Quote:
Originally Posted by Sportstick
Absolutely.
It is important to understand the symbiotic relationship between the press and the OEMs. They each need each other and treat each other accordingly. I've hosted, presented, and attended these events for another OEM and had engineers drive with the media. The articles are written later after the drive and we always got the honesty that the writers pride themselves on. The writers prized their independence and can't be talked into anything by an engineer. Sitting around at a dinner event after a day's drive, we would discuss the pros and cons of a new vehicle and sometimes, those comments would result in product changes. Writers often see themselves as experts and take pride in sharing their highly analytical opinion and debate it among themselves or with those of us from the OEM. These events become a session of "car guys talking". If an OEM disinvited a journalist due to a less than glowing review, the rest of the press would be outraged to the detriment of the OEM. The OEM also doesn't want to lose the exposure of that particular publication. As long as the reviews were honest and sincere, my OEM employer accepted all the comments, positive and negative, and often already knew the negatives were based on credible points of view.
One last point. As long as writers are human, there will never be an unbiased review. Consciously or not, all people have filters and biases that affect perception. They can be honest about their opinions, but never unbiased.
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Nothing more to add. Well said.