Media share the blame for NA automakers' collapse

[Dunemeister]

Interesting article from the CBC, worth checking out:

Car company failures? Blame the media

Note that the article doesn't blame the whole thing on the media, but points out that the North American media's business model put auto reporters and the papers they wrote for at the mercy of the manufacturers. There was little critical reporting because there were strong financial incentives to avoid it. Yet if the media had questioned industry practices rather than fawning over SUVs, it may well have caused the manufacturers to change their practices and as a result they may not have suffered such a drastic meltdown.

Thoughts?

 

[rojse]

I think that various forms of media should critically review anything that it gets it's hands on, otherwise, I am reading a glorified advertising brochure.

 

[Dunemeister]

I agree. However, how can auto reporters do that when their newspapers are beholden to advertisers who just happen to be auto manufacturers? It seems to me that the media business model has to change so that it's not so dependent on advertising.

 

[rojse]

I agree. However, how can auto reporters do that when their newspapers are beholden to advertisers who just happen to be auto manufacturers? It seems to me that the media business model has to change so that it's not so dependent on advertising.

Perhaps when the media are willing to criticise somethign when it is bad, when it says something is good, people will believe what is said, and might be more willing to buy said car.

I like the Top Gear example they gave. When I watch that show, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are not afraid to criticise a car, and make relevant comparisons to either previous cars of that manufacturer, or cars of different makes but the same class.

And you need critical opposition, otherwise, how will you know when you are not doing your job well, and what you are doing wrong?

 

[brbubba]

All forms of media are on the take. I don't even watch US news anymore simply due to it's clear bias. Compare something as simple as the BBC news report to CNN/FOX/etc and you will quickly see what I mean. There's a distinct move away from "real" news and the little real news that gets played has a distinct spin to it many times omitting key details. And the talk shows which are supposed to represent critical thought are a joke. They are more closely classified as psychotic rants where logic and intelligence are completely ignored. I can watch 5 minutes of any news talk show and pick out about a dozen logical fallacies.

 

[Revoltingest]

Note that the article doesn't blame the whole thing on the media, but points out that the North American media's business model put auto reporters and the papers they wrote for at the mercy of the manufacturers. There was little critical reporting because there were strong financial incentives to avoid it. Yet if the media had questioned industry practices rather than fawning over SUVs, it may well have caused the manufacturers to change their practices and as a result they may not have suffered such a drastic meltdown.

My family worked (works) in the auto industry. What we saw that vexed us most was:
- Lack of commitment to quality of design & manufacture
- Short-sightedness in controlling labor costs
- Bad management
- Unions creating costs & inefficiencies

 

[Smoke]

Obviously, the media should be reproached for their lack of proper standards in this case -- and frankly, in most cases.

However, I still put the blame for the crisis in American auto manufacturing squarely on the manufacturers. There's no point in blaming paid shills for doing exactly what the auto manufacturers paid them to do. It was the manufacturers' job to be aware of the history and pitfalls of their own industry, and to detect the rather obvious flaws in their business model.

 

[brbubba]

My family worked (works) in the auto industry. What we saw that vexed us most was:
- Lack of commitment to quality of design & manufacture
- Short-sightedness in controlling labor costs
- Bad management
- Unions creating costs & inefficiencies

Unions are seriously horrible at some shops. It's gotten to the point where engineers can't even touch machines. I've heard horror stories about it taking a full day to just plug in a machine due to the fact that a union work order had to be processed for one minute of work.

 

[Revoltingest]

Obviously, the media should be reproached for their lack of proper standards in this case -- and frankly, in most cases.

However, I still put the blame for the crisis in American auto manufacturing squarely on the manufacturers. There's no point in blaming paid shills for doing exactly what the auto manufacturers paid them to do. It was the manufacturers' job to be aware of the history and pitfalls of their own industry, and to detect the rather obvious flaws in their business model.

The media aren't uniformly pro-US-auto industry. I've often seen them project a negative image (eg, Pinto gas tanks, Corvair handling safety), sometimes
even fictional (eg, electric car conspiracies, water powered car conspiracies, NBC attaching a rocket to a GM gas tank to demonstrate 'safety' problems).

 

[Engyo]

Blaming the media for the auto companies' meltdown because the media were in the companies' pocket and not being critical of the companies?

No blame for the auto companies' threatening to pull advertising from papers who criticized their products? No blame for the auto companies' willful ignorance regarding their eroding quality? and on and on and on........................