New York Times Public Editor Throws Reporter Under The Electric Bus

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

The New York Times had their public editor (think ombudsman) publish a response to the whole “Dead Tesla’ fiasco ( summary by our own Dan Wallach here), and it is far from kind to reporter John Broder.

While Public Editor Margaret Sullivan defends Broder against Tesla founder Elon Musk’s claims that he “faked” his test drive, she does just about everything else possible to impugn his journalistic cred. Witness Sullivan’s epic qualification when sticking up for her writer

My own findings are not dissimilar to the reader I quote above, although I do not believe Mr. Broder hoped the drive would end badly. I am convinced that he took on the test drive in good faith, and told the story as he experienced it.

Did he use good judgment along the way? Not especially. In particular, decisions he made at a crucial juncture – when he recharged the Model S in Norwich, Conn., a stop forced by the unexpected loss of charge overnight – were certainly instrumental in this saga’s high-drama ending.

Sullivan claims she consulted with

“…Mr. Broder, Mr. Musk, two key Tesla employees, other Times journalists, the tow-truck driver and his dispatcher, and a Tesla owner in California, among others…I’ve also had a number of talks with my brother, a physician, car aficionado and Tesla fan, who has helped me balance what might have been a tendency to unconsciously side with a seasoned and respected journalist – my own “confirmation bias.”

Perhaps Ms. Sullivan’s brother could have been replaced by someone with an engineering or automotive background rather than a Tesla fan and car nut, who surely comes with his own set of biases and, in the case of the average car aficionado, opinions that are largely formed based on hearsay and a quick scan of a buff book while waiting in the CVS checkout line.

Also missing is one crucial element that most of you are aware of, but Sullivan seems ignorant of; the element of pressure from an OEM when testing a car or anything related to the car on a manufacturer-arranged drive. Tesla has operated some of the most tightly controlled testing protocols we’ve seen in some time (TTAC has yet to drive the car outside of a brief preview). If anything, invoking the Holy Cause of journalistic integrity would call for Sullivan and the NYT to push back against any interference or petulant PR campaign from Tesla and Elon Musk. In the wake of Jayson Blair and Judith Miller, the Grey Lady is doubtlessly sensitive to claims of journalistic incompetence – or worse. But if Sullivan had consulted someone besides a few Tesla employees and her brother, this crucial element may have been brought to the surface, and a different tone may have been adopted.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • RogueInLA RogueInLA on Feb 20, 2013

    I'd have to agree with oldyak, we're talking a low production fringe element car that is being embraced by people as much for the 'wow' factor as the practical factor. Until EVs are as easy to use as ICEVs, they're never going to be more than an interesting novelty. We're looking at building an infrastructure for fueling, which will cost what... hundreds of millions? I certainly don't want the government spending increasingly scarce finances to underwrite the cost of developing, manufacturing, purchase subsidies and refueling infrastructure on a mode of transportation that is essentially, at it's current state of development, a toy. What would the fuel costs be if you had to start paying market rate for the electricity that is currently free (subsidized) at charging stations? Also, I can't imagine that EVs will be cost free over their lifetimes in regards to maintenance. Yes we're going to run out of fossil fuels someday, but until that happens, people are going to keep buying trucks and SUVs. Well, until the next spike in fuel prices. Societies memory is short term, as shown by the rise and fall of sales of gas guzzlers that march in step with the price of gas. Americans love big cars, and love convenience. When you can hop in your EV and drive without concern about range (yes, I know that range is an issue in ICEVs, but you can refuel to max range in 15 minutes at hundreds of thousands of 'recharging stations'), then MAYBE more than 2 or 3 % of the population will consider making them their primary choice for transportation. As they currently stand, it's like arguing that Ferraris aren't practical, we *know* that. They are what they are, and if you want to have one, you accept it's limitations. I realize that the early adopters are fanbois who are going to say "this is just as good as an ICE, you just have to make allowances". For me, knowing that a cross country trip would have to be planned like the Normandy invasion, plotting distance between charging stations, allocating time for charging, etc, it's just not something I want to do. Broder made some mistakes, from the tone of his original article, he wasn't trying to slam the car, (IMO). I think that if you took an average vehicle user off the street, put them in a Tesla and told them to drive the same route, in the same weather, they'd have problems too. BUT... this car isn't made for the masses, it's a limited production car, that appeals to a small segment of users, who'll sit with maps and calculators to plot out their trips, sit for hours to recharge a group so they can sit in a rest area and feel good about themselves. Before you say "it only takes an hour", to recharge the 'convoy', it took hours. Can you honestly see a bunch of average gearheads putting together a drive where the fueling will take up as much time as the driving? As they said in South Park, we're going to be blanketed in 'smug'. It's a tempest in a teapot, amusing to read about, but as relevant as arguing paint quality on a Bugatti Veyron vs a Mclaren. If the government were serious about cutting energy usage, they'd impose fuel taxes like Europe, and force everyone into more fuel efficient vehicles. Now that'll never happen, no matter who's in the White House. Far easier to dump gazillions into something that has little *immediate* impact on the bottom line of the average Americans' budget. After all it's just "Government money", if they changed that to "money that you worked for, the government took from you, and spent on things that would outrage you if you really knew where it was going", maybe people would be more involved. (FYI, before anyone starts throwing names, I don't care which party politicians come from, they're all basically feeding at the public trough, and quite willing to spend money that isn't theirs if it will keep them in office). Heck, give me a government credit card, and I'd max that sucker out too, it's human nature.

    • Sbunny8 Sbunny8 on Feb 20, 2013

      @RogueInLA Okay, since you asked, the actual market value of the lifetime electricity use by an EV, based on the rates that public utilities actually charge their customers and not including any free-to-use public charging stations, would be more like $4,200 instead of $3,000. The national average is about 12 cents per kWh and I estimated that an EV will use about 35,000 kWh over its lifetime. Of course, the price of electricity varies quite a bit depending on where you are. Where I live it's more like 8 cents per kWh. And, yes, EVs will need repairs which cost money, just like ICEVs need repairs which cost money. I didn't mean to imply otherwise.

  • Big Al from Oz Big Al from Oz on Feb 20, 2013

    I do think the journalist shouldn't have told an untruth. But the fact remains that if you are required to expend lots of energy designing and planning a simple journey, then this is for the diehards. How much government money has been spent on Teslsa. That is subisdies, cheap government loans, handouts, rebates to purchasers of the vehicle etc. This kind of vehicle isn't required in todays world. As I have stated, this vehicle currently is a "feel good experience" for people who think they are saving the planet. Contrary to what arguments that are around, battery technology will still advance just through electronics. Maybe in 30-50 years we should look at this type of transport. But theirs and yours (EV buyers and your tax dollar) money would be better spent providing better energy infrastructure so millions in the US can access natural gas instead of using heating oil (diesel). This in turn will reduce pollution far more effectively than trying to appease socialist greenies. The tax dollars that these upper middle class and rich use to buy these vehicles also comes from the less fortunate in your country. Really a fair system.

    • See 2 previous
    • CRConrad CRConrad on Feb 26, 2013

      @protomech All fricking rounding errors. If he had said three hours when it was half an hour, or under 30 mph when it was actually over 90, those would have been untruths. But quibbling about 58 minutes vs 47, or 54 mph vs 62?!? Piffle, hogwash, nincompoopery! That's a little less than an hour vs a little less than an hour, and about 60 mph vs about 60 mph -- in the range of rounding errors. Rabid Elon Musk is off his head, and so are all his slavering fanbois.

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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