Toks David, Lagos
One of the odd effects of the Trump presidency and phenomenon in general has been how it has unleashed the inner Trump in nominally “conscientious” public figures. At least those public figures who are supposed to be, by received wisdom, non-“deplorable”. Elon Musk, billionaire inventor and founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, is the latest of such people to enter into the fray and unleash on Trump’s favourite target of scorn: The Media.
The last couple of weeks might have given us Kanye West being the contrarian du jour, what with his declaring his independence from a mainstream overly hostile to the President of the United States. West went about it on Twitter, a forum where the big battles and blood sports of our age are taking place. He drew as much support as he attracted hostility to himself for his tweets. Now the same treatment is being meted out on wunderkind Musk, who – until a series of back and forth tweets taking issue with popular media narratives – would have been considered a safe bet not to wander “off the reservation”.
But wander off he did – setting his sights on a media which seem to have arrogated to itself the mantle of inviolability. And understandably, the “high priests” of their common confession (also known as journalists), most notably of the paper of record, the New York Times, took notice, and have, like Kanye and Trump before him, all but declared him an hostile.
It all started simply enough last week, when Musk, who is pretty active himself on Twitter, bantered about major media losing credibility, and suggested he’d be starting a website trollishly called ‘Pravdhuh’ (he intially planned on calling it ‘Pravada’ but couldn’t buy the rights to Pravda.com, already owned by Ukraine) for people to track and rate the credibility of news sources and journalists. The targets of his scorn didn’t like the idea and his opinions one bit, given the amount of outrage he inspired from the anti-Trump media class.
And just like that, Musk seemed to have transitioned into yet another Trump-like figure taking glee in poking and prodding major media for their evident fails and hysterics.
If that was his intention, the troll seems to have worked, having stoked debate on media credibility in the age of Trump, this time coming from one of the world’s most respected visionaries who, until he spoke his mind, would have been considered on “their” side on the big issues – media righteousness being one of them.
Here’s an extensive run down of Musk’ most interesting tweets on the topic and how people have been engaging with his own improbable declaration of independence:
The holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies who lay claim to the truth, but publish only enough to sugarcoat the lie, is why the public no longer respects them https://t.co/Ay2DwCOMkr
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
Thought you’d say that. Anytime anyone criticizes the media, the media shrieks “You’re just like Trump!” Why do you think he got elected in the first place? Because no ones believes you any more. You lost your credibility a long time ago.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
The media has earned this mistrust. But maybe there is a solution.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
Problem is journos are under constant pressure to get max clicks & earn advertising dollars or get fired. Tricky situation, as Tesla doesn’t advertise, but fossil fuel companies & gas/diesel car companies are among world’s biggest advertisers.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication. Thinking of calling it Pravda …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
Enough of the public does care about the truth. I have faith in the people.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
Even if some of the public doesn’t care about the credibility score, the journalists, editors & publications will. It is how they define themselves.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
Create a media credibility rating site (that also flags propaganda botnets)
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
If you’re in media & don’t want Pravda to exist, write an article telling your readers to vote against it …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018
Why are certain journalists (editors especially) so concerned about the public rating their credibility? All they do all day is rate others, ostensibly on behalf of the same public for which they have contempt.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2018
Exactly. The point of such a site would be to help restore the credibility of the media. They don’t realize how little credibility they actually have with the public.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2018
Come on media, you can do it! Get more people to vote for you. You are literally the media.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2018
He never said we didn't. Quite the contrary. His point is that a free society needs a free and credible press. The responsibility of The Fourth Estate can never be fulfilled by a press that the people have lost confidence in.
— Rocky Pruitt (@RockyPruitt) May 24, 2018
Amazingly, the “media is awesome” vote is declining, despite hundreds of articles attacking this very poll🤔
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2018
Definitely did not. I’ve been through many press cycles & know full well same person praising me today will trash me tomorrow. Journos hound me constantly for interviews, but I do almost none these days. ♥️ Twitter as it allows me to bypass journo bs.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 25, 2018
@BretStephensNYT @nytimes So @elonmusk picks a fight with journalists, citing their lack of integrity and bias. They strike back: with lack of integrity and bias.
— Hubert Łępicki (@hubertlepicki) May 26, 2018
Well said. NYT journo is outraged that “dumb” public wd dare critique him while attacking me for being sensitive to criticism. Uhh… https://t.co/vZbyUY1rf4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2018
I agree with @elonmusk that the media should be held accountable to tell the truth. Many reporters are honost but Fake news outlets like Hollywood Reporter should not be spreading lies. Go Elon!
— stan lee (@TheRealStanLee) May 27, 2018
The arguments journos are using against the public are word for word the same arguments despots use against democracy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2018
Yeah, that’s exactly right. But after suggesting public critique, I was stunned to see the level of contempt many in media have for their readers. This is way worse than I thought. https://t.co/NMAks4jrZ1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 26, 2018
Sadly, it had better critical analysis than most non-cult media
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2018
You really think I haven’t spent time in a newsroom? I’ve spent time in too many. Bleak.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2018
You’re welcome to come by SpaceX, but please stop assuming I’m against all journalists. This is not true. Something needs to be done to improve public trust in media.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2018
You’re missing the point & living in a bubble of self-righteous sanctimony. The public doesn’t trust you. This was true *before* the last election & only got worse. Don’t believe me? Run your own poll …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2018
Who do you think *owns* the press? Hello.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 27, 2018
