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A few thoughts 1. The first version was in no way mean or even hyperbolic- to a class of journalists this was just how it was, and this is commentary not bitterness. Drinking at lunch was a thing for most professionals when I started my career – not every lunch, but when something good or bad happened – I guess you had to be there, 2. Is there some way we can push on David to tune his humor muscles, he really seems more uptight in these back & forths than I expect he is in person. 3. That guy in Montana was/is one of the best automotive journalists around, if you are as good as he is you can call the shots. 4. The work effort required was highly specific to your role and the place you were working – if you were a correspondent at Autoweek you were likely working a lot harder than a columnist at one of the monthlies.
One of my favorite things is telling really subtle jokes then blatantly over-explaining them to whoever is listening. See, it’s not that they didn’t understand the joke, but since they’re not laughing I’m going to assume they didn’t understand it and then spend twice as much time explaining it in the simplest terms possible. Thus the time wasted over-explaining the original bad joke becomes the actual joke. You see, what I’m actually doing is making the recipient of the joke the actual punch line and by the end the only one laughing is me.
Funny, I’m the direct opposite. I’ll do a joke and jest leave it out there. Most don’t get it, especially the young ppl. However, the one that do, laugh or come back latter and say they laughed
$.02 from a (very) part-time magazine editor and writer…
I wouldn’t use “mean” to describe the original version; perhaps it’s better described as “bitter”. I shall explain.
The statements indicating that an autojournalist would very likely
earnreceive big money for little work in the pre-blog era (PBE) suggest that the opposite is true in the blog-centric era (BCE). There is a note of “those bastards had it SO EASY – not like now” running through it, hinting at a melange of bitterness and frustration. As a result, the piece wasn’t very funny.On the subject of humor: Mel Brooks has famously said something like “Tragedy is when I cut my finger; comedy is when you fall down an open sewer and die”. Exaggeration for comedic effect is handy, but IMO it needs to be both over the top and a little bit silly in order to work.
That was my issue with it. If it’s gonna be a joke, it can’t be too real. I think a few comedians have gotten into some trouble over that. It’s gotta be laughable, not plausible. But good on everyone for dialing this in.
I’m proud to say that in the 2.5 years The Autopian has been around, I’ve never once pulled rank. I have the best team any person can ask for, and I want everyone to know how much I value their opinion/talents. I truly believe that, because we all have the same goal — to create the best car website of all time – working together is the best way.
Rip on the BMW i3 or Jeep XJ/ZJ, though, and all bets are off.
Hmmmm.
You’re still holding that against him, Adrian?
OK, serious question for the authors here. Do you call yourselves autojornalists or bloggers?
Do you call what you write an article or a post?
Would it be different if you had a print issue of the site along with a website?
:old guy screaming at the clouds:
In my head I always think of SBSD as a “column.” I actually hate the term “blog,” it just sounds vaguely gross.
But “column” in the print world always meant it doesn’t represent the staff or editors, right?
BTW, I hate the term “blog”
Well, I am freelance, and more or less autonomous, as long as I stick to the formula.
And then there were legends like Peter Egan whose 1000 words read like a novel.
That magnificent bastard. I bought (one of his) books!
Lunch beers might have settled this faster.
BTW, maybe my favorite PV topshot ever.
Florence, Y’all.
Internal conversation, this would have been caught by the time we published. At least a 50% chance we’d have caught it. 40%
I know. I had a chance to reference this and had to take it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Y%27all_Water_Tower