Bird Chatter
Auto media
Auto Paedia
Access journalism: Did it help fuel U.S. auto industry’s decline?
Access journalism is what the Columbia Journalism Review (2014) defines as providing “insider information from powerful institutions and people.” This is a different kind of reporting — requiring “different skills, different practices, and different sources” that “produce […]
Media Analysis
Commentators agree Keith Crain doesn’t ‘get it’
An overwhelming majority of commentators took Keith Crain (2019) to task for a recent Automotive News column where he questioned the viability of a rapid shift to electric vehicles. “The horse farriers of the 19th […]
Auto Paedia
Accountability journalism: An endangered species in auto media
This is a form of journalism that holds people and institutions accountable for their actions. The Columbia Journalism Review (2014) noted that the difference between accountability journalism and access reporting is that the latter tells you “what […]
Current Events
Surveys find sexism still powerful in auto industry
When I started reading Automotive News in the mid-70s, one thing that struck me was how few women were in leadership positions. Only one or two would be listed on two-page displays of industry “all […]
Media Analysis
All-time best climate change coverage by auto media?
A notable exception to the automotive media’s lack of attention to climate change was a package of stories Automotive News published in 2007. No, not last month or last year — a decade ago. Let’s […]
Media Analysis
‘How Stuff Works’ quiz says this is a 1971 Gremlin. Nope.
How Stuff Works recently advertised a quiz about vehicles from the 1970s (Tyler, 2018). The promo stated that “no one is getting a perfect score . . . and it’s driving the Internet crazy!” I […]
Drive-By Musings
TTAC writer compares Nissan Juke to your ex
Sometimes harried automotive writers have to scratch the outer reaches of their creativity to come up with an engaging story angle. As a case in point, consider Matt Posky’s (2018) take on Nissan’s production of […]
Media Analysis
Keith Crain: They’re coming to take our fast cars!
Keith Crain sounds sad. The editor-in-chief of Automotive News predicts that governments will “do their best to try to ban any vehicles that have even the slightest hint of performance using conventional fuels such as gasoline” (Crain, […]
Links
Automotive History Preservation Society
This nonprofit organization has been collecting and posting on its website brochures, advertisements, technical information and public relations materials since 2010. The range of materials for American cars is less comprehensive than the Old Car […]