Navigating Wars of Words as a Journalist — The Carmudgeon Show Jason Cammisa Derek Tam-Scott Ep. 164

The Carmudgeon Show

Three cars have caused Jason a journalistic existential crisis: the Alfa Romeo Tonale, the Tesla Cybertruck, and the Tesla Model 3 Performance.

Two of them have nothing to do with the cars, and everything to do with the internet backlash from passionate enthusiasts. It's war out there.

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The Carmudgeon Show has a new studio! (Or at least a new look.)

But back to the cars:

All of the innovation in the car industry these days is happening at the nontraditional OEMs. Which necessarily means that all of the interesting stories are about EVs.

And yet every time Jason does a review of an EV, it incites an online war between EV fans and ICE fans. And when Telsa's passionate fans and detractors become involved on X (formerly known as Twitter) it gets personal. Suddenly, Jason is vilified and "loses his credibility."

This reality has caused Jason to take a serious look at the possibility of no longer reviewing new cars. He wonders if his personal interest in them is too small to put up with the backlash — and maybe he should concentrate on the older cars he loves more?

On the other hand, is that letting the armchair warriors win?

Perhaps. But the larger trend, as Jeremy Clarkson pointed out recently, is that new cars are shit.

And it was the Alfa Romeo Tonale that highlighted Jason's concerns. Not because it's a bad car — it's not — but Jason had a hard time getting excited about a 1.3-liter PHEV compact SUV with an Alfa Romeo badge on it. It has none of the qualities he likes in cars. And specifically none of the qualities (other than gorgeous green paint) that he feels are appropriate for a brand like Alfa Romeo.

Hear all about the dissonance on this episode of the Carmudgeon Show.

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