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They did put this to their audience in a poll back in 2017[1] and the results overwhelmingly said to accept the car manufacturers invitation. The fact they aske

by stirlo 3y ago

They did put this to their audience in a poll back in 2017[1] and the results overwhelmingly said to accept the car manufacturers invitation. The fact they asked publicly and run with full disclosure makes them far better than their peers imo. [1]https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/03/ars-asks-how-do-you-feel-about-junkets-for-auto-coverage/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2017/03/ars-asks-how-do-you-fee...

cubefox 3y ago
They should indicate the nature of the deal in front of every car article, so that people aren't mislead into thinking they are reading a neutral review. Approximately no current reader knows about a six year old article. The way they are currently doing it is deceptive.
- bell-cot 3y ago
  > They should indicate the nature of... Isn't that exactly what they have done? Peeking at yesterday's Ars article about a Mercedes SUV - right at the top of it I see a really, really obvious box with this text: "Mercedes-Benz provided a flight from DC to San Diego and a return from Los Angeles, plus four nights in hotels so we could drive the AMG EQE SUV as well as see the Vision One-Eleven and drive the AMG S-Class. Ars does not accept paid editorial content." And their bottom-line conclusion about that car is probably not what Mercedes was hoping for, either: "I'm not sure this EV makes a particularly compelling case for itself, except for the fact that it will appeal to the kind of person who wants to walk into a Mercedes dealership to buy the most expensive one." So - where's the deception?
  - cubefox 3y ago
    This one looks different: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/driving-lotus-new-emira-gives-us-lots-of-confidence-in-its-evs/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/driving-lotus-new-emira... Overly positive, all car photos right from the marketing department, no disclaimer that the thing might be sponsored in any way.

by stirlo 3y ago

cubefox 3y ago

They should indicate the nature of the deal in front of every car article, so that people aren't mislead into thinking they are reading a neutral review. Approximately no current reader knows about a six year old article. The way they are currently doing it is deceptive.

bell-cot 3y ago
> They should indicate the nature of... Isn't that exactly what they have done? Peeking at yesterday's Ars article about a Mercedes SUV - right at the top of it I see a really, really obvious box with this text: "Mercedes-Benz provided a flight from DC to San Diego and a return from Los Angeles, plus four nights in hotels so we could drive the AMG EQE SUV as well as see the Vision One-Eleven and drive the AMG S-Class. Ars does not accept paid editorial content." And their bottom-line conclusion about that car is probably not what Mercedes was hoping for, either: "I'm not sure this EV makes a particularly compelling case for itself, except for the fact that it will appeal to the kind of person who wants to walk into a Mercedes dealership to buy the most expensive one." So - where's the deception?
- cubefox 3y ago
  This one looks different: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/driving-lotus-new-emira-gives-us-lots-of-confidence-in-its-evs/ https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/driving-lotus-new-emira... Overly positive, all car photos right from the marketing department, no disclaimer that the thing might be sponsored in any way.