Brian Thevenot, the deputy business editor of the Los Angeles Times, defended the newspaper’s article about Elon Musk and his companies taking government subsidiaries as good journalism. Musk criticized the article.
Ritesh Anan of Benzinga writes, “‘Well, I didn’t hear any criticisms on the facts in the story,’ Thevenot said. ‘I heard a lot of Mr. Musk’s opinions about things that might have been addressed in the story. So, I am not here to defend the story, because it speaks for itself.’
“He continued, ‘One of the comments that he made was that we said that he got a big $5 billion check. And quite the contrary, we laid out in very detailed fashion where all of the subsidies that we talked about came from, and there’s a list on latimes.com that anybody can go see right now.’
“Thevenot was asked what’s wrong with Elon Musk taking full advantage of subsidies provided by state and Federal governments. He replied, ‘I don’t know if it’s wrong or right. I think the point of our story was to report on the depth and breadth of it, and let the public debate whether it’s wrong or right.
“‘I am actually surprised that he had such a sensitive reaction to the story, because – really at its core – it’s basically a business strategy story that’s merely factual.'”
