Information in Auto Magazines Information, when published, is expected to be true and correct. Be it whatever. An information source is where people look into to gain knowledge and understanding of certain aspects. Information can be readily available (internet) or you may pay a price for it (newspapers, magazines).
People go to their local vendor and pick up a magazine or newspaper considering whatever written inside is reliable and dependable. We BHPians normally put our money in auto magazines. And since we are more concerned about the Indian Automotive Industry and its products, we generally pick Indian car magazines.
So you've got your latest issue and are all set to read it. Maybe for entertainment, for knowledge, for clearing doubts and concepts, for latest reviews, to decide on a new car or bike, to know whats the best accessory, best products to keep you safe or the best stuff for your car to perform better.
Consider you want to buy a new car. You read through the different comparison tests. You find out that A is better than B and C. The magazine claims that A gives great experience overall and there is absolutely no hindrances you'd face with that car. You book the car, its delivered to you, and eventually you curse the magazine. It didn't turn out to be what the magazine claimed.
Look into that magazine again and you may notice that all through the magazine you'll find a lot of pages that reveal the car's advertisments. If you ponder a little more, and put two and two together, you'll know that the magazine was paid enough to write a biased comparison review.
Recently, I read an article of the "Top 10 Indian Cars" in their category. The article was sponsored by a Tyre Manufacturer. The article included a subsection stating which are the best tyres for these top 10 cars and not surprisingly, all the tyres were of the manufacturer that sponsored the article.
Is this right? One can argue that since the manufacturers are providing sponsorship, they deserve positive reviews in the corresponding magazine. If not, they simply wouldn't provide funds.
But, there are magazines who get advertisment offers from major companies whose cars may have not been given preference against its rivals in comparison reviews. This is because the magazine prefers to be unbiased no matter what.
Share your experiences and views. |