Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Elon Musk has launched a twitter tirade in which he appears to accuse reporters of lying about Tesla, to attract advertising from other car makers and fossil fuel producers (last tweet in the quote below).

Elon Musk complains of ‘holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies’ in tirade

Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized media companies.

Musk said distrust of journalists was responsible for President Donald Trump’s election.

Robert Ferris | @RobertoFerris
Published 3:38 PM ET Wed, 23 May 2018

Elon Musk is not happy with Tesla’s recent media coverage, to put it mildly.

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The holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies who lay claim to the truth, but publish only enough to sugarcoat the lie, is why the public no longer respects them https://t.co/Ay2DwCOMkr

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018

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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

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Problem is journos are under constant pressure to get max clicks & earn advertising dollars or get fired. Tricky situation, as Tesla doesn’t advertise, but fossil fuel companies & gas/diesel car companies are among world’s biggest advertisers.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018

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Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/23/elon-musk-complains-of-holier-than-thou-hypocrisy-of-media.html

I don’t agree with Elon Musk’s assertion that journalists just want to attract big oil advertising money. I think most journalists want to do the right thing, even if many of them are are hopelessly biased on some subjects.

Perhaps the stress of watching Tesla Inc. burn through an estimated $7,430 / minute is finally getting to Musk.