Uber, a widely popular ride-sharing service, doesn’t necessarily have a fantastic relationship with the media, a suggestion that is pretty much agreed upon within the company and in the media landscape. In fact, some go as far as saying that journalists are Uber’s biggest critics.
Perhaps due to this strained relationship Emil Michael, Uber’s senior vice president for business, has suggested that the company could spend up to $1 million just to dig up dirt on the private lives of journalists, BuzzFeed News reported late Monday.
The high-traffic blog reported that Uber could hire four opposition researchers and four journalists in order to combat the supposed antagonistic press coverage. The comments were reportedly made during a private dinner in New York last week. One particular journalist was mentioned: technology website Pando’s Sarah Lacy, who has been a fierce critic of the company and CEO Travis Kalanick.
According to Michael, it would give the media a taste of its own medicine.
After the story gained significant traction in the last several hours, Michael backtracked from his remarks, and said that he thought his comments were off the record at a private dinner.
“The remarks attributed to me at a private dinner – borne out of frustration during an informal debate over what I feel is sensationalistic media coverage of the company I am proud to work for – do not reflect my actual views and have no relation to the company’s views or approach,” Michael said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Nairi Hourdajian, an Uber spokesperson, confirmed in a statement that the company has not and will not delve into the private lives of journalists. “Those remarks have no basis in the reality of our approach.”
Despite tough opposition from government regulators, taxicab owners and insurance providers who say Uber doesn’t face the same type of regulatory hurdles, Uber remains immensely popular all over the United States, and it’s starting to make its way up north to Canada.
