A senior executive with the ride-sharing service Uber suggested that the company use $1 million of its own funds to hire a team of researchers to "dig up dirt" on media figures -- especially female journalists -- who criticize their business, according to a BuzzFeed report.

Uber and related ride-sharing services allow people to order paid rides using apps from their smartphones, gaining popularity in many major cities across the U.S.

During a private dinner in New York last week, controversial comments were reportedly made by Uber's senior vice president for business, Emil Michael. Michael later said he believed the conversation was off the record, BuzzFeed said. Over the meal, Michael described a hypothetical team that could, as he put it, help Uber fight back against the press by looking into "your personal lives, your families." BuzzFeed's editor-in-chief, Ben Smith, originally broke the news.

"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 following the article's release.

An Uber spokeswoman, Nairi Hourdajian, also spoke out about the article, Huffington Post reports.

"We have not, do not and will not investigate journalists," Hourdajian said. "Those remarks have no basis in the reality of our approach."

The media criticism Michael seems so concerned with stems from headlines involving up-and-coming car service companies like Uber, but also Lyft and Sidecar, being attacked by taxi companies who argue that the businesses do not meet proper restrictions and safety measures for providing transportation to passengers that other cab businesses must obey.

Recent reports of inappropriate behavior by Uber drivers toward female riders have also appeared in the news.

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