4 ms·

I'm getting the impression that there's some kind of axe-grinding going on in the general region of WSJ when it comes to Elon. Not sure why. But this article d

I'm getting the impression that there's some kind of axe-grinding going on in the general region of WSJ when it comes to Elon. Not sure why. But this article definitely feels like someone just trying hard to find an angle to cast a deprecating light on Tesla. Like a "vested interests" type of feeling.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
throwaway5752 8y ago
If you don't follow US politics, most conservatives hate Tesla and the WSJ (part of News Corp) is probably the preeminent conservative paper in the country.
kyrra 8y ago
WSJ doesn't have great love for most silicon valley companies. In Tesla's case, I think it's their continued over promising and under delivery. Currently the high cash burn plus low production volume on the model 3. Wsj also has some nice pieces about Tesla, such as their recent tour of the production factory. https://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-factory-in-a-fishbowl-1525716237 https://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-factory-in-a-fishbowl-15...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- akamaka 8y ago
  I lost respect for WSJ because of their continuous anti-Tesla editorials. I’m not at all a Tesla fanboy, but the WSJ commentary on subsidies are just trashy attacks that are devoid of any logic or context, given that the help that other industries and automakers have received. For example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2015/02/16/tesla-should-turn-off-subsidies-wall-street-journal-europe-says/#662a74f45661 https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2015/02/16/tesla-sho...
  - kyrra 8y ago
    For those interested in reading more on this Source article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tesla-paradox-1423786534 http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tesla-paradox-1423786534 Electric car site looking at subsidies across the industry: https://electrek.co/2016/11/25/tesla-subsidies-big-three-oil-industry/amp/ https://electrek.co/2016/11/25/tesla-subsidies-big-three-oil... One complaint I have with both of you both is that neither provides breakdowns by dollar of subsidies per car produced or sold.
  - forapurpose 8y ago
    > WSJ ... editorials Twice I conducted a study: I collected everything on their op-ed page over a week or two and coded them for their political stance. I think there were a couple pro-Democratic/liberal pieces out of over a hundred, and a few criticized the Republicans;[0] all the rest were pro-GOP/conservative or anti-liberal/Dem (plus a few that were apolitical). (And if you think the NY Times is the same, you're wrong: Ross Douthat, Bret Stephens (former WSJ editorial page editor) and David Brooks are all conservatives, and maybe others are too.) I encourage anyone to do the same; I feel I can almost guarantee results ever over a small sample like a day. My conclusion: WSJ op-eds and editorials are partisan mouthpieces for the Republican Party and conservatives. I don't know how Tesla fits into that, but that's their motive. Denying climate change and demonizing any attempt at a solution? Supporting big oil? Musk pulling away from Trump? Others might have a better guess than I do. [0] Criticizing Republicans is not necessarily pro-Democratic. For example, an editorial could criticize the Republicans for not cutting taxes enough.
    - secfirstmd 8y ago
      It's owned by Rupert Murdoch, that shouldn't be a surprise.
      - perl4ever 8y ago
        From what I recall, the editorial page was much the same before the Murdoch era. However, the rest of the paper was a fairly stark contrast, and I didn't have the general impression that they slanted the actual news. After Murdoch bought it I lost faith in their reporting, but I never held the editorials against them too much prior to that. The opinion section seemed like a quarantine for the right wing types. Back in Apple's pre-Steve Jobs era, though, I did get the impression that the news stories were consistently bashing Apple in a way that made it seem like they had some ulterior motivation. Apple would always be described as "troubled" or "beleagured" like a mantra. And it's passed into mythology that Apple was near bankruptcy when in fact they hoarded cash and abhorred debt. So I'm not really sure if any anti-Tesla agenda is really coming from Murdoch.
dforrestwilson 8y ago
Head of Sales Chief Financial Officer Chief Accounting Officer Treasurer Director of Battery Tech All gone in the past year. That's a notable amount of turnover. Some of them left a lot of options on the table when they chose to depart. It's odd, and probably what triggered an entire article about something as normally mundane as a leave of absence.
- freyir 8y ago
  Also their VP of Autopilot Software, out the door after 6 months.
- sunstone 8y ago
  The electric car market is booming right now. All of these people would be in strong demand. And with the Model 3 now in production they might well be looking for a new challenge with, probably, much better pay.
IBM 8y ago
Good journalists are like sharks and they're getting whiffs of Theranos or Enron and are rightly digging into the company.
- hliyan 8y ago
  Digging is good, that's their job. But this is borderline innuendo. Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate.
  - zimpenfish 8y ago
    > Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate. This has never been true, has it?
    - forapurpose 8y ago
      > This has never been true, has it? That's like saying everybody lies, therefore nobody has ever been honest. Sure, journalists are human and have emotions and make mistakes, but it's not a binary issue; it's a continuum. Journalists generally should strive to be dispassionate.
      - dagw 8y ago
        Dispassionate people don't work 20 hour days for weeks on end for hardly any money, digging into a story that they know might not ever lead anywhere.
      - zimpenfish 8y ago
        > Journalists generally should strive to be dispassionate. But why?
    - ztjio 8y ago
      Look at it this way, journalism’s most prized.... award... the Pulitzer, is named after a man famous for introducing the original Fake News ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism )

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

throwaway5752 8y ago

If you don't follow US politics, most conservatives hate Tesla and the WSJ (part of News Corp) is probably the preeminent conservative paper in the country.

kyrra 8y ago

WSJ doesn't have great love for most silicon valley companies. In Tesla's case, I think it's their continued over promising and under delivery. Currently the high cash burn plus low production volume on the model 3. Wsj also has some nice pieces about Tesla, such as their recent tour of the production factory. https://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-factory-in-a-fishbowl-1525716237 https://www.wsj.com/articles/teslas-factory-in-a-fishbowl-15...

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
akamaka 8y ago
I lost respect for WSJ because of their continuous anti-Tesla editorials. I’m not at all a Tesla fanboy, but the WSJ commentary on subsidies are just trashy attacks that are devoid of any logic or context, given that the help that other industries and automakers have received. For example: https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2015/02/16/tesla-should-turn-off-subsidies-wall-street-journal-europe-says/#662a74f45661 https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton/2015/02/16/tesla-sho...
- kyrra 8y ago
  For those interested in reading more on this Source article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tesla-paradox-1423786534 http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tesla-paradox-1423786534 Electric car site looking at subsidies across the industry: https://electrek.co/2016/11/25/tesla-subsidies-big-three-oil-industry/amp/ https://electrek.co/2016/11/25/tesla-subsidies-big-three-oil... One complaint I have with both of you both is that neither provides breakdowns by dollar of subsidies per car produced or sold.
- forapurpose 8y ago
  > WSJ ... editorials Twice I conducted a study: I collected everything on their op-ed page over a week or two and coded them for their political stance. I think there were a couple pro-Democratic/liberal pieces out of over a hundred, and a few criticized the Republicans;[0] all the rest were pro-GOP/conservative or anti-liberal/Dem (plus a few that were apolitical). (And if you think the NY Times is the same, you're wrong: Ross Douthat, Bret Stephens (former WSJ editorial page editor) and David Brooks are all conservatives, and maybe others are too.) I encourage anyone to do the same; I feel I can almost guarantee results ever over a small sample like a day. My conclusion: WSJ op-eds and editorials are partisan mouthpieces for the Republican Party and conservatives. I don't know how Tesla fits into that, but that's their motive. Denying climate change and demonizing any attempt at a solution? Supporting big oil? Musk pulling away from Trump? Others might have a better guess than I do. [0] Criticizing Republicans is not necessarily pro-Democratic. For example, an editorial could criticize the Republicans for not cutting taxes enough.
  - secfirstmd 8y ago
    It's owned by Rupert Murdoch, that shouldn't be a surprise.
    - perl4ever 8y ago
      From what I recall, the editorial page was much the same before the Murdoch era. However, the rest of the paper was a fairly stark contrast, and I didn't have the general impression that they slanted the actual news. After Murdoch bought it I lost faith in their reporting, but I never held the editorials against them too much prior to that. The opinion section seemed like a quarantine for the right wing types. Back in Apple's pre-Steve Jobs era, though, I did get the impression that the news stories were consistently bashing Apple in a way that made it seem like they had some ulterior motivation. Apple would always be described as "troubled" or "beleagured" like a mantra. And it's passed into mythology that Apple was near bankruptcy when in fact they hoarded cash and abhorred debt. So I'm not really sure if any anti-Tesla agenda is really coming from Murdoch.

dforrestwilson 8y ago

Head of Sales Chief Financial Officer Chief Accounting Officer Treasurer Director of Battery Tech All gone in the past year. That's a notable amount of turnover. Some of them left a lot of options on the table when they chose to depart. It's odd, and probably what triggered an entire article about something as normally mundane as a leave of absence.

freyir 8y ago
Also their VP of Autopilot Software, out the door after 6 months.
sunstone 8y ago
The electric car market is booming right now. All of these people would be in strong demand. And with the Model 3 now in production they might well be looking for a new challenge with, probably, much better pay.

IBM 8y ago

Good journalists are like sharks and they're getting whiffs of Theranos or Enron and are rightly digging into the company.

hliyan 8y ago
Digging is good, that's their job. But this is borderline innuendo. Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate.
- zimpenfish 8y ago
  > Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate. This has never been true, has it?
  - forapurpose 8y ago
    > This has never been true, has it? That's like saying everybody lies, therefore nobody has ever been honest. Sure, journalists are human and have emotions and make mistakes, but it's not a binary issue; it's a continuum. Journalists generally should strive to be dispassionate.
    - dagw 8y ago
      Dispassionate people don't work 20 hour days for weeks on end for hardly any money, digging into a story that they know might not ever lead anywhere.
    - zimpenfish 8y ago
      > Journalists generally should strive to be dispassionate. But why?
  - ztjio 8y ago
    Look at it this way, journalism’s most prized.... award... the Pulitzer, is named after a man famous for introducing the original Fake News ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism )