Tag Archives: Columbia Journalism Review

It’s Not Car Culture Any More, It’s Phone Culture

By Micheline Maynard

The Columbia Journalism Review gave us a forum this month to talk about Curbing Cars. Its editors also weighed in on the way mainstream media covers the transportation story.

Curbing Cars is featured in the November/December issue of Columbia Journalism Review

Curbing Cars is featured in the November/December issue of Columbia Journalism Review

It notes that the automobile industry spends $14.8 billion (yes, with a “b”) on advertising last year, making it the second biggest category behind technology and communications. Cars are the single-biggest television category.

Given that, it’s no wonder that newspapers, magazines and TV networks lavish coverage on the car companies. But that’s happening at a time when the public is turning away from automobiles as a preoccupation to many other activities.

“Much of transportation coverage, meanwhile, remains stalled in the 20th century,” CJR writes in this editorial.

“We cover Detroit as though it were 1993, not 2013. A story about transportation infrastructure typically means the sorry condition of bridges and roadways. In 2011, Businessjournalism.org published a “How-to” column about covering transportation that could have been written 30 years ago.” Continue reading

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Curbing Cars Featured On The Cover Of Columbia Journalism Review

Curbing Cars is featured in the November/December issue of Columbia Journalism Review

Curbing Cars is featured in the November/December issue of Columbia Journalism Review

By Micheline Maynard

We all know rock stars want to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. But for journalists, the equivalent is to be on the cover of the Columbia Journalism Review.

Well, here we are. Curbing Cars is featured in the November/December issue of CJR, which is arriving with subscribers and appearing on newstands now.

Here’s how it came about, This summer, while Curbing Cars was in the middle of our Kickstarter campaign, I got a call from an editor at CJR. Would I be interested in writing a cover story for the magazine on the thesis behind our project, he asked?

The article  lays out the reasons I became interested in writing about why people are rethinking the way they get around. It also talks about how the story isn’t being covered in a comprehensive way by most mainstream media, although there are plenty of places to find information on the Web and from some smart journalists.

Think of this as the Curbing Cars Manifesto, a term I’m borrowing from my friend Barry Sorkin at Smoque BBQ in Chicago. (Barry’s uncle and Smoque partner Al Sherman was actually one of the first people to back our Kickstarter.) It touches on many of the topics we’ll be exploring in-depth in our upcoming eBook.

I’d love to get your thoughts about the cover, the ideas behind our project, and whether you’re rethinking the use of your car. Even if you still are a fan of automobiles, and can’t imagine your life without one, your ideas are most welcome, too. And if you’re so moved, click on the “Donate” button on the right side of our site and help us keep up our work.

You can read the cover story here.

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