Double standards of Indian auto magazines

need4speed · 6th May 2004, 22:32

I was flipping thro this months edition of overdrive and saw the coverage of the speed run held in bombay. I should say excuse for a coverage.
All they have mentioned is of is the souped up Supra and rg's merc. That was probably on second thoughts. But they have not forgotten to mention gautam singhania's wins in his honda and lotus. Talk abt celebrity fixation.
I agree this drag meet was organised by a rival publication. But this is one major event now in the motor racing calender of India. I always read the journos in these auto mags cribbing there is not enuf motor racing happening in India. And when one happens to be in your back yard, they give it a step motherly treatment.
I see in-depth, half baked reports of events happening abroad, be it F1 or moto gp. But when it comes to our own races, all we get is biased reports and tiny fotos. I guess it would be ages before our local mags get anywhere near to the professionalism shown my mags published abroad. Save for BSM. IMO, atleast they have the courage to go a little away from the beaten track unlike the other 2 mags.

GTO · 7th May 2004, 00:35

I am totally with you on this, N4S. Even if it is a sponsored event by Autocarindia, the drag race deserves to be covered appropriately. Its after all one of the biggest racing events that Bombay has seen thus far.

What was even funnier was that OD did not so much as mention that it was an Autocar event. It probably realises that there is no way it could organize something on this scale, with the quality and efficiency of the SpeedRuns.

GTO

manticore · 7th May 2004, 03:27

hmmmm.......guess the age of chivalry is long gone, times when you used to acknowledge your rivals, and respect them for their achievements.

forget car mags, even papers like the HT and TOI are focussed on Page 3 and carry stories about what celebrities eat, drink and what not. it's all about under-the-belt tricks to increase publication and sales. there's no room for good words for the other, leave alone respect and ethics. very sad to see the media stooping lower and lower every passing day.

v12 · 7th May 2004, 10:56

i too agree with you guys. these mag people just put in pics of cars belonging to celebs. come on yaar, thats Filmfares work. you shud be concerned with just the cars and not the celebs. i guess they havent covered the CBZ'z and Pulsars and Rds that were specially prepared for the drag. Thats what i dont like.

Its the same with Autocar India. They carry an article called "Me and My Car" where some celebs have a Mruti 1000 or a Honda City etc. We see Citys and Esteems and other such normal cars everyday. Show us a person [not necessarily a celeb] who's got something different. We dont need anybody [celeb or politician] featured who has a normal car.

need4speed · 7th May 2004, 11:22

Any person acting in a two-bit soap becomes a celebrity nowadays..and then we have our journos gushing all over him/her and his lowly ride. Come on man! give us a break. Like v12 says, leave it to the cine mags. Dont go the paparazzi way, telling us what these so called celebs eat, drink and drive. Give us supercars and superbikes. There are any number of guys here in India who are willing to talk abt the love of their lives (and i dont mean their gfs and wives) and share their experience with us.

koolsun · 7th May 2004, 11:27

yea guys i was so eagerly waiting for this months autocar with the hope that i could get some nice pictures and a very comprehensive coverage of the event but all my enthu was washed away seeing just a couple or three pages on the speed run event even though autocar itself hosted the event forget bout od but neways the atlest didnt for get to mention the winners name and timings

GTO · 7th May 2004, 11:38

Koolsun,

Team-BHP has given massive coverage to the SpeedRun 2004 with truckloads of pictures covering every inch of the event.

Theres also a review section where members have written about their experiences.

SpeedRun 2004 Photolink

SpeedRun 2004 REVIEW

GTO

S350L-E240 · 7th May 2004, 12:12

Double standards and as my signature mentions LOT of wrong info. Do you know i was talking to my dealer last evening asking him how can i import some car under new rules and thats when he told me how at times due to magazines they end up getting in trouble cuz silly autocarindia mentions 20,000 discount for S class and it causes the dealer to face it difficult to answer people who dunno much abt cars and they just get the magazine and show it and similarly for the massage seats ... and well do u know what if u see the against section forthe S class they dun mention anything... damnit they shud cuz even after paying 71 lac for a car there is NO COOLING BOX!! My seat button broke in the first week!! now dont they realise and see some of these flimsy things?? all they write is OBSCENLY EXPENSIVE... which isnt fair cuz the car is worth the penny and there is more to write then just that... they cud even mention how atchually the settings of the seats on the doors at times get un comfy if ur not too tall cuz when u wanna recline a lot ur hands dun reach after a certain position for which u need to sit upright and then recline ... also earlier the cars had the centre rear view mirror as a part of the memory now they dont... also they cud mention how vague the manual is.... or how abt eh CD changer which is in the boot?? evevry car now has it in dash... believe me man no magazine here is perfect... and when it comes to the good sides they never mention the stuff like u can access internet on the COMAND ... nor do they mention u can record or write post it notes on the COMAND... they need to if not more... jus quit giving false info.

Rtech · 7th May 2004, 13:01

SPOT ON GUYS...

being in the motorsports scene and knowing how much sport actually does take place, its ridiculous how little actually makes it into the magazines and newspapers. This is not due to lack of proper communication by the organisers mind you. All organisers pay for the press to attend their events, put them up in good hotels, make sure they hav enough booze (most important) and basically treat then like kings. But what comes out of that is half a page and a picture if you are lucky. Now while this may be acceptable for a newspaper, you would think that an Auto Magazine, who's JOB it is to cover these events, would show a little more interest. HAA. fat chance.

If you don't pay for their travel and stay etc....they won't show up. Simple as all that. And then we read nice columns in the mags about how motorsports in India lacks sponsors, money, and no companies come forward with sponsorship due to lack of organisation etc etc...gets my blood boiling when I read that, because I know that 95% of the ppl who read these mags trust what the writer is saying is true. I know I did before I got more knowledgeable.

i have it on good record from inside a well know auto mag that they can't afford to piss off a certain large oil and car company or they would lose their advertising contract with them. Hence, you won't find a bad word about their products anywhere.

Values??ethics?? sorry, but they really don't exist anymore. Wake up and smell the shit!

6th May 2004, 22:32	#1
need4speed BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 117 Thanked: 48 Times	I was flipping thro this months edition of overdrive and saw the coverage of the speed run held in bombay. I should say excuse for a coverage. All they have mentioned is of is the souped up Supra and rg's merc. That was probably on second thoughts. But they have not forgotten to mention gautam singhania's wins in his honda and lotus. Talk abt celebrity fixation. I agree this drag meet was organised by a rival publication. But this is one major event now in the motor racing calender of India. I always read the journos in these auto mags cribbing there is not enuf motor racing happening in India. And when one happens to be in your back yard, they give it a step motherly treatment. I see in-depth, half baked reports of events happening abroad, be it F1 or moto gp. But when it comes to our own races, all we get is biased reports and tiny fotos. I guess it would be ages before our local mags get anywhere near to the professionalism shown my mags published abroad. Save for BSM. IMO, atleast they have the courage to go a little away from the beaten track unlike the other 2 mags.
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 00:35	#2
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 71,733 Thanked: 311,443 Times View My Garage	I am totally with you on this, N4S. Even if it is a sponsored event by Autocarindia, the drag race deserves to be covered appropriately. Its after all one of the biggest racing events that Bombay has seen thus far. What was even funnier was that OD did not so much as mention that it was an Autocar event. It probably realises that there is no way it could organize something on this scale, with the quality and efficiency of the SpeedRuns. GTO
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 03:27	#3
manticore BHPian Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Cochin/New Delhi Posts: 298 Thanked: 8 Times	hmmmm.......guess the age of chivalry is long gone, times when you used to acknowledge your rivals, and respect them for their achievements. forget car mags, even papers like the HT and TOI are focussed on Page 3 and carry stories about what celebrities eat, drink and what not. it's all about under-the-belt tricks to increase publication and sales. there's no room for good words for the other, leave alone respect and ethics. very sad to see the media stooping lower and lower every passing day.
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 10:56	#4
v12 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 6,756 Thanked: 7,454 Times View My Garage	i too agree with you guys. these mag people just put in pics of cars belonging to celebs. come on yaar, thats Filmfares work. you shud be concerned with just the cars and not the celebs. i guess they havent covered the CBZ'z and Pulsars and Rds that were specially prepared for the drag. Thats what i dont like. Its the same with Autocar India. They carry an article called "Me and My Car" where some celebs have a Mruti 1000 or a Honda City etc. We see Citys and Esteems and other such normal cars everyday. Show us a person [not necessarily a celeb] who's got something different. We dont need anybody [celeb or politician] featured who has a normal car.
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 11:22	#5
need4speed BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 117 Thanked: 48 Times	Any person acting in a two-bit soap becomes a celebrity nowadays..and then we have our journos gushing all over him/her and his lowly ride. Come on man! give us a break. Like v12 says, leave it to the cine mags. Dont go the paparazzi way, telling us what these so called celebs eat, drink and drive. Give us supercars and superbikes. There are any number of guys here in India who are willing to talk abt the love of their lives (and i dont mean their gfs and wives) and share their experience with us.
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 11:27	#6
koolsun BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai,India Posts: 45 Thanked: 0 Times	yea guys i was so eagerly waiting for this months autocar with the hope that i could get some nice pictures and a very comprehensive coverage of the event but all my enthu was washed away seeing just a couple or three pages on the speed run event even though autocar itself hosted the event forget bout od but neways the atlest didnt for get to mention the winners name and timings
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 11:38	#7
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 71,733 Thanked: 311,443 Times View My Garage	Koolsun, Team-BHP has given massive coverage to the SpeedRun 2004 with truckloads of pictures covering every inch of the event. Theres also a review section where members have written about their experiences. SpeedRun 2004 Photolink SpeedRun 2004 REVIEW GTO
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 12:12	#8
S350L-E240 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: India Posts: 1,416 Thanked: 394 Times	Double standards and as my signature mentions LOT of wrong info. Do you know i was talking to my dealer last evening asking him how can i import some car under new rules and thats when he told me how at times due to magazines they end up getting in trouble cuz silly autocarindia mentions 20,000 discount for S class and it causes the dealer to face it difficult to answer people who dunno much abt cars and they just get the magazine and show it and similarly for the massage seats ... and well do u know what if u see the against section forthe S class they dun mention anything... damnit they shud cuz even after paying 71 lac for a car there is NO COOLING BOX!! My seat button broke in the first week!! now dont they realise and see some of these flimsy things?? all they write is OBSCENLY EXPENSIVE... which isnt fair cuz the car is worth the penny and there is more to write then just that... they cud even mention how atchually the settings of the seats on the doors at times get un comfy if ur not too tall cuz when u wanna recline a lot ur hands dun reach after a certain position for which u need to sit upright and then recline ... also earlier the cars had the centre rear view mirror as a part of the memory now they dont... also they cud mention how vague the manual is.... or how abt eh CD changer which is in the boot?? evevry car now has it in dash... believe me man no magazine here is perfect... and when it comes to the good sides they never mention the stuff like u can access internet on the COMAND ... nor do they mention u can record or write post it notes on the COMAND... they need to if not more... jus quit giving false info.
	() Thanks

7th May 2004, 13:01	#9
Rtech Team-BHP Support Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 5,770 Thanked: 366 Times View My Garage	SPOT ON GUYS... being in the motorsports scene and knowing how much sport actually does take place, its ridiculous how little actually makes it into the magazines and newspapers. This is not due to lack of proper communication by the organisers mind you. All organisers pay for the press to attend their events, put them up in good hotels, make sure they hav enough booze (most important) and basically treat then like kings. But what comes out of that is half a page and a picture if you are lucky. Now while this may be acceptable for a newspaper, you would think that an Auto Magazine, who's JOB it is to cover these events, would show a little more interest. HAA. fat chance. If you don't pay for their travel and stay etc....they won't show up. Simple as all that. And then we read nice columns in the mags about how motorsports in India lacks sponsors, money, and no companies come forward with sponsorship due to lack of organisation etc etc...gets my blood boiling when I read that, because I know that 95% of the ppl who read these mags trust what the writer is saying is true. I know I did before I got more knowledgeable. i have it on good record from inside a well know auto mag that they can't afford to piss off a certain large oil and car company or they would lose their advertising contract with them. Hence, you won't find a bad word about their products anywhere. Values??ethics?? sorry, but they really don't exist anymore. Wake up and smell the shit!
	() Thanks