Re: List Members in EC...

[Alex Kowalski (audial@aol.com) (Law Guest Account) <lawguest@wppost.depaul.edu>]

I haven't read this month's issue of EC yet, so I'll probably be
disappointed by a less-than-dazzling report too, but...

My impression of EC is that while they sometimes have biased test
reports and can have quite a bit of slant in their editorial opinion from car
to car,  you can usually detect it pretty easily and mentally edit it out, and
they run a pretty damn good magazine for enthusiasts who like to
_work_ on their cars, and that's rare.  I wish more newsstands carried
it - maybe more people would become enthusiasts instead of just
"consumers".

They also have a lot of people to please - everyone from Porschephiles
to MB drivers to Alfa owners to  teenage kids who want to fix up that
old Rabbit out back, slap a set of GTI rims on it and get it on the road.  
It's hard to be 100% objective, 100% informative, and still do justice to
each car's enthusiast points.  But I think they try harder and succeed
more often than a lot of other US magazines.  Motor Trend, for example,
often reads like the company's PR and ad reps wrote the ad copy and
then forwarded it in advance to the testers and said "Look, this is what
we're trying to say with our ads for this car...write the test to fit the
target demographics and the ad message.."  That, and the fact that if
you read through the "big" US magazines,  the contents are sometimes
so incoherent and contradictory that they seem to be written on
different planets -- it's like there's a total lack of editorial purpose, voice,
or perspective.  One article will be telling you that the latest
loaded-to-the-gunwales SUVs are the best thing since sliced bread, and
in the next article might be shouting "Smaller is better!", without even a
wink to point out the intentional irony, or do any analysis of the apparent
contradictions.  Oh, well...that's why we have the List! :-).

I don't have a subscription to EC right now (head hanging) but I am
_itching_ to see this month's issue.  

Oh, yeah, Congratulations on your Tour de Audi, guys!!!! You did us
proud!  :-)