Why Is Elon Musk Attacking the Media? We Explain. (Also, Give Us a Good Rating!)

Elon Musk has occasionally struck a combative tone on Twitter in recent weeks. On Wednesday he singled out the “holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies.”CreditJoe Skipper/Reuters

By Matt Stevens

Elon Musk, the billionaire who has ambitions to colonize Mars and whose companies make electric vehicles and rockets, spent part of his Wednesday criticizing an already beleaguered and much-maligned group of humans on Earth.

Yes, Mr. Musk, 46, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, could not help unloading on the news media — members of which have written articles, especially in recent months, about the many problems that have plagued his companies.

(Among them: delays in the production of Model 3s; a deadly crash that occurred when a Model X’s Autopilot system was engaged; and questions about Tesla’s ability to pay off its debt amid continued quarterly losses.)