The Very Different Media Coverage Of Shelley Luther’s Versus Elon Musk’s Reopenings

Shelley Luther is the Dallas hair salon owner who was arrested and sent to jail for reopening her salon in defiance of a government order to remain closed. Elon Musk is the Fremont Tesla factory owner who reopened his factory in defiance of a government order to remain closed and forced the government to accept his reopening without consequence.

For a news media that had roundly condemned reopening protests, Luther’s arrest unsurprisingly became a national story. Yet, despite his international stature, Elon Musk’s similar prohibited reopening of his factory received just 1.6 times more coverage. It is an interesting reflection on media agenda setting that a hairdresser being jailed for reopening her salon received more than half as much coverage as one of the world’s most recognized business owners reopening his own business under similarly prohibited circumstances and succeeding.

See the Live Version of the graph below.