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The Road Ahead - December 2008

December 15, 2008 in Road Ahead by Glenn Campbell | No comments

“Western world media is on the brink of two years of carnage” according to the digital director of England’s Guardian newspaper, Emily Bell. As reported in the Immediate Network’s Press, PR & Media Digest, she told a gathering of digital leaders, “We are at the meeting point of a systematic downturn and a cyclical collapse… Nobody in my business has a grip on it yet.  Survivors will have to undergo what is essentially an unprofitable existence.”The Road Ahead: What Lies Ahead for Auto Journalists?

Writing in Online Spin, Dave Morgan says, “Many believe that the Tribune bankruptcy filing represents just the first domino in an inevitable series of sweeping announcements and events involving traditional media companies. I agree with that notion. I think that much more will follow, and follow quickly. He predicts more newspaper bankruptcies, newspapers losing investors and advertisers, local broadcasters benefiting, publication frequency dropping and more “online only” newspapers. In an earlier column he said,” Printing presses, massive mailrooms, fleets of delivery trucks and drivers don’t belong in newspaper companies any more.. . . The days of trees to trucks vertical integration are over, as are their distractions.”

Also from the Immediate Network, England’s Press Gazette reported, “Newmedia expert Ryan Sholin says he would expect the next generation of journalists to bring a ‘trinity of multimedia, interactivity and data skills’ to job interviews.”  According to Sholin, these are the questions they will need to answer:

  • Can you code a Flash stage for chaptered soundslides?
  • Can you edit audio, photos and video into a compelling multimedia presentation?
  • Can you manage a community of users?
  • Can you moderate comments and forums, reader contributed stories, photos and video?
  • Can you build applications that combine info from multiple sources into one integrated tool?
  • Can you design interactive graphics in Flash?

Not good news for many veteran autowriters looking for work in a shrinking market.

The Tom-Tom - Glenn Campbell

December 15, 2008 in The Tom-Tom by Glenn Campbell | 4 comments

Autowriters.com editor Glenn Campbell invites any reader to submit his or her thoughts on this or any other topic pertaining to automotive journalism or the auto world in general.

I Told You So

Three outstanding candidates for the “I told you so” award are Dan Neil of the Los Angeles Times, Robert Farago of The Truth About Cars web site and Peter DeLorenzo, of The Auto Extremist web site. Each richly deserves consideration for predicting what General Motors is now admitting in supplications before Congress.

Autowriters.com Editor & Publisher Glenn Campbell

Glenn F. Campbell

Neil earned his shot at the award a few years back by stating in the midst of a new car review that the top executives of the company that made it should be fired. Farago easily qualifies with the steady drumbeat of the “GM Death Watch” dirge on his web site which had 222 verses at last look. And Delorenzo made the finals with his frequent rants making cogent pleas for rapid change at the car maker.

Neil got plenty of bang for his two-cents worth of opinion. GM withdrew its corporate advertising from the paper and strenuously sought similar action by all of its dealers in the market. When that brought nearly universal bad press, top executives took a jet to Los Angeles and reached a curious agreement with the Times: the advertising would return, Neil could continue to review cars as he saw them but, apparently, the Pulitzer prize-winning writer would not be able to draw any conclusions about the leadership of the company that made them. Later on in an Orwellian twist, GM’s PR vice president at the time was fired and renewed efforts to change the public’s perception of the company were undertaken.

Farago hammered on his obsession with GM’s fatal flaws to the extent that it became routine and its news and shock value diminished. He however, did not have the marketing clout of the Los Angeles Times and his reward was being ignored by GM and he and his writers deprived of press cars to drive. In fairness, Farago’s ability as one writer put it, “to never find a car he couldn’t diss” earned him similar treatment by other car makers.

Delorenzo comes to the awards podium from another tack. Armed with extensive insider contacts, a ton of experience in the marketing of cars and a serious understanding of how cars are made and perform, he has been the loyal opposition, making critiques intended to spur change in a company he obviously wanted to succeed. In return, he has been neither challenged nor shunned and certainly has been an outlet for GM workers thirsting for change. Possibly he was even used by GM to leak and thereby condition the public at a much slower pace to the inevitable blows that came rapidly once the company turned to Washington for help.

However, the “I Told You So” award would hardly be icing on Neil’s much frosted journalistic cake. For DeLorenzo, it would be a bitter reminder of what he did not want to happen, at least in this fashion. That leaves Farago as the recipient with full rights to say it as often as he chooses. Otherwise, as recounted, there seems little profit in being a prophet - one is proscribed, another denied and a third co-opted.

Autowriters Spotlight: Don & Merle Norton

December 15, 2008 in Autowriters Spotlight by Glenn Campbell | No comments

A&M Specialists should not slip quietly under a merger blanket without being recognized (indeed, thanked) for starting what has become an indispensable part of automotive journalism – full time, professional press fleet jockeys.

A&M Founder Don Morton

Don Morton

It began when a Detroit television personality, the late John Spears, was delivered a damaged press car to review. It sparked an idea that he took to Don Morton, former general manager of Hurst Performance and of Detroit Dragway, which he had helped build. They agreed on a plan and took it to Chrysler PR honcho Moon Mullins who gave it life by committing the Chrysler press fleet to their care in 1974.

For Mullins, innovative and always open to offsetting the larger budgets and staffs of his competitors, A&M was a way to save staff time and reduce the stress of getting vehicles to and from the media as promised and in A-1 shape. Don Morton had always been involved with specialty car design and development and that know-how was an important part of the service A&M offered. Vehicles were right when they left the premises.

Their first location was a forlorn, abandoned three-bay gas station on the edge of Detroit’s downtown, with four employees and a cadre of friends to help with long distance moves. Although they did do some work early on for Chrysler’s Marine division, the name stood for Automotive and Marine, mainly because Don liked the sound of the name and liked watercraft. The business grew and they re-located but, unfortunately, three years after they began, John Spears succumbed to cancer.

Later, in the 80’s, Don suffered a heart attack and his wife, Merle, left her post in HR at WDIV-TV in Detroit to take over the management of A&M. By the time it merged with Specialty Transport to form STI Fleet Specialists, A&M had 182 employees at 9 locations across the U.S. and more than a dozen competitors specializing in transporting new cars not only for the media but for special events and activities staged by the car companies.

Autowriters Spotlight: Merle Morton

Merle Morton

For the most part, Merle recalls, it has been a very straightforward business of moving vehicles from point a to point b and maintaining them in between. However, she recalls Don once waiting for a copy of a speech to be completed and then taking a plane late that evening to deliver it to Lee Iacocca’s hotel suite when Chrysler was seeking loan guarantees from the government. Another time he had to fly on a moment’s notice to Italy for the same purpose.

John, Don and Merle conceived and validated the concept of a press fleet management company and they, along with Mullins, deserve recognition and gratitude for doing so.

Road Signs: November 2008

November 19, 2008 in Road Signs by Glenn Campbell | No comments

Wooden Horse reports AutoWeek has reduced its frequency to bi-weekly effective with the January 5, 2009 issue, but will not change its name. “Modifying the frequency of the magazine’s distribution allows us to focus on more comprehensive editorial features and vehicle reviews,” said vice president and publisher KC Crain.  . . .U.S.News and World Reports will be online only next year. . . . Executives at this year’s American Magazine Conference predicted more magazine closings than openings during 2009. Niche spin-offs like Vogue For Men and Sports Illustrated for Kids soon will be history and more to follow as ad pages dwindle and when environmentalists focus on the connection between paper-making and global climate change.

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