NY Times vs. Tesla

Earlier this week, a dispute arose over a New York Times article which cast the Tesla Model S electrically-powered sedan in a very negative light. The Times sent reporter John Broder to test drive the Tesla in the Northeast. The challenges included cold weather and distant charging stations.

The Times' choice of Broder was a curious one. He is not an automotive reporter and has no known expertise regarding cars. The Times would not have dared conduct a similar approach with, say, Apple. One wonders why the paper went ahead and had Broder cover the story.

Elon Musk
(photo: esquire.com)

Broder wrote a highly critical piece about his Tesla test drives. Tesla did not take this lying down. Its president, Elon Musk, has taken to Twitter and other media outlets to bitterly criticize the Times and Broder. The newspaper, which has often written fawning pieces in the past about favored tech firms such as Apple, has taken on one of Silicon Valley's darlings. We'll see how far that approach works, and whether tech firms will take Times' reporters calls.

Siliconvalley.com has a useful synopsis of Times v. Tesla in today's online editions.