Would you like to sip a little tea with us? Become a member and find out what’s going on in the larger world of automotive journalism.
Top photo: Newspress
Would you like to sip a little tea with us? Become a member and find out what’s going on in the larger world of automotive journalism.
Top photo: Newspress
Nice (redacted) 908/3 !
Is that chassis number 004?
Happy subscriber supporting journalistic integrity; keep it coming!
I think the concept of this piece is fine, but by hiding /redacting the company, the car and the referenced article I find this piece incredibly unsatisfying. This article absolutely should have had a link to the original story. If you feel you can’t link the original article, don’t publish this piece.
Now I’m going to have to spend the next 3 days trying to find the original article, and when I do I still won’t know if I found it. Again, this is the most unsatisfying / frustrating article I’ve yet read on this site
This may or may not be the relevant story: https://www.theautopian.com/wtf-is-going-on-with-the-volkswagen-id-buzz/
It didn’t take that long to find.
Hello and welcome to Neutral Gossip. Today’s guest is Jason Torchinsky. Jason, what’s your relationship with gossip?
complex
Really?… I heard its quite favorable from multiple sources who shall not be named.
I would listen to this podcast.
Glad you upheld your journalistic standards, David and Torch! As far as I’m concerned whoever it is can f@ck off.
That article created a lot of bad Buzz for mr PR. iD have responded exactly like David, but it’s probably best Jason was the one on the spot.
This feature is great, especially seeing how people in the industry respond to things you’ve written.
That might have been the Very Worst thing a pr rep could have done.
Wurst? Ha ha
Nice. Mad I didn’t do it.
I see what you did there!
It’s awesome that The Autopian is so important to this car company! It just shows you’re viewed as influential and trusted. Also, I love a good Exhaust Leak.
Counterpoint: My VW has a TERRIBLE exhaust leak and that was before the muffler rusted off.
Jason and David are beefing with Melkus’s PR flak!
I like this as far as it goes, but I like low-lifes exposed by name. Don’t say somebody spit in your face. Say, “J. Hollingsworth Lardbottom spit in my face.”
Name and shame!
I’m here for this. Less because I want gossip, but more because I enjoy behind-the-scenes stuff (sometimes more than the final product, though not here).
I am often not fondly regarded by sales people due to my…skeptical, even by engineer standards…nature regarding their intent. I hate being told something by sales and PR folks when it is demonstrably not true. Saying there is nothing to look at when there obviously is drives me crazy – don’t tell me there is nothing, tell me why you don’t want me to look, or better yet, why it is not in my best interests to look. Some folks get this, some don’t, but being petulant about it in public would have me responding like David right to their face.
I can read press releases, as well as the next idiot. What I come here for are the behind-the-scenes stuff that reveal the true nature of the automobile, business and human nature. Keep going in this direction, and life will be good for the Autopian.
Reporters build trust when they represent to the very best of their ability and knowledge, what is going on. Reporters can build even more trust when they admit they are wrong, fed bogus information, or have updated information to report. You shouldn’t have to take stories down, because that destroys history, but you should absolutely, 100%, go back and update the story, with an update in the headline in the updated part of the story clearly identified in the body of the article. So let’s just admit one thing right here before we go any further, OK? Car makers are in business to sell cars. This website is in business to sell clicks. Fairness, accuracy, and up-to-date information provided to your readers should not be at the expense of either of those two goals.
In this case, there was nothing to update since the original story wasn’t wrong. The story wasn’t about what one arm of the company said, since we confirmed it was incorrect, it was about how the company seemed to have so many issues with that specific vehicle, including talking about it.
Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Oh, wait…
“Fuck off” is probably a little harsher than I would have worded it, given that you might need cooperation from this person or his associates in the future, but I agree with the sentiment behind it.
I bee-live that fuck off was internal. I hope, at least.
This was internal.
Until now, hope that PR person isn’t a member. Awkward. If all else fails tell Adrian the PR guy was the one membership that made the Rodius real.
Love the format, love the inside look.
Y’all are absolutely right here. There’s an old line in journalism, “when a politician tells you something in confidence, always ask yourself ‘Why is this lying bastard lying to me?'” – that the employee’s comment was contradicted by the company’s official statement and position is not an indication by any stretch at all that there’s no story there. Back when we used to pay for journalists, that was, in fact, a tell that there was probably a story there.
Why yes, I am absolutely down to sip tea from an exhaust or whatever the hell we’re doing with entertainingly petty drama for fun here! I live for this sort of silliness! That said, it’s not your job to make PR people happy when they can’t get their story straight; that’s a them problem, not a you problem.
I love this premise. It’s easy to just say I love gossip, but this isn’t just tawdry inside baseball, it provides a deeper inside look at the automotive industry.
Too often, sites are accused of going too easy on companies in reviews (not something I’m accusing the Autopian of), but this is definitely not playing softball. It makes me feel involved in the industry, it really justifies membership here!
I definitely like this type of article, I’ll look forward to these in the future.
Definitely keep it coming. I for one was most surprised at DTs response. It was correct but he always seems so polite.
Its the polite ones you gotta watch out for.
To the question of Exhaust Leaks? I love it.
About the PR person? If all the PR people like you, as a journalist you’re not doing your job. It’s a bell curve. Some you always share a beer with, some you’ve gotta bang heads with, as they’re overstepping the relationship (as noted in the article).
I get why that PR person was upset. They’re dealing with a hot mess and it’s not their fault that someone in the company spoke to the press without authorization.
But it’s not your fault either. You got inside information about the industry you cover, and you published it. You’re not responsible for this company’s lack of oversight over their own employees.
Add me to the yes column.
I’ll gladly take all of the exhaust leaks you can give me, provided I don’t get carbon monoxide poisoning.
I’ll add my “yes” to Exhaust Leaks.
Good stuff!
This is great – love the peek under the hood.
You badmouthed the Morgan three-wheeler, didn’t you?!
“Bloody” is a bloody good clue.