Favorite automotive journalist.

[dghii]

Any Satch Carlson fans out there? I mean besides high school girls.

[Perfectlap]

Sorry, with all due respect to Top Gear, a thoroughly entertaining television show, I'm not sure that I would refer to Clarkson as a journalist. Much like the NBC dateline "journalists" who staged an explosion in a GM truck, Top Gear has likewise admitted to staging races.
Most notoriously with the Tesla roadster test where they staged that car running out of power and filmed a perfectly running car being towed away to suit a predetermined script.

Harris is great although he has an issue with roadsters however. He thinks they're not manly enough for him. He once filmed a segment where he drove around in an NA Miata with a paper bag over his head because it was so shameful apparently. While that was admittedly very, very funny, he tried to argue that it wasn't a sports car, or a car for sports car drivers. Which anyone who has ever visited just about any autox or track day anywhere from CA to FL to NY can tell you is a laughable statement. It's perhaps the single most common car at these events. But otherwise his reviews are pretty much excellent and he's a very skilled driver. I could do with less drifting but I guess you have to appeal to the millenials for clicks.

[pothole]

Correct, Clarkson han't been a car journalist for years. Plus, while he's always been a great writer, he wasn't a great car journalist. He's always put the story first.

I've gone off Chris Harris. He could be a modern day great, but he's become too keen to be inclusive these days. He's going for a big audience and has significantly toned down his purist tendencies, pity really.

Of the current UK crop, I rate Richard Meaden above the rest, probably Catchpole and Bovingdon next.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by dghii

Any Satch Carlson fans out there? I mean besides high school girls.

I had Satch on my list! Still one of my favorites in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.

[thstone]

I don't consider TV or internet personalities as journalists. If video is the primary medium, then the skill most often demonstrated is entertainment rather than journalism.

And yes, I feel the same about TV network news.

[pothole]

[QUOTE=thstone;386228If video is the primary medium, then the skill most often demonstrated is entertainment rather than journalism. [/QUOTE]


That's a pretty good point and ties in nicely with certain journalist(s)' nosediving quality with the transition to video.