Auto reporter, at Chrysler since 2005, returns to fourth estate

Ed Garsten

Ed Garsten, who left his job as an auto reporter for the Detroit News in 2005 to work for Daimler Chrysler, has returned to journalism with a job at Automotive News.

Garsten writes, “My goal had always been to finish out my career back in news and I’m thrilled to announce I start today as a part-time video reporter for the Automotive News. This way I’ll be able to resume covering the most fascinating, unpredictable and vital industry with a premier news organization while remaining semi-retired.

“The Automotive News has a special place in my heart. When I was laid off from CNN in 2001 after almost 20 years I found that local TV stations in Detroit were not interested in an ex-network guy and I did not want to move my family since my kids were still in school. I decided to contact Ed Lapham, the editor of the Automotive News, whom I’d interviewed many times on CNN as an industry analyst. Print people are generally skeptical of the writing abilities of broadcast journalists but Ed made me a deal. I could write some stories as a freelancer as a sort of audition. If I passed the test, perhaps there would be full time job for me. I passed the test after 6 or 7 stories but alas, there were no open positions.

“The experience, however, gave me confidence I could function well in the print world. One day I got a call from the Detroit bureau chief at the Associated Press who was looking for a new national auto writer. He too, wasn’t sure a TV guy could hack it in the print world but the Automotive News clips I provided sealed the deal. A little over a year later, the Detroit News recruited me for the GM beat writer job. I can say with great candor that without the chance given to me at the Automotive News my post-CNN/broadcast life might have been very different, and certainly not as lucrative.”