Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, unhappy with media coverage of Tesla Inc., said he plans to create a Yelp-like site to let people rate the credibility of journalists and news organizations, and suggested he would name it after the former Soviet Union’s main propaganda outlet.
The Tesla chief executive, who frequently issues provocative comments on Twitter, made the proposal in a tweetstorm against the media Wednesday, after reports in recent weeks about Tesla’s struggles to increase production [1]of its Model 3 sedan, questions about working conditions [2]at its factories, and government investigations [3]into the safety of its Autopilot driver-assistance system.
Musk said coverage is driven by reporters under pressure to “get max clicks” and is biased because of advertising by other auto makers and oil companies. “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,” he added. “Thinking of calling it Pravda …”
Read: Tesla negative sentiment ‘has peaked,’ analyst says[4]
His latest comments were prompted by an analyst note on Wednesday that suggested coverage of Tesla had reached a “peak in negative coverage/sentiment” and that the company’s shares should rise as Model 3 production improved. Tesla TSLA, +1.48%[5] shares rose 1.5% on Wednesday, leaving them down about 10% so far this year.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.[6]
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References
- ^ struggles to increase production (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ questions about working conditions (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ government investigations (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ Tesla negative sentiment ‘has peaked,’ analyst says (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ TSLA, +1.48% (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com. (www.wsj.com)
- ^ Fate of 12 North Korea waitresses strains Moon-Kim detente. (www.marketwatch.com)
- ^ Apple avoids Amazon’s beauty contest, searches secretly for new campus. (www.wsj.com)