WHy Do you Want To Be a Motoring Journalist?
You may think this is a silly question - but there is a more serious, and rather disheartening, point to it.
I guess you could categorise this blog as one of those horrible doubt-affirming rants that isn't for people who get easily depressed. But I haven't been able to stop asking myself why I actually want to be a motoring journalist; whether this is the living for me; whether I see myself doing this in 20 years time.
If you've never asked yourself this question, then I apologise in advance, as this may imbue you to cast uncertainty over your own position and future hopes in the industry. It's not that I have any inhibitions in regards to my current love for cars and dedication to my work – it's that I very much don't see myself loving the cars of the future.
The industry is progressing in a direction I'm not particularly fond of. Everything's becoming more synthetic, anodyne, and ultimately, electrified. It's not just the new path motoring has taken that concerns me – but also just how quickly things are reaching their destination on their journey to sustainability.
The Bugatti Veyron was released, I've blinked, and now it's 12 years old. In another couple of blinks, we'll all be humming around in soulless silence. And another half a blink after that, cars won't even have steering wheels as they'll be driving themselves. And in a world of complete autonomy, where does that leave those of us who earn a living out of driving cars and telling people how good they are? The future's bleak!
My desire to be a motoring journalist is fuelled by my passion for all things automotive of the past and present. The future however doesn't appear to be a place where the speed machines I yearn for can exist. I'm sure I'm not alone in this boat.
So, if you've just realised that actually, being a motoring journalist might not be such a great long term career after all, then I do apologise. All we can really aim to achieve right now is to enjoy the power wars that'll rage on before anything with an internal combustion engine is confiscated from our grieving grasp.
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Written by: Angelo Uccello
Twitter: @AngeloUccello
Tribe: Speed Machines
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Comments (6)
It's like Clarkson said: there will always be a big following for anything with a combustion engine. Just as there are still millions of horse back riders. Kids will be infected with the petrol bug for years to come; new cars will have hybrid engines for at least another decade. Cheer up, you can still do this! :-)
Thanks for you comment. :). We can hope!
We must. I do agree with you however, the days of conventional motoring journalism are numbered. It'll be new media and new ways of connecting with car enthusiasts.
The rising market in the motorcycle magazine sector is from titles like 'practical sportsbikes' and 'classic motorcycle mechanics' which celebrate the older bikes. So the future's in looking backwards
It's sooo hard. People have so much choice as to what they read that there is often little return for an article, which can (although not always) take a bit of time to research and put together. And by that time, as you say...its out of date!
I envy weekly columnists!