Thread: Journalistic Credibility???

:wink:

i know some excellent ones and some not so good hacks.


welcome to aulro ..... how did you find out about this little kafuffle?

Hey All,

Interesting thread and interesting points of view. Personally I buy most of the mags, cause I just love to sit down and have a good read on places people go, product reviews anything landy of course etc etc. Whilst only being new into the 4WD world, I would make an assumption that credibility goes along way. In another forum :roll: , it was made mention that these " 4WD of the year" had no value, moreso when a D3 was voted as best 4by. My arguement was that it had won across not only the majors here in Oz but overseas as well.

The generic response was that it was "journalists" who made the decision. Correct me if I am wrong but I would have to say that in the majority, it would be people who aren't journalists ( and of course some who are) but can string a sentence together and have the experience in the field, hence why they are in a "judging" position. For sure there are probably some in any field that have a bias of some sort, therefore like anything it is up to the end consumer to make the final call.

So anyone know when any of the new mags are coming out, Im getting withdrawals :wink:

Regards

Stevo

P.S. Love 4X4 Australia so does that mean I can get a free subby??

Journalists - have to report to their Editors - and Editors have to report to the General Manager who reports to the Board of Directors who report to the Shareholders and that means bottom line ($$$$$$). Notice how an editor was quick to go to the defence of his product when he thought the veracity (read bottom line) was threatened. Of course there's bias in any form of media and anyone is off with the fairies if they believe that magazines are published (or any other form of media for that matter) for the common good. What the discerning reader has to do is sort out the facts (if any) from the b/s thats published and read with a "jaundiced eye". Even the pretty pictures can be "Adjusted" to reinforce a story.

In Moonie's defence he does actually OWN a TVan and it appears often in his articles and books being towed behind his Nissan, so he's not just a paid voice but an actual user.
He obviously likes the TVan the most, so he has his views and can compare other campers with the TVan.
Personally, I think the TVan is claustrophobic, but everyone has their own opinion.
I think it's a bit rough to accuse him of lacking credibility just because he endorses a product he owns and uses, and is less enthusiastic about another product.
He owns a Nissan Patrol, but that doesn't stop him reviewing Toyotas or Landies.
Can you read betwene the lines in his camper review and see why he is less enthusiastic about it? It hasn't reached Bangkok yet so I haven't seen the mag.

Disclaimer: I'm also a journo, but I don't work in 4WD and have never met Ron Moon.

I agree that at times when reading some of our 4x4 mags... you can easily think that Journalistic and Credibility are mutually exclusive groups...

Sorry Dean ops: ops:

BUT as others have said there are some good ones - and I think you will find that Ron Moon will have been pretty fair on this.

A year or so he did an article on Tambo trailers - he was VERY positive about their quality and price - he had a small critisism about the kitchens. I own a Tambo and he was absolutely spot on....

So I agree with the sentiment that Journos need to be VERY careful of conflicts of interest between ther advertisers and their reponsibility to their readers. But I think this example may be a bit harsh...

Mark

Fellas,

I've said what I wanted to say and will try not to get into further debate on this subject. If you like the mag, buy it. If you don't...

On another topic, I found about this debate via my Sub Editor who owns a 2003 Discovery Td5. He reckons this website is tops!

I'm also a bit of a Landy fanatic. I currently own a 1978 ex-army Series III (with the dodgy 2.6-litre Rover petrol six). Previously, I had a SWB IIA (2.25-litre petrol four).

If I've got it right, there should be a pick of my Landy with this posting.

Dean

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>If I've got it right, there should be a pick of my Landy with this posting.
[/b][/quote] Nah, try again :wink: ,

Regards

Stevo

Hi Dean, welcome to the forum.

I know you dont want to go into any debates, which is fair enough. I think as Land Rover owners we often cop alot of unecessary crap and often, even if only a passing remark some journos seem to thrown in the odd cheap shot about land rovers in any article regadless of relevance or not.

And for us out here in reader land it is sometimes seen that some mags might favour certain products regardless of whether they do or not. Matt