Detroit News Rips Blogger A New One
We're big fans of The Detroit News (DTN). While we never hesitate to hold the paper's editorial feet to the proverbial fire for failing to maintain a jaundiced journalistic eye, we respect the comprehensiveness of their coverage. But the paper's decision to diss a blogger reveals a side of their 'tude that makes us wonder if the patrician paper will ever understand the distinction between "us" (jobbing journos) and "them" (the car industry). A Business Insider piece mocked the cluelessness of a Joblo.com blogger at a Ford Mustang Bullitt intro. "JoBlo didn't show much interest in the 4.7-liter V-8 with a cold-air intake, the brushed aluminum dash or the enhanced suspension that lets the car cut corners like an ultra-cool movie icon. In fact, during the first day of the drive, he talked about movies, life in L.A. and the cool fog coming off of the mountains, which reminded him of 'Friday the 13th' movies. When it came time for JoBlo to take the wheel, he passed, citing one problem Ford forgot to check. 'I really don't know how to drive a stick,' he said." Not nice.
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Bluecon, Ford didn't make a 5.0 liter V-8 either, but it didn't stop them from putting a "5.0" badge on about a million 4.9s.
How many journos invited to these things even care about cars? Many auto PR gigs include every lifestyle magazine (blog, etc) under the sun to get the message out. And considering the popularity of car rags these days, that's not a bad idea. Oh, and the 5.0L was a 4.94889L engine. Considering the number of misleading German monikers (SL65 anyone?) I'll let that one slide. Not to mention they were selling a 4.9L I-6 at the same time.
I'll let Ford slide on that as well---my 2.5 litre 3 Series was labeled as a 323 for some silly BMW derived reason---the next grade up was the 2.8 litre 328---apparently BMW thought 325 (the way the car should have been branded) was too close to 328 for comfort. Very silly indeed.
Can't drive a stick? Poor guy (snicker).