[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

Sign of the times? Dust in peace?

Got the latest Autocar India about 7 - 8 days back. Still not opened it, the mag is just lying next to my desk in its plastic cover. This, from a guy who spends at least 1 hour a day reading articles (online).
s[/url].

Attachment 1676084

I'm one step further and nowhere nearer, I have it downloaded on my phone but not even touched it as yet!

[aravind.anand]

As a part-time freelance writer, I got an opportunity to work for an online automotive website. I was excited and thrilled, as automotive journalism has always fascinated me - grew up reading auto magazines, like most of us here.

In the first set of articles I wrote, I was honest and wrote about the pros and cons of the cars straight from my heart. But the website owner asked me to change the cons mentioned in them, as the car is from the market leader, and hence such negative reviews can adversely affect ad revenues, event invitations and overall support from the manufacturer!

I did correct them and wrote with a positive tone. I continued my not-very-honest reviews for about a month and wrote about 55-60 articles. But needless to say, as my heart din't feel too connected to what I was writing, my pace slowed down, my articles reduced in number, and ultimately - I gave up writing. I declined payment for the articles I had written and bid adieu with them.

I feel so much more alive commenting, contributing and discussing about cars here on T-BHP, where we have no real external pressures, and most of the discussions are directly from the heart!
Thank you fellow-BHPians

[SmartCat]

Once upon a time, I used to subscribe to these magazines -

Autocar India
Overdrive
Top Gear India
Autocar UK (4 issues per month)

Now I'm down to just one - Autocar India. And I don't intend to stop subscription yet. That's because Autocar reviews gives me road test data (Eg: acceleration times), info about variants and price data.

[payeng]

Must have bought

Autocar India
Overdrive

from 1998-2007.. its now been 10 years now have stopped buying a single copy.

If I wish to read some, then there is enough Digital content and YouTube content around.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by GTO

Sign of the times? Dust in peace?

Got the latest Autocar India about 7 - 8 days back. Still not opened it, the mag is just lying next to my desk in its plastic cover. This, from a guy who spends at least 1 hour a day reading articles (online).


Attachment 1676084

Team-bhp does that to many Jokes apart, i would anyway trust a fellow owners reviews. Printed media, well the issue is probably due to speed of digitization. News is available live(streaming) so why wait for a week or two

[GTO]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

and hence such negative reviews can adversely affect ad revenues, event invitations and overall support from the manufacturer!

Just makes me wonder how a company can survive if it's serving the wrong side; that is, the manufacturer instead of the reader!! Is it any surprise that magazine circulation numbers are falling.

I care a damn if a manufacturer blocks us from test-drives. We'll just request BHPians for a car (as we've done before). If that doesn't happen, we'll buy our own for a test-drive.

Not being dependent on the auto industry's advertising rupee gives one a lot of strength...and also responsibility. When I'm proof-reading a review or driving a new car, my sole focus is 'accuracy', not whether the report is positive or negative.

I feel so much more alive commenting, contributing and discussing about cars here on T-BHP, where we have no real external pressures, and most of the discussions are directly from the heart!

[differential]

Originally Posted by GTO

.



I care a damn if a manufacturer blocks us from test-drives. We'll just request BHPians for a car (as we've done before). If that doesn't happen, we'll buy our own for a test-drive.



Not being dependent on the auto industry's advertising rupee gives one a lot of strength...and also responsibility. When I'm proof-reading a review or driving a new car, my sole focus is 'accuracy', not whether the report is positive or negative.

Well said. Makes us all the more proud to be a part of team bhp. I am quite surprised that manufacturers block test drives! Must really tickle them when they see the team bhp official reviews.

Bravo!

[FrozeninTime]

Once upon time Autocar India magazine was bench mark for Auto Journalism. Now days its just another Auto Magazine. The in depth analysis is missing and replaced by Fashion magazine type Journalism. Its sad to see such a decline in quality.

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by GTO

I care a damn if a manufacturer blocks us from test-drives. We'll just request BHPians for a car (as we've done before). If that doesn't happen, we'll buy our own for a test-drive.

Literally the only reason I bother going through digital copies of car magazines is for the performance numbers (0-100, as well as in gear acceleration). Have you thought about getting a VBOX and eliminating the last reason why some number freaks like me still keep wasting their time with these mags? Posting raw acceleration graphs for each gear from 1000 RPM to the redline, and comparing them with the other cars from the same segment would say more about the car's driveability in a single chart, than a full paragraph might!

[searacer932]

Originally Posted by differential

Well said. Makes us all the more proud to be a part of team bhp. I am quite surprised that manufacturers block test drives! Must really tickle them when they see the team bhp official reviews.

Bravo!

Maruti did block TeamBHP from the 2nd Generation Swift review. That was totally uncalled for. None of the web/car reviews picked up the poor brakes in the Swift L/V versions. TeamBHP picked it up and said that the L/V versions have poor brakes compared to Z versions. In fact by blocking TeamBHP the manufacturer, Maruti, lost an opportunity in identifying a potential problem earlier. I believe the mods borrowed a car and did the review

[itsashishsharma]

Cartoons full of auto magazines from my childhood were recently thrown away at my parents' home as I no longer see a reason to keep myself associated with these magazines.
They hold no true value for auto enthusiasts like us TeamBhpians. I use them as timepass at the service station I take my car to, don't even feel like resuming reading an article if I get interrupted by a service advisor.

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

As a part-time freelance writer, I got an opportunity to work for an online automotive website. I was excited and thrilled, as automotive journalism has always fascinated me - grew up reading auto magazines, like most of us here.

In the first set of articles I wrote, I was honest and wrote about the pros and cons of the cars straight from my heart. But the website owner asked me to change the cons mentioned in them, as the car is from the market leader, and hence such negative reviews can adversely affect ad revenues, event invitations and overall support from the manufacturer!

I did correct them and wrote with a positive tone. I continued my not-very-honest reviews for about a month and wrote about 55-60 articles. But needless to say, as my heart din't feel too connected to what I was writing, my pace slowed down, my articles reduced in number, and ultimately - I gave up writing. I declined payment for the articles I had written and bid adieu with them.

I feel so much more alive commenting, contributing and discussing about cars here on T-BHP, where we have no real external pressures, and most of the discussions are directly from the heart!
Thank you fellow-BHPians

Hi Aravind,

I have a fascination of writing in automotive journalism. I am an IT professional and I would love to give it a shot. Can you please guide me on how to start?

Tried sending this through IM but the system didn't allow me to. Sorry for going off topic.

Regards,
Ashish

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by itsashishsharma

I have a fascination of writing in automotive journalism. I am an IT professional and I would love to give it a shot. Can you please guide me on how to start?

Here is an unconventional but unproven idea -

1) Take a long test drive of a newly launched car, say Jeep Compass. Take some photos too.
2) Write your review of Jeep Compass on this thread (Jeep Compass : Official Review).
3) Do this for atleast 10 newly launched models (Tata Hexa, Skoda Octavia etc)
4) Send Team-BHP links of your car reviews to online auto portals and magazines.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Here is an unconventional but unproven idea

A bit more conventional idea would be to drop Team-BHP an email from this link. If you understand cars & can write, be sure that we'll get in touch with you (especially if you're from Mumbai) .

[ashutoshb]

I have been buying auto mags since Auto India and Car & Bike Magazine days.

Till recently, I used to buy AutoCar India for its exclusives and the BSM for their writing.

I guess, it's been a year since I bought any one of them. Blame it on lack of time to go through one, or just the fact that I get news more quickly online.

I never depended on their reviews for a car purchase and ever since I joined tbhp, I never looked elsewhere.

But, putting all things aside, I still wouldn't ridicule the likes of Hormazd or Renuka Kripalani. I still respect their opinion, even if, at times, I do not agree with them.

Most of the newer crop of auto journalists, especially the bloggers, are full of crap. It's the likes of them, who have spoilt something as noble as being an auto journo.

[SmartCat]

This is new -> Autocar India is getting into "self-driving vacation" business
https://www.autocarindia.com/drivingadventures.aspx