NPR temporarily stopped it's twitter accounts in a "state-media" beef with Elon Musk

[Deus Ex Machiato]

In the meantime alienating the customers who are predisposed to buy electric cars and solar panels. How many trumpists do that?

It's an interesting - and by that I mean questionable to the point of being dumb - business move on Elon's part. Tesla pretty much was the entire electric car market for a few years. It was "disruptive" in a big way, and left the legacy automakers scrambling to catch up. You want one of these spiffy new electric cars? You've got to come to Tesla.

About the time Musk started to look longingly at Twitter as a place he could buy and let his "true" political beliefs hang out there for the typical electric car stan to see, the automakers who'd been scrambling to catch up did.

You want an inexpensive EV (relative to a Model S)? Chevy jumped in with the Bolt, and other companies (Kia/Hyundai in particular) stepped up as well. You want an electric truck? Ford, Chevy, and new brands like Rivian are right there. Even an electric Hummer is on sale. Tesla's "cybertruck" fizzled. A luxury performance EV with build quality that makes Tesla look like a product of a company that makes tech but is still new at making cars? Porsche and Audi have your number.

And speaking of tech, Elon has been promising "full self-driving" for years now, but GM and Waymo have leap frogged ahead, with actual self-driving taxis in a few cities. Tesla? Pro tip: Do not take the hands off the wheel of your "self-driving" Model S.

Revealing yourself to be a self-absorbed wanker at the same time the EV market you once owned is filling up with competition might not have been the best move from a business perspective.

 

[TheBigA]

Sure, there is a difference, but they’re still funded partially from taxpayer money.

So are THOUSANDS of other radio stations that are funded with taxpayer money. In fact quite a few are OWNED by state governments. None of them carry this label. It's nothing but a personal vendetta.

There are two parts to that sentence. The second part is a lie.

They’re working hard to make this about facts, but this seems more like an attempt to push back against Elon Musk.

Musk started the fight. He changed the rules and then applied them unfairly only to NPR. So NPR gives them the big heave ho. Musk isn't done here. He's trying to define other people in his terms because he owns the platform. That won't go well when he gets hauled in to congress as Jack Dorsey did two years ago.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

I think that Elon Musk's description of NPR as "state-owned media" is over the top, and as a person moves farther towards political extremism, his/her ideas get more & more over the top.

Elon's certainly entitled to his opinion, but many of his followers interpret his opinion as being factual truth, which it is not.

Misinformation is not a personal opinion. It's just misinformation, and Elon's getting close to disseminating that. - D.

 

[spiritof67]

Musk started the fight. He changed the rules and then applied them unfairly only to NPR. So NPR gives them the big heave ho. Musk isn't done here. He's trying to define other people in his terms because he owns the platform. That won't go well when he gets hauled in to congress as Jack Dorsey did two years ago.

While I agree, there is this: It's his platform.
One of my earlier messages got deleted here. Why? It isn't my platform. I'll survive, and I don't regret what I said, as I meant every word.

Neither Musk nor Jack Dorsey should have or been hauled into Congress. This is how markets work. Don't use the damn thing.

Again, anyone who needs twitter to be informed is already too inept to function.

 

[TheBigA]

While I agree, there is this: It's his platform.

That's the Fox News defense in the Dominion lawsuit, isn't it? It's our platform, and we can lie if we want to.

 

[spiritof67]

That's the Fox News defense in the Dominion lawsuit, isn't it? It's our platform, and we can lie if we want to.

Except there are libel laws involved, and Dominion may actually prove malice in this case. It's a steep hill, and meant to be when it comes to public figures. If Elon pulls something similar, he may get his ass hauled into court too.

If it wasn't a steep hill for libel suits, our country would roll more like the UK, where public figures have more of an upper hand in these matters. Would you want that?

 

[TheBigA]

Except there are libel laws involved, and Dominion may actually prove malice in this case.

Is it malice to first create a label that you apply only to NPR, and when they complain, you tweet 'defund NPR?'

While at the same time accepting $5 billion in goverment funding? I don't know. I'm just asking.

I mean, he's from South Africa, isn't he?

 

[Deus Ex Machiato]

Is it malice to first create a label that you apply only to NPR, and when they complain, you tweet 'defund NPR?'

While at the same time accepting $5 billion in goverment funding? I don't know. I'm just asking.

I am not on the Twitter, but I wonder how it's owner would feel about a prominent user referring to Space X as a "state rocket company."

 

[spiritof67]

Gotta prove it. It's how it works. Make your case stick.

And NPR and their allies, in their own way, told Musk to go **** himself.

Oh, and that crazy bitch in Georgia is already saying Defund NPR. But what do you expect? She wasn't appointed. The lowlife scum in her district put her there.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

I think that Elon Musk's description of NPR as "state-owned media" is over the top, and as a person moves farther towards political extremism, his/her ideas get more & more over the top.

Elon's certainly entitled to his opinion, but many of his followers interpret his opinion as being factual truth, which it is not.

Misinformation is not a personal opinion. It's just misinformation, and Elon's getting close to disseminating that. - D.

True and Elon Musk better be careful or he goes in the same direction as Mike Lindell, Kanye West and Trump. Also the Media Outlet that really went after Musk the most is Reuters the covered Lawsuits Elon Musk is in directly.

Twitter sued after failing to pay over $1.2 million in Oakland rent: court docs

Elon Musk-run Twitter is facing yet another lawsuit over unpaid rent, and it’s in the East Bay this time, according to court documents filed in the Superior Court of the State of California.

www.kron4.com

Also there are anecdotes of other news outlets outside of the AP and Reuters covering his lawsuits. If he is this triggered about the media its because they saw the lawsuits Musk is in. Now we have another lawsuit with Elon Musk over his Twitter operations.

 

[spiritof67]

I am not on the Twitter, but I wonder how it's owner would feel about a prominent user referring to Space X as a "state rocket company."

Depends on how big a fish that prominent user is. Be sort of fun if it was Jeff Bezos. I'll bring the popcorn.

 

[spiritof67]

I mean, he's from South Africa, isn't he?

So is Lara Logan. I stopped watching "60 Minutes" due to her journalistic (insert covid cough) misssteps on Benghazi. Leslie Stahl's gushing softball questions didn't help either. Thank you for reminding me.

 

[davideduardo]

I mean, he's from South Africa, isn't he?

He is a citizen by birth of South Africa, by his mother's nationality he is Canadian and by application became a US citizen about 20 years ago.

With about 40 million US citizens being foreign born, and another approximately 20 million who are not citizens also born outside the US, about one in five people in the US was not born here.

 

[fordranger797]

Gotta prove it. It's how it works. Make your case stick.

And NPR and their allies, in their own way, told Musk to go **** himself.

Oh, and that crazy bitch in Georgia is already saying Defund NPR. But what do you expect? She wasn't appointed. The lowlife scum in her district put her there.

You seem like a real nice person. No offence, but it’s easy to say things like that when you’re in an echo chamber and virtually everyone agrees with you.

 

[spiritof67]

With about 40 million US citizens being foreign born, and another approximately 20 million who are not citizens also born outside the US, about one in five people in the US was not born here.

All them foreigners are the ones who end up saving us in the long run. They bring an energy to a country that can get lazy without them.

Now let's get back to the food fight, shall we?

 

[TheBigA]

On Monday, one liar will interview another liar on a network being sued for defamation

Elon Musk to sit with Fox’s Tucker Carlson for exclusive interview

Fox News host Tucker Carlson will air an extensive interview with tech mogul Elon Musk on his primetime show next week, the network announced on Friday. During the interview, which will span two nights on Monday and Tuesday, Musk will “discuss the controversy surrounding artificial intelligence...

www.yahoo.com

Musk and Carlson are both controversial yet highly influential figures on the right. Musk has earned headlines in recent weeks over a decision to slap a “government-funded” label on a number of news organizations using Twitter, including National Public Radio, prompting the network to leave the platform.

Fox also receives government funding from the commercials bought by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Wonder if Tucker will ask Elon about the $5 billion he gets from the government.

 

[spiritof67]

You seem like a real nice person. No offence, but it’s easy to say things like that when you’re in an echo chamber and virtually everyone agrees with you.

I'm not really all that nice. I'm not offended either. And I'm typically in the minority with my opinions. There's no echo chamber happening, and virtually few agree with me, even at home. My YL votes Republican. I don't.

Usually Kelly A. brings the snark, but not today. Maybe it's the jetlag from my flight Wednesday.

 

[Deus Ex Machiato]

While I agree, there is this: It's his platform.
One of my earlier messages got deleted here. Why? It isn't my platform. I'll survive, and I don't regret what I said, as I meant every word.

Neither Musk nor Jack Dorsey should have or been hauled into Congress. This is how markets work. Don't use the damn thing.

Again, anyone who needs twitter to be informed is already too inept to function.

Well bringing it back to the discussion of radio...

While it is a stretch to say that NPR and it's affiliates are "state media," they do have a minimal element of "state control" if you want to call it that. The public owns the airwaves. There are a few hoops that broadcast stations have to jump through in order to maintain their licenses. This is true for your local public radio station and the fire-breathing AM that serves the "get off my lawn" crowd. If an "owner" of federally regulated broadcast signals said "I'm not going to follow your rules anymore" they face fines and penalties. Maybe not "hauled in front of Congress," but there are consequences.

If folks on the starboard side of politics were honest, they'd have to concede that they have benefited quite a bit from "state-owned" broadcast signals.

As for the "well that's just the market" argument, we also have some guardrails on that as well. We'd be in a bit of a pickle right now if we'd responded to the collapse of some rather large investment banks 15 years ago and the failure of a few more banks recently with "this is how markets work" and told the investors/depositors to suck it up and accept their losses as the invisible hand smacking them upside the head.

Absent any sort of the same regulations/backstops for social media companies, we're left with "beefs" like the one playing out here between NPR and the Twit CEO, or lawsuits like what the cable channel is facing from the voting machine companies.

And yes, anyone who needs Twitter to be informed is probably lacking in some areas, but at the moment, there's another social media platform that's so successful that Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are scrambling to catch up. It is entwined with a certain authoritarian government that's not exactly our besties, and to be honest the calls to reign it in are not without merit. How much of our media do we hand over to a single man or a rival government and say "hey, that's just the market?"

 

[fordranger797]

I'm not really all that nice. I'm not offended either. And I'm typically in the minority with my opinions. There's no echo chamber happening, and virtually few agree with me, even at home. My YL votes Republican. I don't.

Usually Kelly A. brings the snark, but not today. Maybe it's the jetlag from my flight Wednesday.

Hey nothing wrong with that! Honestly, I am usually the one who does the best job of making people mad. I’m a true swing voter in the sense that I’ll hear everyone out and form my opinions as I go. A lot of people hate that because we’re all expected to pick sides and stick to them with a death grip.

 

[spiritof67]

Well bringing it back to the discussion of radio...

If folks on the starboard side of politics were honest, they'd have to concede that they have benefited quite a bit from "state-owned" broadcast signals.

As for the "well that's just the market" argument, we also have some guardrails on that as well. We'd be in a bit of a pickle right now if we'd responded to the collapse of some rather large investment banks 15 years ago and the failure of a few more banks recently with "this is how markets work" and told the investors/depositors to suck it up and accept their losses as the invisible hand smacking them upside the head.

Absent any sort of the same regulations/backstops for social media companies, we're left with "beefs" like the one playing out here between NPR and the Twit CEO, or lawsuits like what the cable channel is facing from the voting machine companies.

And yes, anyone who needs Twitter to be informed is probably lacking in some areas, but at the moment, there's another social media platform that's so successful that Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are scrambling to catch up. It is entwined with a certain authoritarian government that's not exactly our besties, and to be honest the calls to reign it in are not without merit. How much of our media do we hand over to a single man or a rival government and say "hey, that's just the market?"

All good points.

How much interference would you want in your media? I'm honestly asking.

I just returned from Japan. Even though it is a democratic country, their media is controlled more than here. Copyright rules cause geoblocking within cities, and require VPN's to get around it. For the world's largest city, Tokyo has very few FM stations representing it. New York, LA, Mexico City it isn't.

Japan had a very difficult decade in the 1990s, as their econonomy took a beating. Many businesses that should have died quickly were propped up, thanks to the cozy relationship betwen government and business there. The economic pain lasted a long time.

The GOP nearly screwed the country in 2008, not paying attention to the hot mess brewing with the banks. Those guardrails are necessary too. I remember the inflation of the 1970s, and if it weren't for Volcker jacking up rates, inflation would have just continued.

Monopolies suck, but I've been outvoted on that. The GOP loves it, and the Democrats just roll over and die. As usual.

When I was growing up, the electronic spectrum was considered a limited natural resource. It could be used wisely, or it could be wasted. These days, broadcasters can't afford their properties, and are currently circling the bankruptcy drain, and yet are propped up--kind of like the Japanese when you think about it.