4 ms·

I dunno about the Biden admin’s attitude toward Tesla, but some of the other stuff is Tesla reaping what it sows by not having a press office. There’s a reason

I dunno about the Biden admin’s attitude toward Tesla, but some of the other stuff is Tesla reaping what it sows by not having a press office. There’s a reason corporations have press offices! If you don’t engage with the media on their terms, you’re at their mercy. In this sense, the continuous attacks by the Tesla stan army are actually not helpful to Tesla’s long term cause.

josephcsible 5y ago
That sounds an awful lot like saying a business destroyed by the Mafia reaped what it sowed for refusing to pay them for "protection".
- KerrAvon 5y ago
  If I’m an auto journalist and can’t get a press car, and all of the other manufacturers from Rolls Royce and Porsche on down give me press cars, I’m gonna have some natural bias. This is human nature, not racketeering.
  - ehvatum 5y ago
    Your journalism only extends to investigating what companies deliver to your driveway, and not one millimeter further? That’s a racket, buddy.
  - throwaway894345 5y ago
    What's Biden's excuse? What about the politicians from Oklahoma and West Virginia?
    - ehvatum 5y ago
      Political Clientelism. It’s not an excuse, but it’s the reason.
throwaway894345 5y ago
Is "engaging with the media on their terms" a euphemism for paying them for favorable coverage? Because that's pretty clearly the discriminant here. Tesla outcompeted in 2021 and consequently legacy auto manufacturers paid car publications to slant their coverage. Publications like Roadshow even have a "we may or may not get paid by manufacturers for our coverage" disclaimers at the top of their articles. > In this sense, the continuous attacks by the Tesla stan army I genuinely have no idea what this might be referring to.
- KerrAvon 5y ago
  It’s a euphemism for having a fucking office where other people can contact you to get your side of the story.
  - throwaway894345 5y ago
    I have a hard time believing it was the inability to contact Tesla and not the large sums of money and implied favors from legacy automotive manufacturers which persuaded politicians to pass (or try to pass) overtly anti-Tesla policy. Similarly, I have a hard time believing that were it for a Tesla PR department Joe Biden's team would've been aware that it was Tesla that was the driving force behind American EV efforts and not Ford or GM (the latter of whom sold a whopping 26 EVs nationally in 2021 Q4). Similarly, I have a hard time believing that automotive publications that regularly test drive expensive cars were unable to get their hands on a Tesla because Tesla lacks a press department. Most of all, I find it conspicuous that all of these things are contemporaneous with Tesla eating legacy automotive's lunch rather than the time Musk dissolved Tesla's PR department a year prior.
    - sfifs 5y ago
      There's a couple of different problems here - but both really are related to the question of aligning incentives. In terms of PR departments, the point is most journalists - for their own long term career/reputations - would prefer to outline both sides of view or at least response quotations for their stories to create an appearance of impartiality. However, when working on deadlines, they won't go out of the way or jump over hoops to do so. The PR department simplifies this massively working towards journalist's incentives and minimizes negative stories & negativity of stories that get put out. Musk seems to be a control freak in that he seems to be unable to delegate PR but the trade-off is he can't personally influence every story. In terms of the Government piece, the Democratic party has always had a core of unions & worker rights underlying the core base. Musk tweets and Tesla stories have portrayed him been openly hostile & contemptuous of this space and seemingly without anyone to gainsay him, there's no one to bridge. So is it any surprise Tesla gets ignored? Make no mistake - EV is rapidly becoming commoditized. With full-self driving no were near the horizon for anyone in terms of production, margins are going to shrink as there becomes very little to differentiate products and these mis-steps can risk the business.
rlpb 5y ago
This might be true in practice, but it also demonstrates the media's bias and incompetence. They should be able to report accurately regardless.

josephcsible 5y ago

That sounds an awful lot like saying a business destroyed by the Mafia reaped what it sowed for refusing to pay them for "protection".

KerrAvon 5y ago
If I’m an auto journalist and can’t get a press car, and all of the other manufacturers from Rolls Royce and Porsche on down give me press cars, I’m gonna have some natural bias. This is human nature, not racketeering.
- ehvatum 5y ago
  Your journalism only extends to investigating what companies deliver to your driveway, and not one millimeter further? That’s a racket, buddy.
- throwaway894345 5y ago
  What's Biden's excuse? What about the politicians from Oklahoma and West Virginia?
  - ehvatum 5y ago
    Political Clientelism. It’s not an excuse, but it’s the reason.

throwaway894345 5y ago

Is "engaging with the media on their terms" a euphemism for paying them for favorable coverage? Because that's pretty clearly the discriminant here. Tesla outcompeted in 2021 and consequently legacy auto manufacturers paid car publications to slant their coverage. Publications like Roadshow even have a "we may or may not get paid by manufacturers for our coverage" disclaimers at the top of their articles. > In this sense, the continuous attacks by the Tesla stan army I genuinely have no idea what this might be referring to.

KerrAvon 5y ago
It’s a euphemism for having a fucking office where other people can contact you to get your side of the story.
- throwaway894345 5y ago
  I have a hard time believing it was the inability to contact Tesla and not the large sums of money and implied favors from legacy automotive manufacturers which persuaded politicians to pass (or try to pass) overtly anti-Tesla policy. Similarly, I have a hard time believing that were it for a Tesla PR department Joe Biden's team would've been aware that it was Tesla that was the driving force behind American EV efforts and not Ford or GM (the latter of whom sold a whopping 26 EVs nationally in 2021 Q4). Similarly, I have a hard time believing that automotive publications that regularly test drive expensive cars were unable to get their hands on a Tesla because Tesla lacks a press department. Most of all, I find it conspicuous that all of these things are contemporaneous with Tesla eating legacy automotive's lunch rather than the time Musk dissolved Tesla's PR department a year prior.
  - sfifs 5y ago
    There's a couple of different problems here - but both really are related to the question of aligning incentives. In terms of PR departments, the point is most journalists - for their own long term career/reputations - would prefer to outline both sides of view or at least response quotations for their stories to create an appearance of impartiality. However, when working on deadlines, they won't go out of the way or jump over hoops to do so. The PR department simplifies this massively working towards journalist's incentives and minimizes negative stories & negativity of stories that get put out. Musk seems to be a control freak in that he seems to be unable to delegate PR but the trade-off is he can't personally influence every story. In terms of the Government piece, the Democratic party has always had a core of unions & worker rights underlying the core base. Musk tweets and Tesla stories have portrayed him been openly hostile & contemptuous of this space and seemingly without anyone to gainsay him, there's no one to bridge. So is it any surprise Tesla gets ignored? Make no mistake - EV is rapidly becoming commoditized. With full-self driving no were near the horizon for anyone in terms of production, margins are going to shrink as there becomes very little to differentiate products and these mis-steps can risk the business.

rlpb 5y ago

This might be true in practice, but it also demonstrates the media's bias and incompetence. They should be able to report accurately regardless.