Back when newspapers had journalistic integrity....

[BobPalma]

...a fascinating 1954 story:

http://digg.com/2015/the-time-a-newspaper-stared-down-the-countrys-largest-advertiser?utm_source=digg&utm_medium=email

I had never heard about that incident.

I'd certainly be hard-pressed to believe it today in light of how much money GM must spend on advertising in Motor Trend to have wrestled the 2015 Truck of the Year Award for the ho-mum, redone Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, in light of the revolutionary 2015 aluminum-bodied Ford F-150. BP

[raprice]

Bob, thanks for forwarding that enlightening article. It's sad when a corporation as large as GM thinks it can intimidate the press. Good for the Journal to stand up to GM.

By the way, I agree that Motor Trend goofed when it named the Chevrolet Colorado as Truck of the Year. What Ford did with the F-150 was sensational and revolutionary.
Keep the good stuff coming. We can take it.
Rog

[2moredoors]

By the way, I agree that Motor Trend goofed when it named the Chevrolet Colorado as Truck of the Year. What Ford did with the F-150 was sensational and revolutionary.

I have not put much faith in Motor Trend. They name "Vega" car of the year way back. What a pitiful choice.

[j.byrd]

Now, now 2moredoors, I have used their selection for car of the year as a "solid as a rock" recommendation list for years.......as cars NOT to buy, ha ! Look up the list, it's almost as bad as the best film of the years lists, pretty much garbage.

[Packard53]

Bob: In the latest edition of Motor Trend GM had two advertisements it ran. I guess the question you have to give an answer to is just how much money did GM spend in advertising to influence Motor Trend to name the Colorado and Canyon truck of the year.

PS Please provide verifiable figures and the sources you get them from.

John S.

[2moredoors]

Some one told me (third person gossip) that Motor Trend awards their choices based on the amount of advertising the auto manufacturer places in their magazine. The more you advertise the better rating your product will receive. If it is true that could explain their bad choices if not true they must be poor judges.

[showbizkid]

This is nothing new.

In the industry in which I work, the major trade magazine makes you pony up an "entry fee" for the judges to consider your new product for an award

[8E45E]

Studebaker hardly did any magazine advertising in 1928: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...28+advertising

Craig

[Andy R.]

I'd certainly be hard-pressed to believe it today in light of how much money GM must spend on advertising in Motor Trend to have wrestled the 2015 Truck of the Year Award for the ho-mum, redone Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, in light of the revolutionary 2015 aluminum-bodied Ford F-150. BP

I don't know. AutoWeek also named the GMC Canyon "Best Truck" of 2015. They did mention in their highly complimentary feature on the new F-150, that Ford did not have a truck available to them in timeto be considered for their "Best of the Best" awards. They did mention that it would be a contender for the honor when available.

They named the 2015 VW GTI "Best Car." A recent test drive in one while our car was in for service left me with the same impression. If they offered the same package in the SportWagen variant, our TDI might not have come back home that day.

Thanks for the article, Bob. It's a good read. With the highly concentrated corporate ownership of media of today, I'd venture a guess that the problem is worse than in 1954. If in 1954, they were under the current laws regarding media ownership, GM could have just bought the Journal outright and had their way.

[kurtruk]

How 'bout when a Car and Driver writer finally decided to "call it the way it was" and wrote their first scathing review of an advertiser's product. It was an Opel in the Seventies, maybe a Kadette. The writer barely escaped getting fired, but C and D was in hot water with GM for some time and lost a lot of advertising. But from then on, C and D decided that would be their style, for the most part.

[48skyliner]

In 1974 I was attending the big annual gathering at Oshkosh with my newly restored 1954 Cessa 195. One of the spectators introduced himself and he was one of the top writers for the biggest aviation magazine in the country. I offered my airplane for a comparison article, suggesting a comparison with the new Cessna 185. He replied "Are out of your mind? Your airplane is bigger, roomier, more comfortable, and will carry four people and their baggage at the same speed with same fuel burn. Do you have any idea how much Cessna pays us for advertising in a year?"

[6hk71400]

"Newspaper" is a misnomer. When I was working in the bulk mail section for our local Postal Service Processing Plant, Newspapers that were sent in the mail were required to list by percentage the news content, legal notices, and advertising. Typical percentages were at the time News, 27 percent, legal 2 percent, advertising, 69 percent. The Sunday paper had a much higher percentage of advertising.

I don't know what today's breakdown is but if they make the print much smaller, the old folks like me that read the paper won't be able to see it. As it is now, we only take the Sunday paper. The daily paper used to have three or four sections but now, you get all the paper in two very small sections.

By the way of information, one of the biggest advertisers with our local paper is a smiley faced large car dealer here in town. He has dealerships here in town as well as in other states. His uncle, who also was a car dealer, was an early supporter of Ronald Reagan.

Bob Miles
Tucson AZ

[8E45E]

How many non-US car companies that are now big players with major market share today advertised in WSJ in 1954? I bet there was not one ad for any of the Japanese and Korean car manufacturers, or BMW and Audi. There MIGHT have been the odd ad for some of the more expensive British marques and Mercedes Benz, but nothing for them to rest their hat on. I'm sure the WSJ today could get away with a lot more writing negative truths about GM than ever before.

Craig

[DEEPNHOCK]

Lee Iacocca was once quoted as saying that in order to get the Motor Trend 'Car of the Year' award, you had to buy X amount of ads for the year, 'extra' ads for that particular issue, and had to agree to buy a quarter million copies of that month's issue.

[Packard53]

Lee Iacocca was once quoted as saying that in order to get the Motor Trend 'Car of the Year' award, you had to buy X amount of ads for the year, 'extra' ads for that particular issue, and had to agree to buy a quarter million copies of that month's issue.

If what Iacocca stated is true then he must have paid a lot of the federally backed loan money to Motor Trend in 1981.