Elon Musk’s attack on the media continues as the outspoken executive recently slammed people for reporting on a Tesla Model S that crashed into a fire department vehicle which was stopped at a red light in Utah.
Initial reports have suggested the car was in Autopilot mode at the time of the accident but that didn’t stop Musk from claiming the company is being treated unfairly. In a Twitter post, he said “It’s super messed up that a Tesla crash resulting in a broken ankle is front page news and the ~40,000 people who died in US auto accidents alone in past year get almost no coverage.”
While it’s true that most major outlets don’t cover individual accidents, it’s a misnomer to claim they get “almost no coverage.” Anyone familiar with local television or newspapers can tell you many fatal accidents are covered and, in some cases, repeatedly.
Musk is also conveniently ignoring the larger picture as Tesla and other automakers contend that autonomous driving technology is the future and can save countless lives. While that might be true, it should clear at this point that problems remain and no system, regardless of how safe, will be entirely fool proof.
Musk’s latest attack on the media isn’t too surprising as Tesla’s official blog is becoming more concerned with damage control than promoting its latest products. In a post last month titled “A Not So Revealing Story,” the automaker attacked a report on conditions at its Fremont factory and described it as an “ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organization working directly with union supporters to create a calculated disinformation campaign against Tesla.”
While Musk has the right to be upset about negative coverage, any revolutionary idea or technology will be widely covered. With that, comes both positive and negative stories.
It’s super messed up that a Tesla crash resulting in a broken ankle is front page news and the ~40,000 people who died in US auto accidents alone in past year get almost no coverage https://t.co/6gD8MzD6VU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 14, 2018