Re: High Gear Media
Though many internet sites do not yet have much of a budget to hire professional writers, some do and it’s worthwhile to search those publications out instead of giving away your talent for free to those online publications who don’t value your talent enough to pay for them.
It’s the old saying ”why buy the milk if the cow is free” scenario in automotive journalism these days. It may be tempting to give your articles free to internet publications (looking for “publicity” ) but as long as they can get them for free they will never pay. There are some publication that do pay for articles and those are the ones we should be seeking as a place to send work.
High Gear Media calls itself “ . . . a next generation media company that publishes more automotive content than anyone in the world through websites targeting key buyer and vehicle segments . . .”
Having gone to the trouble of reading through the rules of their “writing contest” and visiting several of their websites, I believe I can clearly describe their business model: Prostitution.
High Gear’s use of the term “open content platform” is a loosely disguised way of saying, “You write for free.”
I’d call it what it is: Journalistic slavery.
They have no respect for editorial and they have no respect for writers, automotive or otherwise.
But, hey, they give you a byline . . . and that must be worth something.
Not to me it isn’t. And I hope it isn’t to anyone else with professional writing credentials.
I, for one, will never visit any of their websites again. In this arena the eyeballs have it. And without “eyes” High Gear will quickly meet its demise.
I would also hope that any legitimate advertiser would see through this scam for what it is and not advertise on any High Gear site. Let your ad dollars do the talking . . . and the walking.
I am also disappointed that an organization such as Tesla would have allowed itself to be sucked into participating in this “writing contest sham.” Did anyone at Tesla read the rules?
The best thing that could happen would be for no one to submit anything to High Gear. Those non words will get your message across loud and clear. And leave High Gear idling in neutral with a real mess on their hands.
John Dinkel
High Gear Media Win a Tesla test? What planet are we on? Oh, I get it send in your boxtops and you too can be a journalist.
Kate McLeod
girldriverusa@gmail.com
Re: November Road Ahead
As an automotive technical writer, I see so much misinformation, disinformation and nonsense on the internet it makes me wonder how anybody gets accurate information.
The problem with mob-sourced media is that the blind are often leading the blind. And those who shout the loudest and longest garner most of the attention whether they are right or wrong.
If a website is going to provide accurate information or informative reviews, you need informed writers and editors creating the copy.
As for allowing reader comments following an article or dialogue, I think it distracts from the content unless the article is controversial or is open to opinion. Many follow-up comments are off the subject, are posted to promote a product or another website, or are of minimal value in my opinion. Consequently, you waste a lot of time deleting junk comments and responding to silly questions that don’t really deserve a response.
Larry Carley
Lcarley256@aol.com
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