Daily Podcast: No Good Reporter Goes Unpunished
We're preparing our reapplication for press credentials to the Detroit Auto Show, but it's hard to know what to send. TTAC's mono-maniacal Managing Editor Frank Williams sent in the original application, and Frank didn't get to be a Lt. Colonel in the USAF by failing to follow directions. My phone conversation with the PR flack didn't help; the credentials committee (whose members' names she declined to reveal) doesn't provide an explanation for their rejections. Which is fair enough, given the thousands of journalists who flock– or seek to flock– to The North American International Auto Show each year. My gut tells me this is personal. But I don't want to make it so until after I jump this final hurdle. And if our reapplication finds favor, I will publicly declare my faith in The Detroit Auto Dealers' Association– who run the gig– and state my desire to have the credentials committee's baby. Meanwhile, suffice it to say that TTAC is dedicated to telling the truth (duh). We will not compromise this mission for anyone, anytime, ever. If that means we're denied press cars (as we are) or access to auto show press days, so be it.
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By doing so, they only give TTAC more street cred, and and more bite when the next review of a crappy Detroiter rolls around. Because even more people will be reading it and they see the truth for themselves.
In theory, isn't the auto show independant from the participants? If the rejection is truly personal, then that takes despicable to a whole new level. I can't imagine that really is the case, however. I suspect they just don't want every Tom, Dick and Harry with a car blog to be able to get press credentials at the show. They just need to be encouraged to recognize, as we readers have, that TTAC is not just another fanboi blog, but a (mostly) serious automotive site. Were unique visitors and page views included on the first application?
Mastermik: it isn't about the cost. Accredited press reps get to attend the press day before the show is opened to the public. That's where they dish all the PR spin (which of course we expect TTAC to parse and expose for the bs it is) and unveil the new concepts and grand plans. It is also where you have access to manufacturer reps to ask tough questions of.
i cannot help this, ya think someone at THE tube might have some say in this?