WSJ What’s News - New X Users Get a Steady Diet of Politics–Whether They Want It or Not

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

P.M. Edition for Oct. 29. What a Wall Street Journal analysis revealed about X’s algorithm. And WSJ reporter Peter Grant says that America’s pandemic-era retreat from the office might be winding down. Plus, White House reporter Ken Thomas gives us a preview of the U.S. presidential candidates' closing messages to voters. Tracie Hunte hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Half research indicates nine out of ten hiring managers are having difficulty hiring. Robert Half is here to help. Our recruiting professionals utilize our proprietary AI to connect businesses with highly skilled talent. At Robert Half, we know talent. Visit roberthalf.com today. Social media platform X feeds its new users political content, whether they want it or not. And Kamala Harris gets ready to make her final case to voters in a speech in D.C. Plus, good news for landlords as companies lure their workers back to the office.

Businesses want their employees to come back to work. And so they're increasingly gravitating to those buildings with the best locations and the best amenities and the gyms and the lounges and the restaurants that will make employees want to go back to work. It's Tuesday October 29th. I'm Tracy Hunt for the Wall Street Journal. This is a PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. We assume our social media algorithms are tailored to us, but an exclusive Wall Street Journal analysis found that new ex-users with interests in topics

like crafts, sports, and cooking are instead being blanketed with political content and fed a steady diet of posts that lean towards Donald Trump and that sow doubt about the integrity of the coming presidential election. A spokesman for ex declined to respond to a detailed list of questions sent by the journal. Wall Street Journal reporter Jack Gillum spoke to our tech news briefing podcast. We are days away from a pretty consequential election. And X, even amid controversies, is still one of the most used social network platforms for tens of millions of Americans, many of whom might be getting election information

from the site. So as part of doing this experiment, it was also trying to get a sense of just what these potential voters are seeing, especially amid conversations of misinformation or falsities. What just does an average user see when they want to create an account or just browse the platform? You can hear more about this story in tomorrow's tech news briefing podcast. Meanwhile, according to people familiar with the matter, XAI, which is also owned by Elon Musk, is in talks with investors for a funding round that would value it at around $40 billion. The startup was last valued at $24 billion just a few months ago, when it raised $6 billion in the

spring. The funding discussions are in the early stages, meaning that terms could change or the talks could fall apart. Representatives for XAI did not respond to requests for comment. We're officially one week out from Election Day day and both candidates are on the road. Tonight Kamala Harris is scheduled to deliver an address on the ellipse, the large field near the White House, where Trump held his Stop the Steal rally on January 6, 2021, before the riot at the Capitol. The event is expected to draw large crowds. Joining us now is Wall Street Journal White House reporter Ken Thomas. So Ken, what should we expect to hear from Harris tonight? Well, this is

really a summation of Harris's argument to the American people. You're likely to hear her talk about this idea of having two different visions for the country. She often uses an expression on the campaign trail that she has a to-do list while Trump has an enemies list. And so the location is important. They want to stage it in the same place where Trump spoke to his supporters on the day of January 6th, 2021. But it's much broader than a argument on the state of our democracy and the importance that this election plays in that future. She is going to make a very broad case on why her policies, in her view, would work better than Trump's. You're going to hear a lot

of middle-class economics and her pitch on protecting abortion rights. So this thing of protecting democracy, is there evidence that this is resonating with voters? I mean, we've talked a lot on this show about how registered Republicans in particular seem far more concerned about the economy. The economy seems to be the top issue for swing voters, but the Harris campaign believes that it's not one or the other, that they respond to multiple types of messages, and that democracy is a resonant issue with the types of voters they are targeting right now, women in the suburbs, younger voters,

independents, moderate Republicans. They feel that this is a way to reach those voters in the final week for people who have not been paying as much attention. And there's some history there as well. Remember in 2022, the Biden White House received a lot of criticism for focusing in on the Biden White House received a lot of criticism for focusing in on democracy, but it turned out after the midterms that that was an important issue for a lot of voters and it was a successful midterm election for Democrats. So they feel that this is an approach that they can take to connect with some of these voters. In a kind of counter-programming move, Trump is holding a rally tonight in Allentown, Pennsylvania,

starting at about the same time as Harris. What message is he trying to send in these last few days? Trump is delivering much more of a base message to his supporters. He really wants to turn out his hardcore base and also reach voters who are not often engaged in politics. The Trump campaign feels that there are a lot of these infrequent voters, many of them are young men, some of them are black and Latino men, and they feel that if they can get them out to the polls that would give them a real advantage in the battleground states. So you're likely to hear Trump deliver his criticism of Harris and Biden on issues like

immigration, the border, the economy, inflation, issues like that. So I think you're going to hear more of that. Ken Thomas is a White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Thank you so much, Ken. Good to be with you. Thanks. is a White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Thank you so much, Ken. Good to be with you, thanks. Coming up, why America's historic retreat from the office building may finally be winding down. That's after the break.

Robert Half research indicates nine out of 10 hiring managers are having difficulty hiring. Robert Half is here to help. Our recruiting professionals utilize our proprietary AI to connect businesses with highly skilled talent. At Robert Half, we know talent. Visit roberthalf.com today. More companies are calling their workers back to the office

and that's great news for landlords. After adopting looser workplace policies during the early years of the pandemic, Flex Index, which tracks workplace strategies, said one-third of all companies demanded in-office attendance five days a week in the third quarter. That's up from 31 percent in the second quarter. Wall Street Journal reporter Peter Grant has been covering this topic and he joins us now. So Peter, what's behind this trend?

Well, a couple things. One is bosses have always kind of wanted their workers to be back more than workers wanted to go back. The problem has been that the unemployment rate has been so low, the bargaining position has been stronger on the employee's side. Now that's beginning to change. The size of the white collar workforce has been declining and so bosses feel like they're in a better bargaining position right now so they can begin to pressure their workers to come back to the workplace more and more.

Does this mean that the worst is over for the office space sector? I don't think we're going to see the kind of enormous increases in vacancy that we've been seeing for the past few years. And I don't see a big increase in the number of companies that are telling their workforces that they can work remotely and they don't need to come into the office as much. That phase has passed. But at the same time, where the office industry is right now is not in a good place with all the surplus space that's been vacated by this trend over the past few years.

Yeah, and the developer at Tishman's Spire just completed a $3.5 billion refinancing of Rockefeller Center here in New York, the largest issuance ever for a single office asset. What does that signify? Well, what that means is that money is coming back into the sector. That is very good news. But not all buildings can find it. Rock Center is one of those special cases where it has a high occupancy. It's Rockefeller Center. The owner, Tichman Spire, has pumped a lot of capital

into that building to shine it up, to bring in new restaurants, to really make it one of the places that tenants want to go to. Businesses want their employees to come back to work. And so they're increasingly gravitating to those buildings that tenants want to go to. Businesses want their employees to come back to work. And so they're increasingly gravitating to those buildings with the best locations and the best amenities and the gyms and the lounges and the restaurants that will make employees

want to go back to work. Those buildings are doing much better and Rockefeller Center falls into that category, hence its ability to refinance at this very big number. All right. Peter Grant is a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. And by the way, just full disclosure for our listeners, I am currently doing this interview from my living room. Thank you so much for coming in, Peter.

My pleasure. In U.S. markets, the Nasdaq gained 0.8 percent, its 28th record close of the year. The S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent and the Dow Industrials fell 0.4 percent. And as the earnings season continues, Google reported accelerated revenue growth thanks to strong results in its cloud computing division, boosting the company's fortunes during a costly push into artificial intelligence. Google's parent company, Alphabet, recorded total revenue of more than $88 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 15% from the same period last year. However, Google's search engine and YouTube video platform both reported slowing revenue

growth for a second straight quarter, indicating troubles in the company's advertising business. Google's search engine and YouTube video platform both reported slowing revenue growth for a second straight quarter, indicating troubles in the company's advertising business. And finally, investing in private companies has long been a privilege reserved for the wealthy, those with the financial wherewithal to absorb big losses. A group of lawmakers has proposed legislation that would allow any investor capable of passing an exam to buy private securities, an array of investments like shares in pre-IPO startups,

or loans to private companies that are considered riskier. Wall Street Journal reporter, Cori Drebusch, told our Your Money Briefing podcast the reason behind implementing a test like that. On the stock market, you can buy a stock and if the stock market's open, you can decide to sell whenever you want to. You can get money back.

It might not be the same amount of money that you purchased if the stock price went down, but you can at least get out whenever you need to. In private securities, it's not that simple. So there seems to be this feeling that there needs to be some level of financial sophistication for individuals who want to invest in these securities. But what determines financial sophistication? Is it that you have enough money that if you do lose a lot, you'll be okay?

Or if you have this financial knowledge, should that be the determining factor? And to hear more about this proposal, listen to our Your Money Briefing podcast. And that's what's news for this Tuesday afternoon. Today's show was produced by Pierre Bienneme with supervising producer Michael Kosmitis. I'm Tracy Hunt for The Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.