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> Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It disbanded its media relations department in 2020 I’m veering off topic here (much like a bad au

> Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It disbanded its media relations department in 2020 I’m veering off topic here (much like a bad autopilot, bazinga), but why would a company possibly want to disband this?

mensetmanusman 4y ago
They just use Twitter
pbw 4y ago
Elon thinks PR is "manipulating the press" and that Tesla is better off spending their time and energy on product development. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/06/07/is-it-smart-for-tesla-to-not-have-a-pr-department/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/06/07/...
- andsoitis 4y ago
  I wonder whether, if every hour he is on Twitter was rather spent on FSD, could they have solved by now?
  - bognition 4y ago
    I have to guess that his time on twitter was a deliberate attempt to use social media to manipulate the stock price and he got good at it.
  - dekhn 4y ago
    not they aren't fungible
  - klyrs 4y ago
    He's not an AI expert, he's a hustler. Time spent on twitter is time not spent pestering people doing the actual work.
- qsdf38100 4y ago
  Manipulating the press is too out of fashion for Elon. He manipulates people directly from tweeter. No need for intermediates.
parkingrift 4y ago
Why do they need a media relations department? Their order backlog stretches into 2023. Media outlets put this disclaimer on practically every Tesla article because the media in the US are clearly butthurt that Tesla doesn't need (or want) them. Maybe we should be questioning our underlying assumptions of why a company should "need" a media relations department?
- FireBeyond 4y ago
  > Media outlets put this disclaimer on practically every Tesla article because the media in the US are clearly butthurt that Tesla doesn't need (or want) them. No, they do it because they need to explain why almost every article on a Tesla issue has zero response from Tesla. Just like the "We reached out to Company but had not received a response before going to press."
  - parkingrift 4y ago
    Attempting to contact a media department that does not exist is a sisyphean task. One wonders why news outlets attempt to contact a media department that does not exist, and that they know does not exist. Perchance it is so that they can remind the reader that the media department at Tesla does not exist?!?
    - 100721 4y ago
      I'm not sure I agree with your logic. A good journalist does their due diligence, which includes giving the company an opportunity to respond.
      - parkingrift 4y ago
        Seriously? We all know Tesla doesn't have a media relations department. As such we all know they don't respond to media requests. You still consider it "due diligence" to ask questions of a nonexistent department?
        4y ago
SilverBirch 4y ago
It's a bit of nonsense put out by Musk. Whether there's a "Media relations department" is immaterial. That's not actually a thing that companies have to have. You could call it marketing, light touch sales, corporate communications. When people write articles they ask for comment from the company. Normal companies either comment or don't comment. Tesla is way smarter though - they've come up with a PR strategy (definitely not something that would in any way be described as media relations) to say "Oh it's not that we're not commenting on this article about us cheating on safety tests. It's just that we don't do PR". Apparently some people fall for this, forgetting that when does release information to the media when it's autopilot kills someone. Sorry, it didn't kill anyone, Tesla says it disengaged before the crash, oh hold on hang on, I thought you guys didn't have a media relations deparment....oh.

mensetmanusman 4y ago

They just use Twitter

pbw 4y ago

Elon thinks PR is "manipulating the press" and that Tesla is better off spending their time and energy on product development. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/06/07/is-it-smart-for-tesla-to-not-have-a-pr-department/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2021/06/07/...

andsoitis 4y ago
I wonder whether, if every hour he is on Twitter was rather spent on FSD, could they have solved by now?
- bognition 4y ago
  I have to guess that his time on twitter was a deliberate attempt to use social media to manipulate the stock price and he got good at it.
- dekhn 4y ago
  not they aren't fungible
- klyrs 4y ago
  He's not an AI expert, he's a hustler. Time spent on twitter is time not spent pestering people doing the actual work.
qsdf38100 4y ago
Manipulating the press is too out of fashion for Elon. He manipulates people directly from tweeter. No need for intermediates.

parkingrift 4y ago

Why do they need a media relations department? Their order backlog stretches into 2023. Media outlets put this disclaimer on practically every Tesla article because the media in the US are clearly butthurt that Tesla doesn't need (or want) them. Maybe we should be questioning our underlying assumptions of why a company should "need" a media relations department?

FireBeyond 4y ago
> Media outlets put this disclaimer on practically every Tesla article because the media in the US are clearly butthurt that Tesla doesn't need (or want) them. No, they do it because they need to explain why almost every article on a Tesla issue has zero response from Tesla. Just like the "We reached out to Company but had not received a response before going to press."
- parkingrift 4y ago
  Attempting to contact a media department that does not exist is a sisyphean task. One wonders why news outlets attempt to contact a media department that does not exist, and that they know does not exist. Perchance it is so that they can remind the reader that the media department at Tesla does not exist?!?
  - 100721 4y ago
    I'm not sure I agree with your logic. A good journalist does their due diligence, which includes giving the company an opportunity to respond.
    - parkingrift 4y ago
      Seriously? We all know Tesla doesn't have a media relations department. As such we all know they don't respond to media requests. You still consider it "due diligence" to ask questions of a nonexistent department?
      - 4y ago

SilverBirch 4y ago

It's a bit of nonsense put out by Musk. Whether there's a "Media relations department" is immaterial. That's not actually a thing that companies have to have. You could call it marketing, light touch sales, corporate communications. When people write articles they ask for comment from the company. Normal companies either comment or don't comment. Tesla is way smarter though - they've come up with a PR strategy (definitely not something that would in any way be described as media relations) to say "Oh it's not that we're not commenting on this article about us cheating on safety tests. It's just that we don't do PR". Apparently some people fall for this, forgetting that when does release information to the media when it's autopilot kills someone. Sorry, it didn't kill anyone, Tesla says it disengaged before the crash, oh hold on hang on, I thought you guys didn't have a media relations deparment....oh.