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First drive, exit, driving report, test or something like that - that's what we call the articles on autohub.de where we introduce our readers to a new car, I nachdem we drove it. A presentation is an article about a vehicle that we have not driven ourselves - but what we would never do is: “fake” an article. Pretending to drive a car and then reporting on how the car drives. A matter of honor, right? Just “journalist basics,” right? But that’s how all car journalists work, right? Unfortunately no.
This is how AutoBild leads the reader by the nose
“The steering works directly and precisely”
How To Cars drives in Sunny California Coupe of C-Class from Mercedes, But: pssst, top secret!
It is completely normal for the automobile manufacturers to offer the big auto magazines special candies that invisibly buzz past us small online publishers. Things under the radar of the general motor journaille. Hammer stories, exclusively for the paper mills of the publishing houses. After all, the big publishers are subsidized with fabulous advertising deals. The aim is to keep the readers excited about the new models in a controlled manner.
But free. After 5 years in this industry you accept that.
What I find rather strange is the story that you read in the last week in the Paper version of AutoBild could read and now since yesterday online.
The new C-Class Coupé celebrates its premiere at the IAA in Frankfurt in a few weeks - as an automobile manufacturer you can call the editorial office in Hamburg and ask: Hey, don't you want to make a story about the new C-Coupé ?
How AutoBild led Mercedes-Benz around
Of course you want to drive an entirely new model exclusively, in advance? Clear. And what comes out of it?
But then the air conditioning in the AutoBild editorial office had to fail and in Hamburg they went crazy
The “ride” in a prototype. Usual fare. The manufacturer offers something like this to the auto publisher, who takes it. But then the air conditioning must have failed in the AutoBild editorial office and people in Hamburg went crazy (so my speculation!).
And the ride turned into a comparison test and the camouflage covers were removed from the camouflaged Erlkönig using computer retouching - a “typical” image product was created. A lead that only cares about the effect, not the truth. And the reader, where can they be informed about the retouching of the photo? Nowhere!
C-Coupe vs. Ford Mustang
You have to look for the journalistic added value of the comparison of the C-Coupé and the Ford Mustang, in the end both serve completely different target groups. But well, the Mustang was just available in the U.S. (Speculation) and there is also huge interest in Germany in the new Ford pony.
Bang, that’s how you make “stories”.
The fact that the reader is fooled by that doesn't seem to be so important to the editorial team in Hamburg. My God, who wants to know if our editor really yourself drove? And here my-auto-blog can give the confirmation: No, the AutoBild editor did not drive the new C-Class Coupé himself. (The editor himself was unfortunately not ready to comment .. presumably Hamburg gave him a muzzle .. again speculation) How do you then come to the conclusion that the steering works directly and precisely? Or as one could experience the belief: “The more demanding the Mercedes Coupé is, the more it takes on the character of a sports car.” – it remains a mystery to me.
Or how to even put this article online. Photos that were retouched on the computer without informing the reader - to act as if one could have experienced a “first comparison”. If you read the comments under the corresponding online article, it becomes clear: the AutoBild reader understood the story exactly as they had calculated in Hamburg. Or to put it another way, you deliberately misled the reader of your own paper.
Was that agreed with Mercedes-Benz?
Mercedes-Benz unofficially denies this. Yes – an initial “ride” was offered. The fact that in the end it was acted as if AutoBild could test the new C-Coupé against a “competitor” before the vehicle was presented to the public, no, that was not agreed upon. And all you can say is: Shame on you in Hamburg.
Lied to the reader, fooled the manufacturer.
Now it's the manufacturer's fault. Everyone knows that publishers are in crisis. Paper circulation is falling, advertising revenue is melting away faster than “respect for the reader”. Any means is right. edition. Clicks. Lifebuoys and ancillary copyright law. And just dirty journalism.
Especially the AutoBild
It wasn't long ago that AutoBild asked in a double page: “Should car bloggers be allowed to test cars?” What followed was a confusing explanation of the publishers' problems with free online publishers. Accusations, accusations and belittlements compressed and initiated by “journalists” with fears for the future.
Today - after this reader ashing in AutoBild, the question should be asked again:
“Should readers continue to believe the journalism of the Auto-Bild editors?”
Probably not.
But you as a reader of mein-auto-blog can trust me, I personally vouch for that, and we will only make a comparison in the future if we have both driven our own cars. We will not cheer you on any pictures that we have retouched on the PC just to dupe you!