In Which We Bid Farewell to The Newsbot and Replace It With …

by Mark Stevenson

Published: January 29th, 2016

in which we bid farewell to the newsbot and replace it with

… well, nobody.

Allow me to explain.

After nine months of running TTAC more or less solo, with the exception of Aaron’s stewardship on the daily-news side of things, I’ve realized it’s time for a change. For starters, I’m tired. Working 60- and 70-hour weeks for nine months straight is not healthy for anyone. At the same time, the competitive pressures are increasing, and the automotive media landscape is changing, with large media and technology companies investing not-insignificant sums of money into automotive outlets.

We can’t go toe-to-toe or dollar-for-dollar with those outlets, so instead we will focus on providing content that fits TTAC and your desires. In a way, we need to go back to our roots.

What does that mean? Here it is in a nutshell:

The newsbot is being deactivated: Aaron did a fantastic job here at TTAC, and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. However, the pressures of doing daily news when competing with other much larger organizations means we either 1) arrive at the news too late, or 2) gloss over it due to time constraints. You deserve better than that. Aaron did a great job with the resources we had for him, but they weren’t enough to do things the way I (or you) wanted them done. Which brings me to the second point …
We’ll still do news, but we’ll do it differently: Instead of relying on one person in this area, I will be sourcing news pieces from all of our writers, including more pieces from yours truly. After all, the news is important to me. The majority of my day, however, is filled with editing, managing the budget, doing social media posts, and a wide variety of other tasks that leave no time for writing. Which brings me to point number three …
You’ll see Jack more often: In an effort to lighten my workload, I’ve tapped JB to assist in editing. (Including this one —JB) He’ll once again be a daily part of TTAC, at least in the short term. Thanks to his help, we’ll be able to bring you more of what you want. Which takes me directly to point four …
More reviews and features: You’ve spoken. I’ve listened. You may have noticed Bark M. has been making more appearances as of late and we have a great first review from valued contributor Chris Tonn. If everything comes together the way I’m envisioning, we will be posting more features than news — whether it be from our established cadre of writers, or from you. (To those of you who have emailed me your reader pieces: We’ll be reaching out to you soon. Thank you for your patience.)

Traditionally, TTAC has been equally (in)famous for its strong editorial character and for keeping the automakers, automotive media, and the establishment as a whole just a little bit more honest. Robert Farago founded TTAC on a single tenet: no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners automobile reviews and auto industry analysis. Over the years, our compass has occasionally drifted away from true north — but that drift ends here.

Now, it’s time for you to have your say. Specifically, I want to hear from you on a couple of topics: What does TTAC mean to you? And what do you want TTAC to be for you? This is your chance. Type wisely, my friends!

Mark Stevenson

More by Mark Stevenson

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3 of 210 comments

AprilFools on Jan 31, 2016

I'm going to enjoy the new look/feel over the next few months. The insight, history, and behind the scenes into the auto industry is very interesting, and why I first visited and stayed. That is what I feel is missing from other auto websites. I really liked reading Tom's mini van saga.

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- Highdesertcat on Jan 31, 2016
  
  "That is what I feel is missing from other auto websites." My "must reads" include http://www.autonews.com http://www.motortrend.com http://www.freep.com/autos/ http://www.detroitnews.com/autos/ http://www.caranddriver.com http://autoweek.com http://www.edmunds.com http://www.kbb.com https://www.yahoo.com/autos http://www.wsj.com/news/business/transportation http://www.usatoday.com/money/ http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos
  
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TerraNova on Feb 01, 2016

Tell Jack not to write ridiculous puff pieces for Road & Track (what editor bought that?) and then come back to TTAC and expect us to think things are looking up.

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