Mastodawn

For years, the media built up Elon Musk and got the public to buy into the myth of his genius. Now the truth of who he is can’t be hidden and changing how they cover Musk isn’t enough.

The media failed us. They not only need to inform the public about the harms of Musk’s empire, but change how they cover the entire tech industry so another grifter can’t replicate his rise. They owe us nothing less.

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/the-medias-failure-on-elon-musk

#tech #media #elonmusk #tesla #spacex #twitter #x

The media's failure on Elon Musk

After building him up, they need to tear him down

Disconnect

Oscar Aug 25, 2023

@parismarx the media (and Forbes) also failed with Sam Bankman-Fried, Bernie Madoff, CZ, Elizabeth Holmes, all crypto (creep-to), probably failing LIVE with most of the AI FOMO/hype… etc… too much hype, clickbait articles, too little investigative reporting.

Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈Aug 25, 2023

@oscarsalguero @parismarx if I want to see who the up and coming new tech grifters are, I go to #Forbes.

Oscar Aug 25, 2023

@Lazarou @parismarx exactly!

Francis Norman Aug 26, 2023

@oscarsalguero @parismarx yep, the halo effect remains live and well in the media

Felipe, o motoboy de treta Aug 25, 2023

nem sabia disso: https://www.thedrive.com/news/32191/did-you-know-elon-musk-wrecked-an-uninsured-mclaren-f1

Did You Know Elon Musk Wrecked an Uninsured McLaren F1?

His last words before sending it: "Watch this."

The Drive

Felipe, o motoboy de treta Aug 25, 2023

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-03-25/black-tesla-employees-fremont-plant-racism-california-lawsuit

Tesla workers describe racism that led California's lawsuit

In their own words, former Tesla employees describe what they call a racist work environment that led California to file a civil rights lawsuit against the company.

Los Angeles Times

Felipe, o motoboy de treta Aug 25, 2023

https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/15/technology/elon-musk-tesla-racial-discrimination/index.html

An Elon Musk email from May is making people upset

Tesla released the email in response to a lawsuit that alleges racial discrimination and harassment at the company.

CNNMoney

Felipe, o motoboy de treta Aug 25, 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/15/elon-musk-british-diver-thai-cave-rescue-pedo-twitter

Elon Musk calls British diver in Thai cave rescue 'pedo' in baseless attack

Accusation directed on Twitter at Vern Unsworth, who called Tesla CEO’s offer of ‘mini-sub’ to help rescuers a ‘PR stunt’

The Guardian

k cavaliere Aug 25, 2023

@parismarx IMO #Musk is step below nouveau riche. He's a played out one hit wonder, cashing in on the skills and talents of others.

Win 🌱Aug 25, 2023

@thinking_images an obtuse piece of flotsam

Rick Aug 25, 2023

@parismarx @mastodonmigration similar failings covering trump

Darwin Woodka Aug 25, 2023

ditto all the other "billionaire geniuses" who are really just exploitive little toddler men

Jack Yan (甄爵恩)Aug 25, 2023

@parismarx Iʼm glad I was one of the few who was never a sycophant to these people. While Elmu wasnʼt in my crosshairs, I regularly called out Zuckerberg (including saying he was a 'compulsive liar' on RNZ National). Their actions were very clear. And Tesla was a much better firm when we were dealing with Martin Eberhard.

Brian Grinter Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx @mastodonmigration https://elonmusk.today/

Elon Musk Today

Tiger Jerusalem Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx @mastodonmigration Did they failed us, or did they worked exactly as intended?

Catherine is not complacent Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx I don’t care about Xwitter, however I am very concerned about his satellite domination.

Mastodon Migration Aug 26, 2023

@CatDragon @parismarx This may turn out to be one of the biggest stupidest mistakes the US government has made in a very long time.

aethervision Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx If journalists took their jobs as seriously as they expect us to, this would be a much better world.

k cavaliere Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx #Trump was a monster created by #Murdoch for the NY Post in 1976. #Trump craved attention, Murdoch needed "sensation". Trump married Ivana in 1977. She gave him "class" and "social status". He failed at that, too.

Here's a little #Trump history...
https://www.npr.org/2016/09/29/495955920/donald-trump-plagued-by-decades-old-housing-discrimination-case

writermonki Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx They did they same with Trump. Before he ran for president he was America's CEO in the press. And they set up the country for what followed. But all of this is part of the American myth of the genius CEO who gives us every good thing. They always need at least one of these figures in the media. In the 2000s Steve Jobs performed this role even tho the best Apple Steve was always The Woz.

HTPC NZ Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx if you are a great bull xhitter - i.e. a great conman - you rise up the ranks - that's what is commonly referred to as meritocracy. Musk is the greatest conman ever lived.

Grumble Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx "The media failed us".

Did the authors get paid? Did their bosses sell ad revenue?

"He who pays the piper calls the tune." - time-tested proverb

Peter Principle Aug 26, 2023

"For years, the media built up Elon Musk and got the public to buy into the myth of his genius..."

In the 1980s, you could have substituted the name "Trump" for Musk.

Even after Donny's specraptular belly flop in the 1990s, the myth lived on, gaining him his spot on The Apprentice. And the rest, as they say, is history.

As with Donny then, Musk is a celebrity now, not a standard issue oligarch. And a whole lot of people have a financial interest in keeping that myth alive.

James Glueck Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx PropAGanDa relentlessly manufactured to self loathing Publikum

Notthesmartestguy Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx the media didn’t “fail” us. Bad journalists working for stilted magazines wrote sensationalized stories that deified rich people. These same yellow journalists owe us nothing, and continue to write puff pieces for the rich and powerful.

Silvia Rasmussen Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx he’s not the only overhyped billionaire, millionaire or socialite.

Mrs.Stud Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx the Fourth Estate has failed us miserably.

Rik D'huyvetters Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx Just like many people, I was one of them, the media bought into his scams. Yes, the media should be more sceptical and so should we, fooled once shame on them, fooled again shame on us.

Hoi_Pollois🌻Aug 26, 2023

Yes. And that next techbro grifter who media will fail to scrutinize?

It's Vivek Ramaswamy:

age 38,

billionaire,

advanced fascist-wannabe,

buying his way onto Defendent Don's ticket,

and already being nursed + licked by Leonard Leo.

JW prince of CPH Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx The press needs to change how it reports on the super-rich. Every single overly-positively-covered tech story ever involved 9-10-digit amounts of money. In fact, new tech/innovation is almost invariably covered with hard skepticism *unless* endorsed by someone super-rich.

The same is the case for everything else. No money = skepticism, money = uncritical praise.

Steve Mann Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx The media covered him the way they did because of the whole electric car scheme. If you recall, they gave the same type of one sided coverage to the guy in the 70s who invented the supposed petrol pill that had only to be dropped in water. If someone's promises fit whatever adjenda the media is following, they ignore any negatives, and this is the way they've been for decades.

Morten Juhl-Johansen Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx Well, there is the "dude is an asshole" part. That bit does not set him apart from a lot of wealthy people.
But looking at TwiX and considering exactly how much money he threw out the window, that is insane. A shiny rock could have done better, just leaving the daily operations and not actually taking an active role in undermining the business.
Making decisions and sweeping changes, suddenly changing directions. That is not a master strategist - unless you stop to consider that he personally owns a larger chunk of the money on the world, and a good/needed return on investment for him is simply... appearing interesting and getting noticed. Even when the people he is responsible for suffer and their lives come apart in the process.

Nicole Parsons Aug 26, 2023

It's not uncommon for a mafia organization to have a front man.

A kind of colorful celebrity to distract attention from the moneyed behind that person.

Trump hides the behind-the-scenes activities of GOP billionaire donors funding an ongoing seditious conspiracy.

Musk hides the behind-the-scenes activities of tech overlords & their oil oligarchy venture capital.

Sometimes they are the same people.
https://fortune.com/2022/09/30/elon-musk-twitter-trial-text-messages-jack-dorsey-larry-ellison-joe-rogan/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/20/larry-ellison-oracle-trump-election-challenges/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-14/larry-ellison-joins-peter-thiel-in-trump-s-camp

Elon Musk’s texts reveal the billionaires, CEOs and celebrities who urged him to buy Twitter, including Jack Dorsey, Larry Ellison and Joe Rogan

The text messages were uncovered through pretrial discovery ahead of the Elon Musk–Twitter trial next month.

Fortune

Nicole Parsons Aug 26, 2023

Reminder that Al Capone was the front man for the people profiting from Prohibition.

Oligarchs like the Kennedy clan became enormously wealthy & influential from Prohibition Era illicit trade in alcohol.

Trump and Musk serve the same role in history as Al Capone, shielding the wealthy from investigation of illicit wealth.

Fionas_Father Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx Humans seem hard-wired to perceive each advance as the coming of an all-purpose savior. And then heap rewards on that savior.

Is it any wonder that the least admirable people plot to insinuate themselves into that role?

People wanted a hero, so that is what they saw in Musk. It's no surprise that when the curtain pulls back, he is actually a guy with a narrow area of expertise and an otherwise repulsive set of values. Not to mention, a guy with out-sized self confidence.

Barry Schwartz 🫖Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx This "media that does what it has to" is as real as the Elon Musk the actual media invented.

RickNobodyBeinz Aug 26, 2023

@parismarx As far as the "media" is concerned, their BS is always a success. They're Not concerned with anything resembling the "truth". Only with maximizing their corporate profits & raising their value on the World's stock markets. Wall St & all other world markets of stocks, bonds & currencies DEPEND on the media 2 manipulate Press on people such as Musk, Bezos, Koch, Gates & all the rest of the 765 Billionaires in the US alone. 2019 total world billionaire count is 2755. Who's Ur Daddy now?

Jari Gustafsson Aug 26, 2023

A con man.

Democracy Dies in Dumbass Aug 26, 2023

Gramshelper🇨🇦🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦😷Aug 26, 2023

The Richie Rich Aug 28, 2023

@parismarx @ParanoidFactoid