There is no place quite so important to the American media as Detroit.
The automotive industry has supported the media—made it, really, what
it is. Hence, there are two telling, and contradictory, elements to the
present debate over the future of the auto business.
The first is that
the Big Three and their chief executives reasonably believe that the
threat of a world without them is so existential that they can use
their friends in the media to create a groundswell of goodwill, which
Washington will not be able to resist.
The second is that, in fact, the
media has turned harshly against the auto business. This necessarily
says something about the fracturing of the media—there isn’t anyone
anymore who can say we need to act in our own self interest (i.e., pump
up Detroit).
It also says that the car guys are out of it: they don’t
get that there isn’t any longer a coherent, top down, mechanism for
recognizing and promoting self-interest. Also, clearly, they don’t read
the papers or follow the news.
The shift is historic. Even Mitt Romney,
whose father was a hero of Detroit, has, with a flourish, abandoned
them.
Also, the new media scrutiny, and antipathy, has subtly turned
each of the car bosses—Ford’s Alan Mulally, Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli,
and GM’s Rick Wagoner—from standard-issue, Midwest executives into
off-putting, if not horrifying, gargoyles. They’re cooked.
Still, it
should be remarked, if Detroit goes, so will the American media
business.
(AP Image)
