Playing the long game: Brian Fung brings tech policy to Twitch
As media billionaires cozy up to Trump, one veteran reporter is finding creative ways to explain what’s happening behind the scenes.
After leaving CNN — where he'd spent nearly five years covering technology, law, and regulation — journalist Brian Fung made an unusual pivot. Instead of launching a Substack or podcast like many of his fellow media figures, he fired up Twitch and began streaming himself playing strategy games while discussing the technology stories that newsrooms are missing.
The experiment, called Brain Fungi (a play on his name), represents a creative response to an industry in flux. But it also builds on Fung’s decade-plus career translating complex tech policy issues for general audiences, first at The Atlantic, then at the Washington Post, and most recently at CNN. Throughout his career, he’s covered everything from net neutrality to data privacy, from cybersecurity to antitrust battles, developing the kind of deep expertise that is crucial for standing out in journalism.
Now, as Silicon Valley billionaires become increasingly entangled with the Trump administration, Fung is looking to reach audiences where they are — even if that means explaining tech policy while conquering the world as Catherine the Great in Civilization VII. Depth Perception spoke with him about his unique approach to covering the technology beat, the evolution of tech journalism, and the stories that newsrooms aren’t telling about Silicon Valley’s growing political influence. —Parker Molloy
Can you walk me through your journalism journey?
I grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and went to Middlebury College, graduated in 2010 with a degree in political science. I went straight to graduate school — this was coming out of the recession when the job market wasn’t too hot. I studied international relations at the London School of Economics.
I came back in 2011 as part of the Atlantic Fellowship program, specifically in the Chairman's Innovation Lab, which was more business-focused. I was part of the team launching Quartz. After my fellowship, I joined National Journal covering tech, though I'd never covered it professionally before.
About six months later, the Washington Post recruited me to help start a tech blog called Switch, an offshoot of Ezra Klein's Wonkblog. I covered tech at the Post from 2013 to April 2019, when CNN came calling. At CNN, I focused on law and regulation related to tech, telecom, and media — competition in the tech sector, social media regulation, online speech, online safety issues.
It was interesting moving from a print-first publication to TV and learning broadcast skills. I was laid off from CNN at the end of 2024, leaving on New Year's Eve. In early 2025, I launched my Twitch channel called Brain Fungi. I'd describe it as an experiment in reaching new audiences, and the feedback has been really positive and overwhelming so far.
What inspired the idea to combine gaming and tech discussions on Twitch?
I’ve been playing computer games pretty much since I was a kid. My earliest recollection is watching my uncle play Civilization II. We’re in the midst of this big structural shift in journalism and media, with lots of journalists venturing out on their own, creating newsletters and podcasts. I thought, I’m probably going to be playing video games in my off hours when I’m not looking for a job — how about we try and find a way to make it a productive and creative experience? It seemed like a good time to experiment with reaching fresh audiences and talking to them where they are, while doing it in a way that I could have fun and still bring my experience as a communicator, journalist, and technology policy expert to bear.
In the channel's first six weeks, we’ve done live coverage and analysis of two Supreme Court oral arguments, including the one about the TikTok ban. We’ve covered Trump’s executive orders, his purging of a U.S. privacy agency, and DeepSeek’s brief disruption of the AI sector. I’ve had half a dozen guests join me on the stream, ranging from law professors to other journalists. Tim Mak and Byron Tau joined me on-stream a few weeks ago for some Civ 6 multiplayer, and we talked about TikTok, the war in Ukraine, and government surveillance. The channel has more than 100 followers already and enough viewership to have hit affiliate status.
I went into this not really expecting it to pay any bills; streaming is a saturated space and many streamers spend years growing their communities without seeing a cent. But I’m thrilled that I’ve already got a few dedicated regulars in my chat, some of whom were kind enough to become my first subscribers this past week.
I’m still thinking through big questions about schedule and format and pacing and audience engagement, but it's been a fun challenge and a new way to work my brain. I get to freshen up my video editing skills, and I'm learning to use new tools. And at the end of it all, I get to play video games and hang out with people, so what's not to like?
What do you think is going to happen with TikTok?
It seems like it’s here to stay for now. Apple and Google have lots of lawyers; if Trump's assurances were enough to convince them they won’t be penalized for hosting the app, then TikTok is probably on better ground than it was a month ago. I have no idea what may happen with any divestiture.
To that point, I’ve started a TikTok account for the Twitch channel, as well as a YouTube channel, where I'm posting short clips from my streams to reach an even wider audience. So what began as a Twitch-centric programming play has already expanded significantly.
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How has tech journalism changed since you started?
I think it's no secret that early on, that relationship was a very friendly relationship. And over the years, what we’ve seen — and this is sort of reflective of society’s broader shift in understanding about technology’s role in our lives — the tech press become much more skeptical of technology products, technology companies, technology leaders. And now as we're entering 2025 with tech billionaires becoming much more closely aligned with the Trump administration, we’re seeing some of the backlash to that shift in public perceptions of the tech industry. The shift by the tech press in attitudes towards Silicon Valley and vice versa has been one of the biggest changes that I’ve seen as a tech reporter since I started doing this work.
How do you build relationships with sources in the tech sector while maintaining journalistic independence?
I think that’s a sort of multi-layered question in that tech is not a monolith, right? There are, as we’ve seen, a lot of tensions playing out between your rank and file tech worker and upper level tech management. I think where you go to find sources sort of varies depending on what the story is that you’re trying to tell. And source-building is a very intimate, personal thing where you’re developing a relationship that’s based on trust. And I think part of what’s motivating me to launch this [Twitch channel] is the sense that I also want to build trust with audiences as well.
The shift by the tech press in attitudes towards Silicon Valley and vice versa has been one of the biggest changes that I’ve seen as a tech reporter since I started doing this work. — Brian Fung
What tech story do you think newsrooms are under-covering right now?
We’ve seen a lot of coverage of Elon Musk and his impact on the federal bureaucracy, but I think there's much more under the surface when it comes to the broader influence that some of the wealthiest in Silicon Valley have had in the Trump administration or around Washington. There’s a lot we can probably infer is going on that we haven't really seen a sustained and deep reporting effort around — those relationships and the degree of influence they are having on day-to-day actions the Trump administration is taking.
What's the best career advice you've ever received?
The best advice came from an editor I worked with at The Atlantic, J.J. Gould. His advice was to specialize in a particular subject area, to find some niche where you could be the expert and people would want to come to you for that expertise. It helps you demonstrate and create value when you can show you’ve done the homework and can talk about an issue on a level that most other people can’t, and then translate it in ways people can more easily understand.
Further reading — and gaming — from Brian Fung
“Center for Democracy and Technology's Jake Laperruque talks privacy and surveillance under Trump” (Brain Fungi, Feb. 1, 2025)
“Influencers are playing a big role in this year’s election. There’s no way to tell who’s getting paid for their endorsements” with Clare Duffy (CNN, Oct. 29, 2024)
“How Republicans pushed social media companies to stop fighting election misinformation” (CNN, Oct. 21, 2024)
“How the Supreme Court’s blockbuster ‘Chevron’ ruling puts countless regulations in jeopardy” with Tierney Sneed, Jeanne Sahadi, Tami Luhby, Ella Nilsen, Jen Christensen, and Katie Lobosco (CNN, June 30, 2024)
“Millions of Americans could soon lose home internet access if lawmakers don’t act” (CNN, March 23, 2024)
“Ex-Twitter exec blows the whistle, alleging reckless and negligent cybersecurity policies” with Donie O’Sullivan and Clare Duffy (CNN, Aug. 23, 2022)