While TTAC’s been busy chronicling the fall and fall of American automakers’ 100-year hegemony over the domestic auto industry, Autoblog’s been keeping its audience appraised of the latest modded cars, Mustangs and SEMA showpieces. Fair enough. We’re proud to be able to relieve AB of their obligation to blog hard news. But every now and then, AOL’s auto-bitch feels compelled to weigh-in on matters weighty. Normally, they take a predictable editorial line on Detroit’s disasters. That sucks. Good luck! And don’t don’t forget to park your latest whip in the Autoblog Garage. Thanks! So when there’s a change of tone at AB, it can only mean one thing. That REALLY sucks. Chris Shunk provides our excursion to the dark side of the moon (snicker snicker). After reporting on the Treasury Department’s “Just Say No” response to funding the GM – Chrysler merger, Shunk sums-up Motown’s End of Days, AB-style. “There is no doubt these are very troubled times for the U.S. auto industry, and it seems everything is happening very quickly right now. Most forecasts are pointing to a similarly dismal 2009, too, so this mess is far from over.” Thanks for the heads-up.
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AutoBlog: The Vanna White of automotive journalism.
Honestly, RF, you have a strange obsession with AB. Those of us who read both TTAC and AB realize that they’re at the whim of their AOL corporate overlords. We know that they get a lot of breaks simply because “AOL” is attached to their name.
You also need to give us more credit insofar as our collective ability to discern corporate shilling versus the more independent spirit of TTAC.
That said, I’m tired of reading about AB on TTAC — there’s the obvious “watching the watchers” going on, which I appreciate — but how the hell do you justify these childish back-and-forth bickerfests? Honestly, I’m glad you’re calling AB out — that’s an intrinsically Good Thing. Every recent post, however, is more than that — they seem to be petty contributions to a news topic that would otherwise *not* warrant a response.
Get over the whole Autoblog thing. So they’re funded by AOL and get to travel all round — so what? Keep doing what you’re doing, which is being truly honest about cars you review, and you will satisfy your readers. This sort of nonsense isn’t what we come to this site for.
maniceightball :
Exactly.
And under the category of “This sort of nonsense isn’t what we come to this site for”, I would respectfully add “TTAC’s Ten Best Cupholders 2008”.
I don’t know what I can add to maniceightball’s excellent post, except to say please stop writing st00pid articles of this nature. Not funny, informative, or in fact, anything at all.
Gentlemen,
The headlines are pretty clear. So if you don’t want to read posts about Autoblog, don’t.
Meanwhile, I will continue to take them to task.
As I’ve said many times before, it’s important to TTAC’s branding to tell our readers who we aren’t, as well as show them who we are. You can argue all you like about the intrinsic value of negative campaigning, but my guide in these matters is Al Reis, and the man knows his stuff.
I also believe that media parsonage (so to speak) is TTAC’s logical stomping ground. So stomp we will.
AB or their supporters are free to defend the site’s editorial here, there. elsewhere or nowhere, as they see fit. This is the conversation that the internet provides. And thank God for that.
wtf. The Top 10 Cupholders ruled.
RF: I agree with your opinions on AB, but the truth here is that you are not a martyr of some sort, but someone who brings info and news, pics and reviews about cars to the people. We demand the truth, but also for you to respect our wishes. It seems pretty clear there is a consensus that the AB coverage has gotten out of hand, I love your site, and I agree with you on these issues, but it’s just not what we want to read. That needs to carry more value for you, because you can truly accomplish both watch-dog journalism/maintaining a critical eye on others and providing the type of intelligent, tactful, and thoughtful car coverage that the readers desire at the same time.
“We demand the truth, but also for you to respect our wishes”
Damn, I hate it when the inevitable self-designated spokesperson stands up. (Where did I put that tomato?) And they alway have the same tone of voice, even in print.
I really don’t care much one way or the other, it isn’t that big a deal, and if it’s important to you, RF, then keep it up.
“We demand the truth, but also for you to respect our wishes.”
“Damn, I hate it when the inevitable self-designated spokesperson stands up.”
Seriously! Shut the hell up, Percieval – I don’t recall being surveyed.
What’s with all the whining about features you don’t like? So you don’t care for 5% of the content on this site – there’s this little wheel thing on your mouse, between the buttons. That’s called the “scroll wheel.” You’ll want to use that, instead of the “submit comment” button next time.
I’ve never understood people who think all websites are MyYahoo! and they can just remove the content they don’t care for. You don’t like seeing AutoBlog called out on their absurd, catering bullshit? Well, I do. SCROLL DOWN.
Besides: as I’ve pointed out before, the site is called “The TRUTH About Cars.” That’s a title and a mission statement. I think it follows pretty reasonably that, if a certain gigantic website is spouting its usual bullshit, TTAC is obligated to point it out. As a former reporter, that’s the content I’M looking for.
Besides, AutoBlog finally admitting that the Big 2.2 are in deep shit is news, for the same reason it us when the Detroit News takes GM to task. So that’s news, kids. And if you think there’s no reason for such an article to be snarky…you’re on the wrong website.
We should give credence to the opinion of an online publisher about a site that competes with that publisher for readers and advertising dollars for what reason?
Sniping and snarking at other automotive blogs and reminding us of neologisms coined here, or stories broken here seems a bit self promoting. Perhaps it is of a piece with offhand remarks about pricey performance cars the publisher has owned.
Robert, are you sure you want to be perceived as the Debbie Schlussel of the car blog world? Debbie’s not stupid and she’s broken some important stories so I check out her blog from time to time, but it’s obvious that the stories are secondary there – it’s all about Debbie.
Bozoer Rebbe :
It’s not about me. It’s about telling the truth about cars. Period.
Robert,
You’re not operating an altruistic non-profit, so the “period” seems a bit overstated. TTAC appears to be a business, not, as Lambo above alluded to, a martyrdom operation.
You rightly slam GM for not listening to its customers. Don’t make the same mistake. Four out of nine commenters on this thread expressed some level of dissatisfaction with your product. Admittedly, your advertisers, not your readers are your actual customers, just like eBay’s customers are the sellers there, not the buyers. If you ask sellers active on eBay you’ll find many share the opinion that eBay is more solicitous of the buyers there than the sellers. Though the sellers provide the revenue, without buyers there’d be no eBay.
“You rightly slam GM for not listening to its customers. Don’t make the same mistake. Four out of nine commenters on this thread expressed some level of dissatisfaction with your product.”
Ok, since this can of worms has opened up, I will chime in, I usually do something like this in a private email to RF, but I agree with the comment above and the others in the same vien. Please consider not doing this. Look, if AB were sniping at you you would have a leg to stand on and point out their foibles. But they aren’t. As a matter of fact the few times I’ve seen AB mention TTAC it has been in a positive light. It seems like there has been a couple dozen blog posts where TTAC has gotten on AB’s case. Now, I know it hasn’t really been 2 dozen, but the fact that it seems that way tells me it’s too much. So let be TTAC be TTAC and AB can be AB. We readers can decide who to go to for news, reviews, etc.
windswords :
Why am I not surprised at your reaction? And why have you guys forgotten about the silent majority?
The VAST majority of TTAC readers NEVER comment. While I understand that you may speak for many, I do not accept the idea that you speak for most.
The view counter is the best indication of the “success” of these posts. 396 views ain’t bad. Not great. But not bad.
And if I’m totally honest– which is, after all, the point– these WTF AB posts keep TTAC focused. I need to remind myself and my team why we do what we do the way we do it. (This is how we do it.)
Fair enough?
RF,
Never commenting and never forming an opinion about what they are reading are not necessarily the same thing. If you want to think that by not commenting that means they are in agreement with your posting that is your perogative. Also I wish to point out that I never pretend to speak for anyone but myself, although I’m sure there are those who agree as well as disagree with me.
“Four out of nine commenters on this thread expressed some level of dissatisfaction with your product.”
Uh, hate to break it to you, but four out of nine is a minority. So I guess everything’s fine!
So if you don’t want to read posts about Autoblog, don’t.
Well, to be snarky… obviously. We can also stop reading altogether — no one is forcing us to visit this site. But that response is sort of against the spirit of fostering a community. With a dynamic medium like this, you get the benefit of having audience interaction; clearly this is something you want, or you wouldn’t have enabled comments. I think the comments on this site are one of the cooler things about it — much better than the juvenile crap you see on other sites (AB has notoriously YouTube-like comments). There’s a cost to that, though, and that is that some people are going to hold the site to a higher standard as a sort of gentleman’s agreement. Maybe it was presumptuous of me to say what I said, and if this is the case, then I apologize. However, I think this type of corrective interaction between content creators and content consumers is one of the best things about the intertubes — witness successful community sites where users have vocalized (or its online analog) their issues. In most cases, it yields a net positive result.
Meanwhile, I will continue to take them to task.
Oh come on… how many times do you have to take them to task? And at this point, isn’t it a lost cause?
Uh, hate to break it to you, but four out of nine is a minority. So I guess everything’s fine!
Who says it needs to be a majority for it to be an issue? Some nontrivial portion of the site agrees that repetitive (and, I’d add, redundant) attacks against another site tend towards the petty with increased occurrence.
And just to end this comment on a high note, I do appreciate the positive AB posts — e.g. giving props to the Knight Rider liveblogs. While I’m not quite convinced they’re that great myself, I just wanted to recognize that it’s clear to me (and maybe the rest of the readers here?) that your posts aren’t a result of blind ill-will towards them.