Journalists at Reuters have received the George Polk Award for revealing how manufacturing practices at American billionaire Elon Musk's companies harmed consumers, workers, and laboratory animals. The prestigious Polk Awards, presented by Long Island University in the United States, celebrate outstanding achievements in journalism, particularly focusing on investigative reporting that serves the public interest.
The award organizers honored a global team of Reuters journalists in the business reporting category for their coverage of the operations of Musk's companies, SpaceX, Tesla, and Neuralink. A series of investigations and exclusive reports uncovered a rising number of worker injuries and one death at SpaceX, as well as mistreatment of laboratory animals at Neuralink, which is involved in brain chip implanting.
Other investigations found that Tesla, a leader in electric vehicle manufacturing, had concealed serious defects in parts responsible for steering and suspension and manipulated distance estimates displayed on the dashboard. Additionally, it violated the privacy of drivers by sharing sensitive images recorded by their vehicles and left customers of "Tesla Insurance" waiting months for compensation claims.
The exclusive reports by Reuters had a widespread impact, leading to investigations in the United States and Europe, prompting calls for action from members of Congress regarding those reports, as well as several class-action lawsuits filed by consumers. Federal prosecutors opened an investigation into whether Tesla inflated its vehicle driving range estimates after Reuters reported that it manipulated the car’s odometer algorithm.
