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| Tuesday, April 25, 2006 |
| Bullshitpress takes on automobile journalism |
bullshitpress blog takes on automobile journalism, and its not a pretty sight. To begin with, I don't think the blogger here has any agenda. But is he angry or is he angry!
To begin with..
1. Automobile journalists (an oxymoron) are people who have made their careers out of living off others' generosity. They take pride in free junkets, expensive cars to drive, expensive hotels where they are put up, expensive food they eat and the sexy babes they hang out with - all at the expense of Mr Moneybags.
2. All of them chant in chorus that cars are in their blood. Then, they proceed to praise the Mercs/BMWs/VWs they got to drive for free. Once that shameless writing is over, they proceed to abuse Indian carmakers - Maruti 800, Indica et al.
3. Auto journalists claim that they are enthusiasts. They are not. They are mere courtiers.
Full disclosure: I was in automobile journalism for almost an year, in BS Motoring. That was almost 8 years back, and I am out of newspapers or regular media outlets for the last 6 years. I don't think people who worked with me in Business Standard would remember me as a mouthpiece for automobile journalism - so I rest my credentials.
First, the blogger has to decide if automobile journalism truly is an oxymoron. You mean it, or is it just polemic? If you do, then what's the rest of your post doing - if they are journalists, write about them. If they are not, don't write about them. Because if you write them off at the very beginning, then we can actually assume the worst about them, and there is no need to say anything more.
Anyway forget that. I think I have indulged a bit in polemic myself there.
What should true automobile journalism be like? I would be glad if someone could explain. This complaint about auto journalists is getting a bit tiring. I would like to know what the alternative is. Describe sales figures? There are many who it already in the daily newspaper, and you don't need an automobile magazine for that.
Let us get one thing clear. There are 5 automobile magazines in India, and they have been writing first person accounts of their driving experiences before some of today's journalists learnt to string a few sentences together. So whether you like it or not, that is what automobile journalism in India is today. In that respect, it is not very different from what it is in places where automobile journalism has been in existence for decades either.
It is all good to enjoy his Hero Honda Splendor. Or his wife, as the blogger mentions. However, no one wants stories in the automobile magazines about the said Splendor or wife. Magazines require first person stuff about new vehicles that are coming in, and no amount of griping is going to change that.
"They take pride in..." Maybe. I don't know. Maybe there is some pride in what they do. How is it better, or worse, than all the sneaky junkets other journalists go for, and do not mention at all anywhere? Honeymoons taken care of by PR companies? At least, what auto journos do, I get to know it by reading what they write. Compared to the hardcore junketeering of business journalists, profiteering of financial analyst-journalists, or use of politicial contacts for personal business by others, how is it better or worse?
They get sexy babes to hang out with? Come on. Where are they? The bullshitpress blogger can't be jealous - you can't be jealous about something that doesn't exist, right?
And if all this is really really so bad, what are the bloggers doing in journalism still? Do they hope to change things?
2. They claim that cars are in their blood.
Maybe, maybe not. Is travel in the blood of all travel writers? Music in the blood of music reviewers? Perhaps. They praise BMWs and Mercs? Why not. They are amazing. And they abuse Indian carmakers? Okay, lets see here. The examples given by the blogger are -- Maruti 800, and Indica.
This is what happens when you do not read enough - automobile journalists have been writing about Maruti 800s since the day they were launched. Criticism of 800s started only recently, and even then, its mostly that the car is outdated and not too comfortable to sit in. Everyone knows that. But for the 800s, automobile journalism in India itself would not exist probably - and they know it. And by the way, Maruti's car is not created out of the Indian clay - it came from Suzuki. The same way that the Swift came - and you don't see Indian journalists criticising Swift the way they 'criticise' 800. Why? Has Maruti suddenly become a japanese carmaker?
Indica. Now we are talking serious stuff. Travel for 5 hours on the highway to anywhere. How many Indicas do you see on the highway, their mouths open, and worried owners peering inside? I guarantee you that it would be more than any other make of car. Perhaps it is a function of the large number of Indicas sold. Fair enough. But most Indicas sold are diesel, maintenance costs go up after a few years, fit and finish and overall build quality are poor - these are at worst subjective opinions, and automobile journalists have as much a right to them as anyone else.
Okay, the greatest example of automobile journalism is TopGear and Jeremy Clarkson of BBC. Jeremy recently raced a Bugatti Veyron against a plane. BBC didn't buy the car for Jeremy. I have nothing more to say against getting free cars for driving.
Junkets? Junkets are here to stay. Show me a journalist who will not go on a junket on principle. I once told my RE that I did not want to go, and he looked at me like I was crazy. (I didn't say so on principle - I was bored with travelling abroad with little money in my wallet and no international credit card.) Junkets are here, and they are as much a part of today's journalism as bad headlines.
To be very clear - software reviewers in magazines accept free software. Game reviewers accept free games. Movie reviewers accept free passes.
True enthusiasts don't acept alms. True journalists don't write plugs. True newspapers don't have ideological leanings. True journos are not glorified typists. True Indians speak Hindi. Or don't. True journalists have at some point or the other, sneaked into press conferences only for the food. So?
B Mathew |
posted by a correspondent @ 2:27 AM  |
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