5 ms·

When I began covering Tesla in 2016, the company started grooming me

46 points by IdEntities 4y ago

leobg 4y ago
I call BS on that one. The author links to a post by Ed Niedermeyer. That’s the same guy who started a site called “Tesla Death Watch” back in 2008. Though in the current article he claims he came to see “the true face of Musk” in 2015.
- wuschel 4y ago
  Hi leobg, just commenting here, for it seems that it is no longer possible to comment on threads that are somewhat older. I would love to get in touch with you regarding a longer comment you posted on HN. It was about "living with competing narratives". Let me know if you are interested to continue our exchange. My contact details can be found in my user information. Cheers!
  - leobg 4y ago
    Sent you an email!
rmatt2000 4y ago
Is this unique to Tesla, or does basically every other large corporation with a media relations department do this too?
- freemint 4y ago
  Author said https://twitter.com/russ1mitchell/status/1530278014231015424?t=IX9JpJfiRgM0ykPdxCncxQ&s=19 https://twitter.com/russ1mitchell/status/1530278014231015424...
Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago
This is the reason why CEOs and C-executives make the lateral move to politics. Large organizations like that are essentially political organizations
belval 4y ago
I might be cynical, but the thread seems to come from a place of naivety more than anything. The author was getting preferential access because their reporting was positive for the company. When he decided to become a "real" journalist that caused Tesla to cut ties with him because they won't give all-access to someone who might be out to air their dirty laundry. Look at interviews with any big companies CEO, the journalist doing them are given a very narrow field to play with, that's the price to pay to get preferential treatment. The title is cherry on top because it sounds like the author paints himself as a victim by using a word "grooming", that is commonly associated with sexual predation on minors.
- notyourwork 4y ago
  100% - I didn’t need to read the article and inferred exactly what you concluded.
- bergenty 4y ago
  It’s the same reason calling parents with trans kids as “groomers” is having such a devastating effect.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    Hint: "grooming" was a thing long before concern trolls co-opted it to harass people associated with TSes. It meant just what the reporter said.
yunohn 4y ago
But this is how PR and journalism work? Rather, basic human tendencies even. You say good things, they give you preferential treatment. Simple.
sdfhdhjdw3 4y ago
> At a media tour of the new Gigafactory I was told by the PR people how much Musk liked my (softball) question about how he felt achieving his Gigafactory dream. Wait. You were asking him a softball question, presumably to "reward" him for the access he gave you. That's how it works. So why are you then making a point of bringing up he's winking back when you wink at him? It sounds like you're playing the game, enjoying it, and when something goes wrong you go spill the beans that a game exists. I don't think this is naivety as someone else here mentions, it's something much worse.
IdEntities 4y ago
Another thread from the TechCrunch transportation editor: https://twitter.com/kirstenkorosec/status/1530278877410365440 https://twitter.com/kirstenkorosec/status/153027887741036544...
lamp_book 4y ago
This is a really distasteful way to use the word 'grooming.'
- 650REDHAIR 4y ago
  Yeah this is everyday tech PR. Not grooming. Back in the day you could write a PR and your investor would call in a favor at TC and the “story” would get a slight tweak and get published.
  - ncmncm 4y ago
    No, this is grooming by the usual definition. People lately misusing a term does not invalidate the regular meaning.
    - vertis 4y ago
      "I'm having a gay old time" Words adopt new meaning over time. They might still retain the old meaning in the dictionary, but if everyone reads a sentence and goes to the latest, most common usage then it's likely the author intented to invoke those comparisons.
axg11 4y ago
This thread is just describing how journalism works: you develop relationships with companies and people, and if they like your reporting they give you more access to do more of the same reporting. It's also describing a downside to the modern world of independent (lone person) journalism and microblogging. These people are much easier and cheaper to influence than larger organizations such as newspapers and broadcast media.
diogenescynic 4y ago
This is how literally all access media works. Companies, politicians, and celebrities only give access when they know they'll get favorable and softball coverage. It's pretty rare when American journalists push back during interviews--they usually just give them the person being interviewed free air time to speak their talking points.
ea550ff70a 4y ago
I don't get the entitlement of this journalist. I mean, it is obvious that companies would engage favorably with you if you can promote them for free with good pieces on the positive stuff that they are doing and would clearly stop engaging if is not convenient for them anymore. Companies just care about profits. Their actions are not necessarily morally based, only value based. While the goals of Tesla as a company are decent, the way they handle business is just like any other corporation, ie disgusting. Nothing surprising.

46 points by IdEntities 4y ago

I call BS on that one. The author links to a post by Ed Niedermeyer. That’s the same guy who started a site called “Tesla Death Watch” back in 2008. Though in the current article he claims he came to see “the true face of Musk” in 2015.

wuschel 4y ago
Hi leobg, just commenting here, for it seems that it is no longer possible to comment on threads that are somewhat older. I would love to get in touch with you regarding a longer comment you posted on HN. It was about "living with competing narratives". Let me know if you are interested to continue our exchange. My contact details can be found in my user information. Cheers!
- leobg 4y ago
  Sent you an email!

rmatt2000 4y ago

Is this unique to Tesla, or does basically every other large corporation with a media relations department do this too?

freemint 4y ago
Author said https://twitter.com/russ1mitchell/status/1530278014231015424?t=IX9JpJfiRgM0ykPdxCncxQ&s=19 https://twitter.com/russ1mitchell/status/1530278014231015424...

Bubble_Pop_22 4y ago

This is the reason why CEOs and C-executives make the lateral move to politics. Large organizations like that are essentially political organizations

belval 4y ago

I might be cynical, but the thread seems to come from a place of naivety more than anything. The author was getting preferential access because their reporting was positive for the company. When he decided to become a "real" journalist that caused Tesla to cut ties with him because they won't give all-access to someone who might be out to air their dirty laundry. Look at interviews with any big companies CEO, the journalist doing them are given a very narrow field to play with, that's the price to pay to get preferential treatment. The title is cherry on top because it sounds like the author paints himself as a victim by using a word "grooming", that is commonly associated with sexual predation on minors.

notyourwork 4y ago
100% - I didn’t need to read the article and inferred exactly what you concluded.
bergenty 4y ago
It’s the same reason calling parents with trans kids as “groomers” is having such a devastating effect.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  Hint: "grooming" was a thing long before concern trolls co-opted it to harass people associated with TSes. It meant just what the reporter said.

yunohn 4y ago

But this is how PR and journalism work? Rather, basic human tendencies even. You say good things, they give you preferential treatment. Simple.

sdfhdhjdw3 4y ago

> At a media tour of the new Gigafactory I was told by the PR people how much Musk liked my (softball) question about how he felt achieving his Gigafactory dream. Wait. You were asking him a softball question, presumably to "reward" him for the access he gave you. That's how it works. So why are you then making a point of bringing up he's winking back when you wink at him? It sounds like you're playing the game, enjoying it, and when something goes wrong you go spill the beans that a game exists. I don't think this is naivety as someone else here mentions, it's something much worse.

IdEntities 4y ago

Another thread from the TechCrunch transportation editor: https://twitter.com/kirstenkorosec/status/1530278877410365440 https://twitter.com/kirstenkorosec/status/153027887741036544...

lamp_book 4y ago

This is a really distasteful way to use the word 'grooming.'

650REDHAIR 4y ago
Yeah this is everyday tech PR. Not grooming. Back in the day you could write a PR and your investor would call in a favor at TC and the “story” would get a slight tweak and get published.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  No, this is grooming by the usual definition. People lately misusing a term does not invalidate the regular meaning.
  - vertis 4y ago
    "I'm having a gay old time" Words adopt new meaning over time. They might still retain the old meaning in the dictionary, but if everyone reads a sentence and goes to the latest, most common usage then it's likely the author intented to invoke those comparisons.

axg11 4y ago

This thread is just describing how journalism works: you develop relationships with companies and people, and if they like your reporting they give you more access to do more of the same reporting. It's also describing a downside to the modern world of independent (lone person) journalism and microblogging. These people are much easier and cheaper to influence than larger organizations such as newspapers and broadcast media.

diogenescynic 4y ago

This is how literally all access media works. Companies, politicians, and celebrities only give access when they know they'll get favorable and softball coverage. It's pretty rare when American journalists push back during interviews--they usually just give them the person being interviewed free air time to speak their talking points.

ea550ff70a 4y ago

I don't get the entitlement of this journalist. I mean, it is obvious that companies would engage favorably with you if you can promote them for free with good pieces on the positive stuff that they are doing and would clearly stop engaging if is not convenient for them anymore. Companies just care about profits. Their actions are not necessarily morally based, only value based. While the goals of Tesla as a company are decent, the way they handle business is just like any other corporation, ie disgusting. Nothing surprising.