Tesla CEO Elon Musk is firing a warning shot at the news media for perceived bias coverage with a new journalist rating website.
Have you ever been the butt end of a joke and not like it? That probably goes for everyone reading this. But what if you're a bona fide Bond villain and have a million things going on? Elon Musk, genius/rebel/media darling, is planning to start a website that rates journalists who speak negatively of him and all his 97 companies (we exaggerate here).
According to Musk, the website will be named "Pravda," the Russian word for "truth" and name of communist Soviet Russia's state newspaper which still exists today. It follows increased criticism by the media, with many journalists alleging suppressed organized labor efforts by unions, withholding factory injuries from the public, and other "gossip" from the EV automaker.
Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication. Thinking of calling it Pravda ?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
This month, Musk has even sparred with reporters, including one exchange with Verge reporter Andrew J Hawkins who labeled Musk a "media-bating Trump figure."
Thought you?d say that. Anytime anyone criticizes the media, the media shrieks ?You?re just like Trump!? Why do you think he got elected in the first place? Because no ones believes you any more. You lost your credibility a long time ago.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
The Term "Fake News" is Getting Super Old
Interestingly, "Pravda Corp." was registered as a Delaware corporation last year, with Jared Birchall as its lead officer, so it appears to have been in the works well before Musk's latest onslaught. Coincidentally, Birchall is an employee at two of Musk's companies as president of Neuralink and a director at The Boring Company.
Curiously, Tesla has also acknowledged the media's role in encouraging sales with a 2017 annual report statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"Historically, we have been able to generate significant media coverage of our company and our vehicles, and we believe we will continue to do so," stated Tesla at the time. "To date, for vehicle sales, media coverage and word of mouth have been the primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs."
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