Bird Chatter
Automotive News
Auto Paedia
Groupthink
A tendency toward groupthink has been a chronic problem in the American automobile industry since the mid-50s. This was a key driver of the domestic automakers’ dramatic decline from the late-60s onward. More recently, foreign […]
Auto Paedia
Auto industry consolidation: Putting profits ahead of robust competition
The necessity of industry consolidation has long been a popular idea among auto executives and pundits. The basic argument has been that the automotive industry — both in the U.S. as well as globally — […]
Auto Paedia
Access journalism: Did it help fuel U.S. auto industry’s decline?
Access journalism is what the Columbia Journalism Review (2014) defines as providing “insider information from powerful institutions and people.” This is a different kind of reporting — requiring “different skills, different practices, and different sources” that “produce […]
Media Analysis
Commentators agree Keith Crain doesn’t ‘get it’
An overwhelming majority of commentators took Keith Crain (2019) to task for a recent Automotive News column where he questioned the viability of a rapid shift to electric vehicles. “The horse farriers of the 19th […]
Media Analysis
Retiring editor does the old soft-shoe routine
Richard A. Johnson (2019) recently offered wry reflections about his 35 years at Automotive News. It’s a fitting coda for a longtime reporter and editor of a trade journal that covers such a powerful and […]
Auto Paedia
Accountability journalism: An endangered species in auto media
This is a form of journalism that holds people and institutions accountable for their actions. The Columbia Journalism Review (2014) noted that the difference between accountability journalism and access reporting is that the latter tells you “what […]
Data Dive
Are boutique brands worth the trouble?
When Volkswagen decided to discontinue its “new” Beetle, it did not have to deal with logistical issues such as remodeling showrooms like Toyota had to do when the Scion brand was phased out. That’s because […]
Current Events
Surveys find sexism still powerful in auto industry
When I started reading Automotive News in the mid-70s, one thing that struck me was how few women were in leadership positions. Only one or two would be listed on two-page displays of industry “all […]
Media Analysis
All-time best climate change coverage by auto media?
A notable exception to the automotive media’s lack of attention to climate change was a package of stories Automotive News published in 2007. No, not last month or last year — a decade ago. Let’s […]