Moto Journalists Sell Out

Yellow72
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Yellow72
Edited Date/Time 1/25/2012 7:54pm
I just received the April edition of Racer X and J-Law's new One Industries ad caught my attention. If you haven't seen it, there's a gaggle of real-life moto-photogs and moto-journalists just to his left. In effect, these journalists have all officially sold out, among them Speed's Erin Bates, MXA's Zap Espinoza and Racer X's Eric Johnson. DC is there, too, but he's always blurred the line between journalist and promoter. How can we ever be sure what they report is truly unbiased as they have all now taken money to endorse One and, by extension, J-Law? I'm assuming they were paid, but either way they are helping to endorse a particular brand of gear. No journalist should endorse - paid or otherwise - a product in the industry they cover. At every news outlet I've ever worked at we were not allowed to appear in commercials or even take "goodie bags" at events.

And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased.
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Highsider
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Highsider 2/12/2009 1:12pm
2/12/2009 1:12pm
Shaddup, newbie! Seriously!
Lightning78
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Lightning78 2/12/2009 1:13pm
2/12/2009 1:13pm
You mean like how the magazines "might" have biased test results on bikes since they are getting kickbacks or extra bikes?
GoRide2
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GoRide2 2/12/2009 1:14pm
2/12/2009 1:14pm
Answer this honestly. Would you care at all if it were Dungey in the ad?
stillwelding
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stillwelding 2/12/2009 1:15pm
2/12/2009 1:15pm
I don't think you can name one motorcycle industry person that regularly covers the Motocross and Supercross series that has a journalism degree (maybe, but I don't know one after 40 years around the industry). The magazines that have grown around this business are usually enthusiast based. I don't think that they would sell as well as they do if they weren't.

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Foster576
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Foster576 2/12/2009 1:17pm
2/12/2009 1:17pm
Boycott? Wink
bogdan912
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bogdan912 2/12/2009 1:19pm
2/12/2009 1:19pm
I bet that ad is photoshopped to the fullest.
flarider
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flarider 2/12/2009 1:19pm
2/12/2009 1:19pm
You know GuyB is in that ad, right?
P
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P 2/12/2009 1:20pm
2/12/2009 1:20pm
Yellow72 wrote:
I just received the April edition of Racer X and J-Law's new One Industries ad caught my attention. If you haven't seen it, there's a gaggle...
I just received the April edition of Racer X and J-Law's new One Industries ad caught my attention. If you haven't seen it, there's a gaggle of real-life moto-photogs and moto-journalists just to his left. In effect, these journalists have all officially sold out, among them Speed's Erin Bates, MXA's Zap Espinoza and Racer X's Eric Johnson. DC is there, too, but he's always blurred the line between journalist and promoter. How can we ever be sure what they report is truly unbiased as they have all now taken money to endorse One and, by extension, J-Law? I'm assuming they were paid, but either way they are helping to endorse a particular brand of gear. No journalist should endorse - paid or otherwise - a product in the industry they cover. At every news outlet I've ever worked at we were not allowed to appear in commercials or even take "goodie bags" at events.

And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased.
Dude, this is MX.


P
zookrider62!
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zookrider62! 2/12/2009 1:20pm
2/12/2009 1:20pm
Yellow72 wrote:
I just received the April edition of Racer X and J-Law's new One Industries ad caught my attention. If you haven't seen it, there's a gaggle...
I just received the April edition of Racer X and J-Law's new One Industries ad caught my attention. If you haven't seen it, there's a gaggle of real-life moto-photogs and moto-journalists just to his left. In effect, these journalists have all officially sold out, among them Speed's Erin Bates, MXA's Zap Espinoza and Racer X's Eric Johnson. DC is there, too, but he's always blurred the line between journalist and promoter. How can we ever be sure what they report is truly unbiased as they have all now taken money to endorse One and, by extension, J-Law? I'm assuming they were paid, but either way they are helping to endorse a particular brand of gear. No journalist should endorse - paid or otherwise - a product in the industry they cover. At every news outlet I've ever worked at we were not allowed to appear in commercials or even take "goodie bags" at events.

And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased.
RX has always defined itself as a lifestyle magazine. Never have I heard them claim to be an unbiased media.
zookrider62!
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zookrider62! 2/12/2009 1:21pm
2/12/2009 1:21pm
flarider wrote:
You know GuyB is in that ad, right?
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased"
G Force
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G Force 2/12/2009 1:22pm
2/12/2009 1:22pm
Yellow72 wrote:
I just received the April edition of Racer X and J-Law's new One Industries ad caught my attention. If you haven't seen it, there's a gaggle...
I just received the April edition of Racer X and J-Law's new One Industries ad caught my attention. If you haven't seen it, there's a gaggle of real-life moto-photogs and moto-journalists just to his left. In effect, these journalists have all officially sold out, among them Speed's Erin Bates, MXA's Zap Espinoza and Racer X's Eric Johnson. DC is there, too, but he's always blurred the line between journalist and promoter. How can we ever be sure what they report is truly unbiased as they have all now taken money to endorse One and, by extension, J-Law? I'm assuming they were paid, but either way they are helping to endorse a particular brand of gear. No journalist should endorse - paid or otherwise - a product in the industry they cover. At every news outlet I've ever worked at we were not allowed to appear in commercials or even take "goodie bags" at events.

And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased.
P wrote:
Dude, this is MX.


P
Exactly, small sport, close family.
flarider
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flarider 2/12/2009 1:27pm
2/12/2009 1:27pm
flarider wrote:
You know GuyB is in that ad, right?
zookrider62! wrote:
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that...
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased"
GuyB writes pretty much all the moto stuff
GuyB
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GuyB 2/12/2009 1:32pm
2/12/2009 1:32pm
A couple things...

I wasn't paid anything to appear in the ad. They asked me to do it, I like their stuff, they're good friends, advertise on Vital, and I had no problem appearing in there.

We were all shot individually, and composited together.

When that was shot, it was at A1. We had no idea who rider would be in the ad. At the time, I'm not sure that One did, either.
zookrider62!
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zookrider62! 2/12/2009 1:37pm
2/12/2009 1:37pm
flarider wrote:
You know GuyB is in that ad, right?
zookrider62! wrote:
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that...
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased"
flarider wrote:
GuyB writes pretty much all the moto stuff
not arguing with you, just showing you what his excuse was
raddad
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raddad 2/12/2009 1:37pm
2/12/2009 1:37pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 10:28pm
flarider wrote:
You know GuyB is in that ad, right?
zookrider62! wrote:
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that...
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased"
flarider wrote:
GuyB writes pretty much all the moto stuff
Zookrider has a small point though, on the top of his head!! Har~!

Seriously though, i agree that its kind of odd to see all those guys endorsing a product like that. There was some discussion here a day or so ago about the integrity of those involved in the sport of MX and some would argue that this ad may show the lack there of.. I would be interested in hearing Gibbys reasoning for doing that ad and after seeing the ad in print does he see anything negative about it for the reasons Zook mentions.

A good topic for discussion.

Ha! Guess while i was typing so was GuyB!
zookrider62!
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zookrider62! 2/12/2009 1:38pm
2/12/2009 1:38pm
zookrider62! wrote:
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that...
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased"
flarider wrote:
GuyB writes pretty much all the moto stuff
raddad wrote:
Zookrider has a small point though, on the top of his head!! Har~! Seriously though, i agree that its kind of odd to see all those...
Zookrider has a small point though, on the top of his head!! Har~!

Seriously though, i agree that its kind of odd to see all those guys endorsing a product like that. There was some discussion here a day or so ago about the integrity of those involved in the sport of MX and some would argue that this ad may show the lack there of.. I would be interested in hearing Gibbys reasoning for doing that ad and after seeing the ad in print does he see anything negative about it for the reasons Zook mentions.

A good topic for discussion.

Ha! Guess while i was typing so was GuyB!
Like I already mentioned. I didnt write that stuff. That is why I put it in quotes
Yellow72
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Yellow72 2/12/2009 1:39pm
2/12/2009 1:39pm
flarider wrote:
You know GuyB is in that ad, right?
zookrider62! wrote:
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that...
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased"
flarider wrote:
GuyB writes pretty much all the moto stuff
I may be wrong about this, but I think the majority of what appears under GuyB's byline is press releases.
drmarkr
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drmarkr 2/12/2009 1:44pm
2/12/2009 1:44pm
I'm embarrassed for all those in the ad.....journalistic objectivity? Right.

Oh, I forgot! that all went out the window in the last election cycle!! Of course...it's all clear now.

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noob
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noob 2/12/2009 1:45pm
2/12/2009 1:45pm Edited Date/Time 2/12/2009 1:50pm
zookrider62! wrote:
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that...
"And I'm not indicting GuyB and the other photogs in this. Photographers are not held to the same standard because they are not writing anything that could be construed as biased"
flarider wrote:
GuyB writes pretty much all the moto stuff
Yellow72 wrote:
I may be wrong about this, but I think the majority of what appears under GuyB's byline is press releases.
I heard some guy in Hollywood does that amazing GuyB impersonation for those interviews.
GuyB
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GuyB 2/12/2009 1:45pm
2/12/2009 1:45pm
Yellow72 wrote:
I may be wrong about this, but I think the majority of what appears under GuyB's byline is press releases.
I sort of hate having to explain myself to someone who's apparently not paying that much attention, but...

The site adds a "credit" for everything that's posted on the site. I post everything, so...

I write up our race report every week, as well as all the captions in that photo gallery, and in the Pit Bits gallery.

Any product story or company visit? Yeah, that's me. Picking the photos or video you see? Yeah, that's me, too.

Even on things like our Vital MX Perspectives, I'm still editing it.
jbomx363
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jbomx363 2/12/2009 1:46pm
2/12/2009 1:46pm Edited Date/Time 4/16/2016 10:28pm
Good Grief.


There is nothing wrong here, move on. In your logic, all of them would be sellouts for accepting advertising on their websites and in their magazines. Geez.
Sondy132001
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Sondy132001 2/12/2009 1:59pm
2/12/2009 1:59pm
GoRide2 wrote:
Answer this honestly. Would you care at all if it were Dungey in the ad?
Nope !

S
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jonjon714 2/12/2009 2:03pm
2/12/2009 2:03pm
jbomx363 wrote:
Good Grief. There is nothing wrong here, move on. In your logic, all of them would be sellouts for accepting advertising on their websites and in...
Good Grief.


There is nothing wrong here, move on. In your logic, all of them would be sellouts for accepting advertising on their websites and in their magazines. Geez.
curmudgeon
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curmudgeon 2/12/2009 2:08pm
2/12/2009 2:08pm
What I find funny is that some people still think journalists have integrity. Anyway this is just moto, it's not like anyone is running for president.
GuyB
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GuyB 2/12/2009 2:17pm
2/12/2009 2:17pm
curmudgeon wrote:
What I find funny is that some people still think journalists have integrity. Anyway this is just moto, it's not like anyone is running for president.
Thanks, I appreciate that.
sc961
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sc961 2/12/2009 2:19pm
2/12/2009 2:19pm
I sort of hate having to explain myself to someone who's apparently not paying that much attention, but...

Then don't. It's that easy.

We like it here, and appreciate the effort you make to get us a cool place to hang out and shoot the breeze, complain or what ever it is we all do at Vital.
stillwelding
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stillwelding 2/12/2009 2:23pm
2/12/2009 2:23pm Edited Date/Time 2/12/2009 2:32pm
curmudgeon wrote:
What I find funny is that some people still think journalists have integrity. Anyway this is just moto, it's not like anyone is running for president.
GuyB wrote:
Thanks, I appreciate that.
Integrity? C'mon! This is Motocross. "Let GuyB bye" W00t
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FreshTopEnd 2/12/2009 2:24pm
2/12/2009 2:24pm Edited Date/Time 2/12/2009 2:25pm
Sold what out?
Yellow72
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Yellow72 2/12/2009 2:24pm
2/12/2009 2:24pm
Yellow72 wrote:
I may be wrong about this, but I think the majority of what appears under GuyB's byline is press releases.
GuyB wrote:
I sort of hate having to explain myself to someone who's apparently not paying that much attention, but... The site adds a "credit" for everything that's...
I sort of hate having to explain myself to someone who's apparently not paying that much attention, but...

The site adds a "credit" for everything that's posted on the site. I post everything, so...

I write up our race report every week, as well as all the captions in that photo gallery, and in the Pit Bits gallery.

Any product story or company visit? Yeah, that's me. Picking the photos or video you see? Yeah, that's me, too.

Even on things like our Vital MX Perspectives, I'm still editing it.
I'm not trying to be chippy here, GuyB, I'm just saying that literally every press release on the Home page has your name and photo. I understand that's how the system works, I'm just saying. So, if you want to go ahead and lump yourself in with all the other journalists in that ad, then so be it. I'll try to pay more attention in the future...
BMSOB
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BMSOB 2/12/2009 2:27pm
2/12/2009 2:27pm
Highsider wrote:
Shaddup, newbie! Seriously!
x2

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