Are journalism degrees completely optional now?
Auto Journalism is no longer exclusive to column writers with degrees or celebs because of streaming sites like YouTube. Anyone, irrespective of status or qualifications can take advantage of the wide reach and accessibility that the platform offers. Therefore, It’s actually possible to generate a handsome income in this industry simply by uploading quality content online independently.
Streaming platform YouTube rewards those who generate traffic on their sites. For YouTubers with a large audience, they get paid $2 – $7 per 1000 monetized views after YouTube takes its cut.
There are a number independent motoring personalities that have made the most of this format and Doug DeMuro is one of those. His channel boasts over 3.5 million subscribers, and his total viewership tops 1 billion. As a result, his net worth is around $3 million. Which is a far cry from the £20k annual salary you can expect with a bachelors and 3 years experience in the field.
This partly explains why sites like feedspot can list off over 100 well-known motoring youtube channels. Many include creators without a background in the industry.
(D)evolution of the sector?
As we touched on in the prior post, this all comes with some caveats. Number one being the accelerated saturation of content which is due to the ease of access to content-creating resources. This means posts, videos and articles are looking more and more alike than ever in a race to increase viewership and engagements.
This is coupled with the potential lack of knowledge or experience of well-known auto content creators. Since the point of entry to streaming sites is much simpler, they may not have the education and industry know-how and may end up misinforming potential buyers. Not to mention they aren’t bound by any journalistic principles or laws, which could aggravate this further.
‘Posts, videos and articles are looking more and more alike than ever in a race to increase viewership and engagements.’
Johan from MotionDigest.com concurrs, Someone who takes great pictures and produces great videos but doesn’t have good knowledge of cars, how they work and how the industry works would be able to only present superficially.
Content reliability
With the birth of Internet and social media platforms, individuals can now create content and form new media to compete with traditional media organisations. It is difficult to draw comparisons between the content delivered by new or traditional media outlets.
Despite this, Daniel Sherman Fernandez, cited how Some new media are doing a really good job and they are ‘forcing’ the hand of traditional media to improve and ‘wake up’ from their comfort zone. This change is fostering competition between titles and as result of their attempt to push the best content, the readership experience improves.
However, reliability is also a key factor when a reader chooses which publication to read. Johan said Reliability of reviews and recommendations are very subjective because it depends on the editor or writer’s personal opinion as well as one other important factor: the advertising dollars from the car brand. This links back to both the ethical responsibilities they hold, and suggests auto journalists don’t meet them. He also highlights the funding from automakers which suggest conflict of interest supporting what we discussed previously.
Further digitalisation?
Aside from reliability, attracting readers’ attention and maintaining their loyalty towards the publication could be a key interrogation point. Publications and editorial teams are turning out with various ideas to keep up audience engagement. Supported recent developments, the creation of augmented reality is now arguably the hottest new trend. Not just for readers, but carmakers moreover. It is, however, a replacement technology and it’s yet to fully assimilate into this industry.
Daniel of Automacha.com, noted the cumbersome and expensive nature of VR headsets as a reason for its slow entry. Nevertheless, he believes that virtual reality will bring a 360-test driving experience to consumers.
Written word and visual synergy
Virtual reality (VR) is undoubtedly set to transform a whole host of industries, not least the media. Its immersive capabilities and potential applications in auto journalism make it an intriguing development.
However, Hans Cheong of Carlist.my felt that there is little to suggest that consumers prefer VR-type automotive content over standard videos.”
This may be due to the indelible role that Photographs and video play in automotive journalism. Personally, auto content with these included were both entertaining to consume and also help stimulate the imagination. Which is an important part of the car-buyers process. Informative writing paired with quality visuals helps them envision the car in question and make them more likely to buy.