I’ve long held that Nilay Patel of The Verge is the poster boy of everything that’s wrong with tech journalism. If you ever need to find an example of a writer who starts with his thesis and then only showcases the facts which fit, look no further.
I thought I’d highlight his latest example of selective fact finding. It has to do with his reporting on Foxconn’s upcoming factory for Apple in Wisconsin. Nilay breathlessly reports on the latest news as if it’s an important discovery that Foxconn may not be creating as many jobs as President Trump touted last year. He’s salivating at the opportunity to call the whole Apple factory story a hoax.
He couldn’t wait to announce this week that it looks like there may “only” be 1,500 jobs created in Wisconsin. Don’t forget that number.
Meanwhile, the website Nilay manages called The Verge overlooks a real hoax. The Tesla Motor company’s Gigafactory 2 in New York is a well publicized failure. Tesla received $750 million in subsidies in exchange for a promise to create 1,500 jobs. Let that sink in, $750 million is a ton of money.
So instead of creating 1,500 jobs Tesla had only 400 people employed in February of this year. Likely even less by now considering what a disaster their solar business has been. 400 jobs is over $1.8 million dollars per job that the State of New York invested in Tesla. Pretty lousy return. Meanwhile, Nilay is giving Apple guff for “only” creating 1,500 jobs in Wisconsin. The state of New York wouldn’t thumb their nose at that.
I dare Nilay Patel and The Verge to show some journalistic integrity and apply the same standard to Tesla that they do to Apple. When The Verge likes a company, they overlook the flaws and spread the gospel. When The Verge is after clicks, they report the most inflammatory thing they can think of.
But I’m not holding my breath. Nilay Patel loves two things, Apple clickbait and Tesla. And I don’t think he’s about to give either one up.
He couldn’t wait to announce this week that it looks like there may “only” be 1,500 jobs created in Wisconsin. Don’t forget that number.
Meanwhile, the website Nilay manages called The Verge overlooks a real hoax. The Tesla Motor company’s Gigafactory 2 in New York is a well publicized failure. Tesla received $750 million in subsidies in exchange for a promise to create 1,500 jobs. Let that sink in, $750 million is a ton of money.
So instead of creating 1,500 jobs Tesla had only 400 people employed in February of this year. Likely even less by now considering what a disaster their solar business has been. 400 jobs is over $1.8 million dollars per job that the State of New York invested in Tesla. Pretty lousy return. Meanwhile, Nilay is giving Apple guff for “only” creating 1,500 jobs in Wisconsin. The state of New York wouldn’t thumb their nose at that.
I dare Nilay Patel and The Verge to show some journalistic integrity and apply the same standard to Tesla that they do to Apple. When The Verge likes a company, they overlook the flaws and spread the gospel. When The Verge is after clicks, they report the most inflammatory thing they can think of.
But I’m not holding my breath. Nilay Patel loves two things, Apple clickbait and Tesla. And I don’t think he’s about to give either one up.
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