Autoweek Wants You To Know That It’s Not Literally Dead

Last week, Autoweek laid off four of its six full-time employees. The long-running automotive and racing publication, which switched from publishing a print magazine to a purely digital brand in 2019, received a lot of coverage for the decision, which left editor Natalie Neff and west coast editor Mark Vaughn as the only staffers responsible for shepherding the 72-year-old brand moving forward.

With such a reduction in workforce, it’s likely Autoweek won’t be the same as it was before. But Vaughn wants everyone to know that the publication isn’t literally dead.

You can read what Vaughn said below and come to your conclusion about how alive or dead the publication really is.

What Happened Here?

On August 26, social media began buzzing with rumors of Autoweek’s demise. After some reporting, I found out that four staffers—executive editor Tom Murphy, motorsports editor Myke Pryson, associate editor Jay Ramey, and associate editor Wesley Wren—were quietly laid off by Autoweek’s parent company, Hearst Autos. The car media juggernaut also owns Car and Driver, Road & Track, and MotorTrend. This’ll be important later.

In addition to the layoffs, a Hearst representative told me on background that Autoweek “will join the MotorTrend family of brands.” What that means isn’t exactly clear. In addition to MotorTrend itself, the MotorTrend Group consists of brands like Hot Rod, Roadkill, and Automobile—brands that exist in a vague middleground between truly dead and mostly dead.

When asked to clarify, Vaughn could only speculate on how the hierarchy has shifted.

“I’ve heard that, but I don’t know what that means,” he told me over the phone. “This is speculation on my part—Natalie is the editor of Autoweek, and she has to report to somebody, and I think, in corporate jargon, she is [now] reporting to Ed Loh.” (Ed Loh is the head of editorial for MotorTrend.)

“But it’s not like Ed Loh has been calling, saying, ‘Do more stories on Pontiac.'”

Vaughn went on to confirm there’s been no indication from the higher-ups to adjust Autoweek’s coverage, at least that he’s heard.

So How Will Autoweek Operate Going Forward?

Vaughn insists Autoweek will continue to provide world-class racing coverage. The publication relies on “maybe eight to 10” freelancers to chase stories down and recap weekend events, according to him. Following the layoffs, Vaughn says those freelancers will continue to provide the same services—no more, no less.

Importantly, he says Autoweek isn’t going to replace its laid-off staffers, who covered things car news and reviews during the week, with more freelancers.

“We have not increased the number of freelancers, and we have not put out a call for more freelancers or anything like that,” Vaughn says. “As far as I know—and I’m not the editor—I think that we seem to be happy with the freelancers that we have.”

As a result, he admits readers might see a shift in news coverage going forward.

“As you know, we cover news. That’s where you might notice a difference,” Vaughn told me. “Wesley Wren and Jay Ramey were writing news stories. They were two of the editors who were let go. 
So their take on world events, their voice, won’t be there.

“However, we are also part of the Hearst empire, and as such, we have access to any news story we want from Car and Driver and Road & Track, and we have put some of those [on the website].” (Having worked at Road & Track in the past, I can confirm the syndication of online news stories between the three brands is a common practice.)

With four fewer people on staff and the freelancer plan reportedly not changing, the ratio of full-timers to freelancers at Autoweek will see a big shift. Vaughn isn’t worried about the publication’s voice fading, however.

“I don’t see [Autoweek’s voice] changing,” he told me. “I’m still writing the way I write, and Natalie’s writing, I mean, she’s writing more now, certainly. But I hope that whatever the voice is or was, it shouldn’t change.”

As of this writing, Autoweek.com continues to publish stories. In a perfect world, it’ll stay that way forever.