Car Mags and the “B” Word

By Infiniti Z350

http://forums.gminsidenews.com/showthread.php?t=13267

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As you know (or if you don't, where the hell have you been?), GM recently pulled advertising from the L.A. Times for the less-than-sparkling article that appeared there for a review of the Pontiac G6. Actually, about the first half doesn't have anything at all to do with the G6. Rather it goes on about how GM has been bungling in the car industry. When the article actually gets to the car, about the only good things the reviewer could find was that the wheels were in the right place, the seats were good, the panorama roof, and the hand brake has a soft grip.

Admittedly, this was a rather harsh review from a guy who wasn't singing songs of praise of GM in the first place.

The general concensus from GM fans as to GM's response has been along the lines of:

"Go GM! Don't take that from the b***** media!"

"The L.A. Times is so b*****. I'm glad GM finally stepped in and took some action."

However, the L.A. Times are not the only ones accused of having it in for GM. Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, and Edmunds are others accused of being b***** when it comes to GM.

The "B-word" here is "biased".

Now, I can't help but wonder how these outlets got to be for poster boys for b*****. For some people, it seems all a mag has to do is place GM behind any competitor in a comparison test or even mention Honda or Toyota in a review of a GM car for them to scream, "B***!" Of course, that is an extreme example but you have to wonder if there aren't a few people out there that are like that.

I'll be the first to admit that these mags tend to nitpick at times but I can't believe these people sit there thinking, "Let's see, how I can damage GM's reputation today?" There are more than a few GM cars that these guys seem to genuinely like. The C6 Corvette, for example. I have yet to see a reviewer from any mag feverently dislike this car.

Edmunds has pretty good things to say about the G6 and the GTO for starters.

When people were rallying aganist CR for their placing of the Cobalt in a recent comparo, they seemed to focus on only the negative parts of what CR said in their review. I made a point to post all the positive things that CR had to say about the Cobalt (which well outnumbered the negatives). I'm not sure if that made a difference in what people here thought though. This is what I had to say: http://forums.gminsidenews.com/show...60&postcount=13

The point I'm trying to make is simply before accusing anyone of having it in for a GM product (or worshipping another car company like they were God), ask yourself this:

What are the good things they had to say about the car?

What parts of the review are purely subjective (like design) and very well may differ in opinion from person to person?

Have I actually sat in and driven this car to know what is or isn't true about what they say?

Make sure to consider this before you use the "B-word" so liberally.

-- Edited by Kevin at 22:01, 2005-04-15