(This article represents the views of the author only and is not related to the position of the drivers.) ）
Auto media people's self-perception is often confusing. For example, in a certain county in a certain state in Jiangsu, if any media person does not pay attention to or report, at least some part of his heart will ask himself: "What is the meaning of my doing the media, do I not hear or ask about morality?" The automotive media can partially avoid this question because it's the job to focus on cars.
So specific to the automotive industry, is automotive media people ethical? For example, whether the automotive media has reported on the suicide or sudden death of those manufacturers that squeeze employees, whether it has reported on those manufacturers or 4S stores that have defrauded customers, and so on.
In general, the bottom line can still be maintained, and if an event has become public news, people can usually withstand the pressure of manufacturers to report. However, if the event does not complete the outbreak of public opinion in the initial stage, it will be easier to be suppressed by the manufacturer. Therefore, although the bottom line is kept, the line is generally not high. Even so, it is ethical for automotive media to do so.
Because automotive media is not "media." When we say social news, international news, legal news, and even sports news, entertainment news, and economic news, the media (or comprehensive media) in those fields are pure media, and their duty is to report the news in their field, whether good or bad, whether they offend people or not, their own duty is to report, and if they can't do it, they violate journalistic ethics.
Automotive media and fashion media belong to commercial media. In the comprehensive professional media, the real media department is responsible for reporting the news, the car and fashion sections are profitable, the function is close to the advertising department, responsible for making money to support the family. Readers' cognition and expectations of commercial media are naturally different, readers know that these media report product or industry information, what new products (what are the characteristics), what new directions the industry has, which new technologies are worth looking forward to, and so on, and the readers are only looking forward to these. Public events in these areas are followed up by the professional media (or departments), and if the commercial media (or departments) report them, readers will be happy and praise the media for having a conscience, and if not, most readers will not blame them. (I don't agree with this situation, just describe the status quo)
▲ The first episode of the first season of Netflix's "Black Money" tells about the volkswagen emission gate incident
White horses are not horses are sophistry, but car media non-media are facts to a certain extent.
Therefore, it is rare to see that the auto media is bitter and bitter, but often cheerful and entertaining. This is an alternative media that is responsible for revenue and does not shoulder media ethics, and after it is separated from traditional media, revenue is no longer so natural, and efforts must be made to let readers get the pleasure of watching. Auto media is like a variety show, it does not need to be responsible for artistry like movies and dramas (corresponding to professional media), as long as it is responsible for entertainment.
In the two months or so from late 2021 to early 2022, I suddenly realized that the past seven or eight years may have been a cycle in which the automotive media really shouldered a sense of mission, and probably the only cycle. This cycle begins with the popularity of Tesla Model S, and ends with Tesla's nearly one million sales in 2021 and the end of the domestic slaughter list of new cars.
In the past seven or eight years, the rules of the traditional automotive industry that have lasted for decades have finally been impacted, and many systemic problems such as poor service, opaque fees, and monopoly mark-ups that have been tacitly accepted as "normal" can be solved under the new system of the new company. Social and commercial changes such as environmental issues and car intelligence have also been put on the table. Presented at the level of materialization of market competition, it is the confrontation between traditional car companies and new car companies. This confrontation can be described as many intentions: the dragon slayer boy to the dragon, David to Goliath, the traditional concept to the innovative thinking, bla bla bla... In fact, it is all clichés, and it is not so sublime, but there are similarities in the degree of disparity between strength and weakness.
But in any case, the automotive media can really feel the "meaning of existence" in these seven or eight years: whether to stick to the old system that is full of holes, or to support the new car companies to cheer for change, these two choices are in front of them. It's not just about entertaining readers, it's about having an impact on the future. (If all the media had unreservedly supported the traditional car companies, the new car companies would not have grown to their current size; conversely, if all the media had supported the new car companies, the traditional car companies would have collapsed several times by now.) ）
As far as I can see personally, most of the automotive media is supporting change, and some of the more conservative ones don't take the new car companies too harshly. In my personal opinion, most automotive media have chosen a more meaningful direction during this time, supporting the weak to challenge the strong, supporting change rather than a backwater.
Now, that time has passed. The new car companies are no longer weak, and the auto industry is no longer a backwater. Wei Xiaoli has long been not a weak person, each of these three companies has done to make my articles nowhere to be published (or deleted), Tesla is certainly not a weak person, it can do "you scold you, I am like this". (What media person wouldn't want to have a few companies like Tesla, which, although they don't, can be written at will, so that the automotive media can find the feeling of doing real media.) If there's a little bit of meaning to this article, it's to say:
New cars are no longer weak, their financial strength, prestige, market prospects, media skills have surpassed traditional car companies, it is only a matter of time to become a new giant, and has shown a more domineering oppression than traditional car companies.
As automotive media, we should not continue to immerse ourselves in the context of the "anti-tradition" of previous years and blindly support them, they are not weak, they are not more moral, and they are more likely to play with public opinion than Volkswagen and Toyota.
Or to put it more bluntly, they are more powerful, and most likely, they are also more evil.
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