Business Insider U.S. editor defends reporter on Tesla story

Alyson Shontell, the U.S. editor in chief of Business Insider, took to Twitter on Thursday to defend reporter Linette Lopez, whom Tesla CEO Elon Musk accused of paying a source for information.

Shontell wrote, “.@businessinsider does not compensate its sources. It did not do so here and we stand by @lopezlinette’s reporting on Tesla. Our invitation for Elon Musk or anyone from his team to further discuss what has been reported and the state of Tesla stands.”

Earlier on Thursday, Musk wrote, “@lopezlinette, is it possible you’re serving as an inside trading source for one of Tesla’s biggest short-sellers? An ex-Tesla employee just went on record formally claiming you bribed him & he sent you valuable Tesla IP in exchange. Is this true?”

Musk was critical of other business news outlets as well, reports Robert Ferris of CNBC.com.

Ferris writes, “Musk accused both Reuters and Business Insider of publishing false or misleading stories. He also suggested that CNBC features analysts with poor prediction records.

“Musk has criticized journalists in the past and has even said he plans to start an organization that rates reporters. The CEO has had a contentious history with the media and bristled at the amount of attention trained on Tesla from both reporters and investors.”

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