Whatever else one might say about Jack Baruth, his writing stands out among American automotive journalists. As a case in point, who else had the journalistic courage to offer a trenchant critique of David E. Davis shortly after he died (Baruth, 2011)? I have also been impressed with Baruth’s storytelling abilities.
Since I first started reading Baruth during his stint at The Truth About Cars, my main frustration has been with the unevenness of his writing. At times he could be downright brilliant. At other times he could come off as the obnoxious blowhard at the bar. To see what I mean, click on the link below.
Also see ‘Successful automotive journalists need to master these two rules’
Baruth and his brother publish a blog called Riverside Green that mostly focuses on cars. I don’t stop by very often, but my general impression is that in recent years Baruth has become more partisan, shrill and paranoid.
For example, in a recent story about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Baruth warned that if they “can break Vlad [Putin], they can break anyone.” He then suggested that you can protect yourself from being “cancelled” by obtaining “(g)old and silver in usable everyday amounts. Crypto, if you’re into that sort of thing. Enough defensive capability that you can’t be dominated by street-level political gangs and puppets” (Baruth, 2022; original italics).
I think I can guess who “us” is — people who align ideologically with Donald Trump. But who is “them?” From what I can tell, Baruth thinks they are the American “left.” Or the “Twitter mob.” Or what he calls the “Uniparty.”
Whatever happened to the sophisticated media critic who warned of “suck-and-rocks” websites that reject analytical nuance in favor of black-and-white thinking (2013)? I don’t know, but Baruth’s decline is tragic. He appeared to have the raw talent to become one of the more important automotive journalists of our time.
Riverside Green
- Free access
RE:SOURCES
- Baruth, Jack; 2011. “RIP David E. Davis, Jr.” The Truth About Cars. Posted March 27.
- ——; 2013. “Avoidable Contact: Torture, forgiveness, meaning.” The Truth About Cars. Posted March 29.
- ——; 2022. “(Last) Weekly Roundup: Breaking Vlad Edition.” Riverside Green. Posted March 9.
This is an updated version of a review originally posted on Jan. 16, 2018.
Jack’s brother Bark M. stopped by to state: “I’m thoroughly impressed that you managed to both read the entire post and not understand a single word of it. Nice work.”
What’s interesting about his comment is that he didn’t bother to offer any facts or logic to back up his critique. Just snark.