The Decline and Fall of Automotive Journalism
Posted by freedomforall 2 years, 2 months ago to Politics
Excerpt:
"“Mainstream” – that is, corporate – journalism died when it was bought, as by the drug cartels (Kudos, Woody Harrelson). Car journalism fell victim to the same forces, which homogenized journalists, often in the name of superficial “diversity.” Too many men, many of whom drank and smoke and – worst of all – were white and straight. The corporations said: More women! Because they were women. Not because they could write. Not because they knew cars.
So why were they being hired to write about cars?
Well, because some of them had big . . .
I mean that literally because factually. I saw it. Not meaning the . . . but the rest of it.
One of the first “diversity” hires I witnessed hired was a woman who was put into the not-driver’s seat at USA Today, back when people still read it (this was the ’90s). She had as much business writing about cars as Liberace had writing about dating. Well, women. But she did have something. Two of them. So she was given – literally – the job and the rest of us guys watched and marveled, which was foolish of us, in the manner of watching and marveling at the sight of the tide receding from the beach, the water drawing back, far out to sea."
"“Mainstream” – that is, corporate – journalism died when it was bought, as by the drug cartels (Kudos, Woody Harrelson). Car journalism fell victim to the same forces, which homogenized journalists, often in the name of superficial “diversity.” Too many men, many of whom drank and smoke and – worst of all – were white and straight. The corporations said: More women! Because they were women. Not because they could write. Not because they knew cars.
So why were they being hired to write about cars?
Well, because some of them had big . . .
I mean that literally because factually. I saw it. Not meaning the . . . but the rest of it.
One of the first “diversity” hires I witnessed hired was a woman who was put into the not-driver’s seat at USA Today, back when people still read it (this was the ’90s). She had as much business writing about cars as Liberace had writing about dating. Well, women. But she did have something. Two of them. So she was given – literally – the job and the rest of us guys watched and marveled, which was foolish of us, in the manner of watching and marveling at the sight of the tide receding from the beach, the water drawing back, far out to sea."
