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REPORT: Blue Devil prototype faked by Winding Road
Posted Dec 1st 2006 10:14PM by Damon Lavrinc
Filed under: Spy Photos, Etc., Chevrolet
Last month we posted on a recent sighting of the infamous "Blue Devil" supercharged uber-vette that had been shot numerous times while undergoing testing.
We wrote at the time, "This latest shot comes courtesy of The Car Connection via a student near Milford, Mich. by the name of Yonni G. Mr. G. happened to have his Dad's camera in tow when this newest prototype blew by him at speed and judging by the quality of the shots, we hope he got a sizeable check from the folks at TCC."
Well, last night we got word that those stellar shots were part of an elaborate prank of sorts, put on by the folks over at Winding Road to see if the images would make their way onto the pages of their competition and other automotive resources. They succeeded, getting the faux-pics ran in Autoweek, Motor Trend and a variety of internet sites and blogs, including this one.
Follow the jump for more on the story of Winding Road's imitation super Vette...
All of the media outlets who published the photos feel a bit foolish right now, though some will likely take it more serious than others. We don't know if any publication paid for the photos, in which case there might be some question surrounding the liability of someone selling fake photos. From what we gather, however, Winding Road only took pictures of the vehicle for its own article and never distributed them itself. The photos published in various magazines and on the internet were taken by people out in public and submitted to those outlets without any involvement from Winding Road. On account of this, we doubt WR will find itself in any legal trouble over this, since it's not against the law to tape up a Corvette and drive it around.
The entire buildup is chronicled in the January issue of Winding Road, which is available at their website. In order to view the latest issue you have to subscribe, which is free, however, some have voiced their disgust and don't want to give WR any more publicity than it's already garnered. Keith from Corvetteblogger.com, for instance, writes on his blog, "You've just proved that you are not worthy of the link on my blog and I hope others will take anything that comes from Winding Road in the future with a grain of salt."
We're in the process of rounding up comments from some of the other players now, including those of spy photographers in the business and the staff of Winding Road itself. Watch this space for more information as it develops.
http://www.corvetteblogger.com/index...ll-CredibilityREPORT: Blue Devil prototype faked by Winding Road
Posted Dec 1st 2006 10:14PM by Damon Lavrinc
Filed under: Spy Photos, Etc., Chevrolet
Last month we posted on a recent sighting of the infamous "Blue Devil" supercharged uber-vette that had been shot numerous times while undergoing testing.
We wrote at the time, "This latest shot comes courtesy of The Car Connection via a student near Milford, Mich. by the name of Yonni G. Mr. G. happened to have his Dad's camera in tow when this newest prototype blew by him at speed and judging by the quality of the shots, we hope he got a sizeable check from the folks at TCC."
Well, last night we got word that those stellar shots were part of an elaborate prank of sorts, put on by the folks over at Winding Road to see if the images would make their way onto the pages of their competition and other automotive resources. They succeeded, getting the faux-pics ran in Autoweek, Motor Trend and a variety of internet sites and blogs, including this one.
Follow the jump for more on the story of Winding Road's imitation super Vette...
All of the media outlets who published the photos feel a bit foolish right now, though some will likely take it more serious than others. We don't know if any publication paid for the photos, in which case there might be some question surrounding the liability of someone selling fake photos. From what we gather, however, Winding Road only took pictures of the vehicle for its own article and never distributed them itself. The photos published in various magazines and on the internet were taken by people out in public and submitted to those outlets without any involvement from Winding Road. On account of this, we doubt WR will find itself in any legal trouble over this, since it's not against the law to tape up a Corvette and drive it around.
The entire buildup is chronicled in the January issue of Winding Road, which is available at their website. In order to view the latest issue you have to subscribe, which is free, however, some have voiced their disgust and don't want to give WR any more publicity than it's already garnered. Keith from Corvetteblogger.com, for instance, writes on his blog, "You've just proved that you are not worthy of the link on my blog and I hope others will take anything that comes from Winding Road in the future with a grain of salt."
We're in the process of rounding up comments from some of the other players now, including those of spy photographers in the business and the staff of Winding Road itself. Watch this space for more information as it develops.
Discuss.
I for one applaud Winding Road. I am tired of reading the lies Edmunds and TCC print in particular. This is not the first time TCC printed false information (do google searches for the Acura RDX, and BMW X5).
How do YOU feel? Does this take away from Winding Roads credibilty? Or is it simply being singled out? People now claim it is Winding Road who has no credibility, and claim they "spread" false information. Yet isn't it up to the publications themselves to choose what to print? So what the car was a fabrication, planned to see what peoples reactions were. How often are these other publications lying to us? Winding Road called everyone elses bluff, exposing the competition for their poor practices and showed us who the cowardly automotive journalists really are.....
Registered User
My problem though is that we were duped by a magazine that wants us believe that the stories they write are true. Not by a couple of high schoolers out for a laugh. If I want fake news.
Lexus Test Driver
As someone that works in media, not as a journalist, but as an engineer for a TV station, no media outlet should willingly put out false information. WR has no credibility now. The other publications at worst could be said to have weak resource verification, but they never knowingly printed false information. No journalist that I know of has ever done that. They have made mistakes before and had to retract, but never knowingly gave out false information. Anyone that knowingly spreads false information or a hoax is definitely no journalist. The media always gets a bad rap when they get it wrong, but nobody every praises them when they get it right every day. I don't ever want to get into journalism, but after working with them for 10+ years and my wife also has a journalism degree, I see how hard they work to get it right every day.
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Winding Road didn't take the pictures, they didn't spread any info. All Winding Road did was drive around a Corvette with masking tape and vinyl all over it. Is that really bad journalism? Winding Road had NO links to the articles and pictures distributed other than ownership of the car. Do you honestly feel that way? How would the siutation change it it was an ordinary reader who did this?Originally Posted by CK6Speed
As someone that works in media, not as a journalist, but as an engineer for a TV station, no media outlet should willingly put out false information. WR has no credibility now. The other publications at worst could be said to have weak resource verification, but they never knowingly printed false information. No journalist that I know of has ever done that. They have made mistakes before and had to retract, but never knowingly gave out false information. Anyone that knowingly spreads false information or a hoax is definitely no journalist. The media always gets a bad rap when they get it wrong, but nobody every praises them when they get it right every day. I don't ever want to get into journalism, but after working with them for 10+ years and my wife also has a journalism degree, I see how hard they work to get it right every day.
Lexus Test Driver
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Originally Posted by 2jzgte
Winding Road didn't take the pictures, they didn't spread any info. All Winding Road did was drive around a Corvette with masking tape and vinyl all over it. Is that really bad journalism? Winding Road had NO links to the articles and pictures distributed other than ownership of the car. Do you honestly feel that way? How would the siutation change it it was an ordinary reader who did this?
If that is what they did then I do not fualt them. I had mistakenly thought they photographed the pictures themselves and posted it on their site with the intention of seeing if other publications would pick up on the story based on this quote.
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Well, last night we got word that those stellar shots were part of an elaborate prank of sorts, put on by the folks over at Winding Road to see if the images would make their way onto the pages of their competition and other automotive resources. They succeeded, getting the faux-pics ran in Autoweek, Motor Trend and a variety of internet sites and blogs, including this one.
That said, if you don't mind what exactly did WR do? Did they actually take the pictures themselves and just post the pictures on their site with no text? If they had text what was written? Did the pictures actually just come from bystanders on the street that just happen to see the car passing by? I personally don't read their site so I don't know. All I'm saying is no legitamate news publication should knowlingly put out false information, nor should they create a haox like atmosphere. If they took their own pictures of the masked up car and posted it on their website, I believe that is crossing the line simply because they are creating news when no news exist. Otherwise, what would be the purpose of masking a car and driving aroud town? The only thing I can think of is to trick anyone that saw the car into thinking it is some sort of new/prototype car.Well, last night we got word that those stellar shots were part of an elaborate prank of sorts, put on by the folks over at Winding Road to see if the images would make their way onto the pages of their competition and other automotive resources. They succeeded, getting the faux-pics ran in Autoweek, Motor Trend and a variety of internet sites and blogs, including this one.
If any other person did this I would have no problem with it unless that said person was trying to pass himself off as a journalist. Remember, all I said is that no journalist would/should knowling put out false information even if it is only on their own website. If you do, that is bad journalism.
If you are going to call yourself a journalist, it would seem that a rudimentary knowledge of the craft would be required. WR, by baiting its competitors into headlining a breaking (fabricated) story may have shown them up to be poorly trained journalists who do not observe the basics of fact checking and source confirmation - but the damage they have done to their own credibility may be worse.
Superheated tabloid journalism seems to have taken over from the "authoritative" publications of the past. It doesn't matter that the story is untrue, or even just "wrong", being the first to publish seems to be the only criterion for many media outlets. Truth, once the sacred touchstone of the journalistic community seems to have been replaced by sensation. Until we vote with our checkbooks, it's going to get a lot worse.
Superheated tabloid journalism seems to have taken over from the "authoritative" publications of the past. It doesn't matter that the story is untrue, or even just "wrong", being the first to publish seems to be the only criterion for many media outlets. Truth, once the sacred touchstone of the journalistic community seems to have been replaced by sensation. Until we vote with our checkbooks, it's going to get a lot worse.