Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution auto writer Rob Douthit wants to consider all the breaking auto news he can get for his new blog: Atlanta Auto Beat. It features reviews and news plus content targeted for the Atlanta metro area. He can be reached at robdouthit@hotmail.com . . . Road & Track Specials editor Andrew Bornhop has… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: October 2008
The Tom Tom: Vince Capece Follow-Up
I’ve been working in and around the automotive industry for a number of years and it always amazes me that there is such a wide variety of abilities in the people who are supposed to be the face to the public and the media. There are people who you will go out of your way to see at every event and there are people you will avoid as if your life (and more importantly, your sanity) depended on it. I remember a woman who worked at Honda that everyone spoke of in only the most glowing terms and there were similar people Subaru and Ford. But unfortunately, it’s the people on the other end of the spectrum that you tend to remember the most.
Autowriters Spotlight: Richard Truesdell
“I contribute each month to more than a dozen automotive, travel, and lifestyle publications around the world so I jealously protect my rights. As I don’t normally work with the luxury of signed contracts, I make it very clear – it’s printed on each and every one of my invoices – what my submission terms are. Normally, for domestic publications it will say ‘First North American serial right and concurrent web use’ which I think is pretty generous given how little some publications pay.”
The Tom-Tom: Al Vinikour
A dangerous and short-sighted trend has hit automotive public relations…and the auto industry in general and it’s already starting to bite management in the ass. I’m talking about massive shedding of senior people, the only employees who have any inkling of corporate history and what has, or hasn’t worked in the past.
The Road Ahead 10.2008
The dilution and decline of auto journalism decried in last month’s Newsletter along with the suggestion that it might be time for a National Auto Journalists Association brought a modest and mixed response