Nathan Bomey | USA TODAY

Time

Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, ripped the news media for what he described as irresponsible reporting and suggested he would launch a website to assess the legitimacy of individual journalists and news organizations.

Musk on Wednesday unleashed a barrage of criticism aimed at reporters, saying they are "sanctimonious," have "earned this mistrust" and are kowtowing to the business interests of their publications.

It wasn't immediately clear whether any specific news report triggered the rant, which totaled at least 19 tweets.

His Twitter tirade came as Tesla faces scrutiny for multiple crashes over the potential failure of the company's partially self-driving system, known as Autopilot. He complained that traditional auto companies don't get enough scrutiny for the dangers of their vehicles, which he says are worse.

Musk is also facing intense pressure to improve the financial performance of Tesla, which is straining to accelerate production of its new Model 3 electric car. Many publications, including USA TODAY, have reported extensively on the company's manufacturing problems.

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In addition, the Model 3 failed Monday to win the recommendation of Consumer Reports, which said the vehicle has "big flaws," including poor brakes.

"Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication," Musk said on Twitter. "Thinking of calling it Pravda …"

Pravda, which is Russian for truth, was also the name of the official government Communist Party newspaper in the Soviet Union.

A Tesla spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Autotrader analyst Michelle Krebs said Tesla "deserves the same scrutiny" as other major companies that face challenges.

"That's how the business works," she said. "Tesla is a very high profile company, largely because he has made it that way. He's brought a lot of it on himself."

Musk swiftly dismissed suggestions that he's veering into territory occupied by President Trump, who has similarly blasted the news media for reporting he dislikes.

"Thought you’d say that," he said in response to one reporter who made the comparison. "Anytime anyone criticizes the media, the media shrieks 'You’re just like Trump!' Why do you think he got elected in the first place? Because no ones believes you anymore. You lost your credibility a long time ago."

Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication. Thinking of calling it Pravda … — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018

In another tweet, Musk lambasted "the holier-than-thou hypocrisy of big media companies who lay claim to the truth, but publish only enough to sugarcoat the lie," saying this "is why the public no longer respects them."

Musk also accused journalists of pursuing "max clicks" because they're under "constant pressure" to "earn advertising or get fired."

Problem is journos are under constant pressure to get max clicks & earn advertising dollars or get fired. Tricky situation, as Tesla doesn’t advertise, but fossil fuel companies & gas/diesel car companies are among world’s biggest advertisers. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2018

News companies are under significant financial pressure amid the rise of digital ad giants Facebook and Google. But most traditional news companies draw a sharp line between their journalism and their advertising, ensuring that business interests don't influence content decisions.