I think a lot of people are totally ignorant of the background dynamic driving the drama around the checkmarks.

But what happened is that a few years ago the New York Times made a weird editorial decision with its tech coverage.

Instead of covering the industry with a business press lens or a consumer lens they started covering it with a very tough investigative lens — highly oppositional at all times and occasionally unfair.

Almost never curious about technology or in awe of progress and potential.

This was a very deliberate top-down decision.

They decided tech was a major power center that needed scrutiny and needed to be taken down a peg, and this style of coverage became very widespread and prominent in the industry.

Tech executives and investors mostly did not like this change, for understandable reasons. And I mostly agree with them on the merits.

They also just tend to overstate the role of the tech beat within the larger zone of "the media" and started being very angry at "the media."

Because news is a very important part of Twitter, when Twitter set up their verification system they ended up treating journalists as a kind of special class.

All kinds of people *can* be verified, but you usually need to be pretty prominent to get that check.

But if you're a working journalist on staff at a publication, you will end up getting the check just as a routine part of your job — like how you'll probably get a laptop and some business cards or whatever.

As a longtime working journalist, longtime check-haver, and someone who knows lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of media professionals I can promise you that working journalists derive zero value, social status, or self-esteem from this.

But Twitter is, among other things, a war zone where tech people and the tech press fight.

And from the side of the tech people, the way totally random journalists would be casually granted their checkmarks was a source of annoyance and resentment.

What's happened is that they have mistaken their own resentment at journalists' unearned checkmark privilege for something that journalists themselves care deeply about and are either willing to pay for or are mad that other people will be able to buy.

I think the Sacks/Andreesen crew should take a deep breath and try to enjoy life as rich and powerful businesspeople and be a little less annoyed by the haters.

And the press should try to normalize coverage of the tech industry as just another business sector.

But for now.

You can see how deranged this has become by looking at all the people QTing this accusing me of lying that nobody derives status or esteem from their checkmarks.

But I promise you I am telling the truth, this is a big dumb misunderstanding.

I should also say @elonmusk doesn’t need to wait for the rollout of some new system — he should just de-verify me right now, I got the check years ago when I had a staff job and probably couldn’t get one today just like I no longer have a proper press pass.

#deverifyyglesias