored in the new book Owned by Eoin Higgins
- Matt Taibbi recommended by Andressen to Elon for the Twitter Files expose.
- More recent examples include Ana Kasparian and Nate Silver.
Covert funding and dark money is a much more serious concern when it comes to independent media.