ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT, UNLESS ADVERTISERS GET TWISTED PANTIES
Click on the headline above to read the apology of Jonathan Wolman, editor of the Detroit Free Press, to his readers after their auto reviewer, Jeff Burgess, ”quit” rather than soften a on-line review of the new Chrysler 200.
Here’s my own tale of pressure from the suits.
I once worked (here) and I printed an article called “How To Beat The Dealer.” I wasn’t even the original author – my article was about the article, published by Consumer Reports. Full permission given to excerpt, and full credit given.
A irate advertiser (major auto dealer) pulled 2 million dollars’ worth of ads and demanded “equal time,” meaning “How dare you educate the public about the hundreds or thousands of dollars auto salespeople may hide in the invoice?”
The art director and ad department agreed with dealer, and my name was Josh Mud.
I was instructed, via a blizzard of emails, each more alarmed than the last, to set up an interview with the dealer, and submit it for publishing.
I paced and stalled, wondering if I would be canned unless I acquiesced.
Of course, the flap reached the top of the place I worked.
I got a call from the deputy publisher within a day saying, “Don’t do a damned thing. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
The art director hated me from then on, and tried, in as many ways as possible, to make it unpleasant for me to work there. Every subsequent email, every phone call and every personal interaction had a subtext of “You’re stupid and I hate you.” Not because of the ad dollars, which came back after a week, but because I hadn’t immediately done as she asked. ”I’m all for artistic expression,” she’d said. ”But this is our livelihood.” Whereas the deputy publisher, who had hired me, had asked me to be meaner in my reviews from the start. ”If you don’t like something, say you don’t like it.” I loved this guy. Still do.
When I first started reviewing cars and had something awful to say, I felt sorry for all the people who’d designed, manufactured and marketed the car. Then I started thinking about all the people who take out loans, save their money, look forward to a new car, and are unsure what to buy. I started aligning myself with those people. A car isn’t a movie – it’s a vital part of our society. It has to start each and every time you turn the key, it has to run in all sorts of weather, it has to keep you alive in the event of a crash, and it shouldn’t break down when kept maintained.
It’s to the people who write the check and hope for the best that I am talking to when I write about a car’s merits or demerits.
- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo
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Auto reviewer “quits” rather than soften stance on Chrysler 200
In Commentary on March 21, 2011 at 6:05 pmALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT, UNLESS ADVERTISERS GET TWISTED PANTIES
Click on the headline above to read the apology of Jonathan Wolman, editor of the Detroit Free Press, to his readers after their auto reviewer, Jeff Burgess, ”quit” rather than soften a on-line review of the new Chrysler 200.
Here’s my own tale of pressure from the suits.
I once worked (here) and I printed an article called “How To Beat The Dealer.” I wasn’t even the original author – my article was about the article, published by Consumer Reports. Full permission given to excerpt, and full credit given.
A irate advertiser (major auto dealer) pulled 2 million dollars’ worth of ads and demanded “equal time,” meaning “How dare you educate the public about the hundreds or thousands of dollars auto salespeople may hide in the invoice?”
The art director and ad department agreed with dealer, and my name was Josh Mud.
I was instructed, via a blizzard of emails, each more alarmed than the last, to set up an interview with the dealer, and submit it for publishing.
I paced and stalled, wondering if I would be canned unless I acquiesced.
Of course, the flap reached the top of the place I worked.
I got a call from the deputy publisher within a day saying, “Don’t do a damned thing. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
The art director hated me from then on, and tried, in as many ways as possible, to make it unpleasant for me to work there. Every subsequent email, every phone call and every personal interaction had a subtext of “You’re stupid and I hate you.” Not because of the ad dollars, which came back after a week, but because I hadn’t immediately done as she asked. ”I’m all for artistic expression,” she’d said. ”But this is our livelihood.” Whereas the deputy publisher, who had hired me, had asked me to be meaner in my reviews from the start. ”If you don’t like something, say you don’t like it.” I loved this guy. Still do.
When I first started reviewing cars and had something awful to say, I felt sorry for all the people who’d designed, manufactured and marketed the car. Then I started thinking about all the people who take out loans, save their money, look forward to a new car, and are unsure what to buy. I started aligning myself with those people. A car isn’t a movie – it’s a vital part of our society. It has to start each and every time you turn the key, it has to run in all sorts of weather, it has to keep you alive in the event of a crash, and it shouldn’t break down when kept maintained.
It’s to the people who write the check and hope for the best that I am talking to when I write about a car’s merits or demerits.
- Josh Max, Auto Gigolo
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