Is anyone else bothered by this solicitation?

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• You are absolutely NOT wrong. Back in the day, I knew journalists who wouldn't take so much as a cup of coffee from an outside source and routinely returned food and liquor sent to them during the holidays. But this isn't the old days. In an era when radical capitalism is stretching out to capture everyone, young journalists must be told early and often that there are no free rides when ethics are at stake. We've gotten a bad reputation by the smear tactics of people who don't want a ilght shined in their direction, and the public has bought it. Journalists must stand fast against temptation and earn back the public's trust.

• Chris, the ethical lapse would rest not with the company for offering (corporate behavior has trouble sometimes defining boundaries) but with any journalist who would accept this "learning opportunity." There are bountiful sources available about the customization culture without having to accept a free trip to Vegas.

  And I'd love to know from the PR professors the types of publications those soliciting journalists worked for. As you know well, there are many in the industry who consider themselves journalists -- Paris Hilton might even try --but who would not measure on our yardstick. I am troubled that a true reporter would ever ask for such gifts.

• Chris,

  We received this offer at The Daily Tar Heel only after a GM rep called me first asking if it was okay to send the e-mail to some staffers. She said they were not going to send it if an adviser said no. Not sure if they kept to that, but we allowed the e-mail, of course, and the student editor will make the decision to send or not send someone.

  My advice was to send someone - it is good experience - and then have them write whatever the heck they want, or don't write anything at all.

  Kevin Schwartz

• The use of fleet "loaner cars" for journalists is very common ... my staff managed such a fleet when I worked at Bates. How is a journalist supposed to test a car -- spend $40,000? And then what happens to it when they are done?

  These types of events happened frequently in the automotive press business. Long leads, short leads, test drive setups at exotic locales ... it's part of the game.

  If the publications don't want to take freebies, they can always pay. Same with the college papers.

• I observed a similar promotion at the fall 2004 College Media Advisers conference. Students could write a piece about some car promotion (I don't recall which), and the best editorial/news/etc. would a trip to cover a major car event, similar to the one described here.

• This will be a great topic of discussion in my Media Ethics class next week. I agree with the premise that GM isn't wrong for offering the temptation, but the journalists are wrong for accepting it. I teach at UNLV in Las Vegas and hope our student journalists won't be tempted by a trip to the nearby Strip.

• For those who are worried about GM press events, you don't understand how it works. As a 20-year automotive journalist who attends press events at least two to three times a month, this is not about a "free" trip. These events are attended by top executives of the corporation so that we may have an opportunity to interview them. We also have a chance to interview the engineers, designers, and marketing and sales departments who we otherwise would have to access individually. In addition, It allows General Motors (or every other single automotive manufacturer) to provide journalists the opportunity to drive every trim level of one product over the same road conditions, and sometimes on a track facility when applicable. This is something that's impossible for anyone to do on their own.

  As far as ethics, there will always be those who are swayed by swag; if that is the case, they were never much of a journalist to begin with. I have been doing these trips for 20 years, as I said before, and truthfully, I tell the manufacturers what I think is bad about the vehicle as well as the good. This gives them the opportunity to fix or update any negatives before the vehicles are delivered to the dealerships, so they can get the vehicles correct for the public. You're welcome.

  A movie reviewer has to watch the movie before he can critique it. It would be fiscally impossible and implausible for him to pay for every single movie; no one could afford it, and by reviewing movies, he has helped you decide on which films you want to spend your hard-earned (well, your parent's anyway, since you're all still sucking at the parental teat while in school) cash.

  There are almost 600 models of new vehicles on the market, vehicles that eventually become used vehicles. There are approximately 16 million new vehicles sold every year, and even more used cars. We are providing a service to help guide vehicle purchasers into spending their dollars wisely, as a vehicle purchase is the second-biggest single purchase expense next to buying a house.

  GM and ever other manufacturer spends money traveling the country looking for the best roads to drive on and experience the vehicle. For those who think that GM is taking the editors to Las Vegas to hang out at casinos, attend strip clubs, get them drunk, and deliver a good review, you can't be farther from the truth. The roads around Valley of Fire or Red Rock Canyon are superb, and unless you want to sleep in a teepee and eat tree bark (which I'm sure some of you liberals do- haha), Las Vegas is the closest town with decent hotel rooms. In addition, good photography locations are essential so YOU can get a decent interpretation of what the vehicle looks like so YOU can decide if YOU like it enough to purchase one.

  The press cars that we drive are for evaluation purposes. Even we can't do every trip unless there is a staff of at least 15 people, and most of us are individual freelancers. There are so many new vehicles being introduced constantly that no one person goes on every trip. Writing the reviews still need to happen. For those who missed the trip or want to spend more time with a vehicle, and I'm sure you all know that the more time you spend with something the better you know it, this is the only way to do it. And contrary to your "ethics" beliefs, the press cars don't come with suitcases of cash or magnums of champagne, either.

  If you have a problem with these practices, I propose you try to find a company that doesn't give out test versions of software, shoes, toothpaste, or any other product to the people in their industry. Good luck. Promoting a product and marketing that product involves getting the word out to the public. In the automotive industry, this is how it is accomplished. So before you go making snap judgements about what's right or wrong, I suggest you do some research and homework before jumping to conclusions. Besides, isn't that why you're in school. To actually LEARN something?

• BJ has it exactly right.

  This GM student program sounds as if it's modeled on -- or adjunct to -- an event for working journalists. In other words, it's the way magazines generate much of their automotive content. For an aspiring auto/lifestyle writer, this is a pretty incredible opportunity.

• My very first journalism professor held up a jacket that he had accepted as a gift at an event he was covering and asked if that was proper to accept. What a conundrum? Does a student tell a professor he did something unethical? To him it wasn't unethical at the time but the question inspired an interesting discussion. To me it was unethical. To accept anything that might endear you to a subject or story you are or might anytime in the future cover muddies the water. Why is this so hard to understand? And how does the GM program differ from accepting cars to review? Because the cars should come with the expectation that the review could be BAD. The GM program is a feel-good for college journalists who will always remember that the company did something nice for them. To me it's below the radar bribery.

• When GM loans me a car for the usual one-week review period, it uses a company (at least in Los Angeles) called A&M that delivers the car (wherever I might be) and then picks it up. It isn't cheap for them. The various costs of loaning a car from the press fleet might well match the cost of a short press trip. So either way, you're accepting something that costs GM money.

  Like BJ, I go on frequent press trips -- there's nothing special about it. It's what we have to do to write our stories, a function of the job. And if you look at any automotive magazine -- all of which send editors to these events -- you'll see plenty of critical commentary. There's not an atmosphere of quid pro quo because it wouldn't occur to us that we owe manufacturers anything more than a fair review.

  Will GM earn some goodwill with its student event? Sure. Will students go back to their college newspapers with story ideas? Of course. Is it a smart strategy for GM? Absolutely. Is this within the accepted mores of *automotive* journalism? Yes.

  Please base your decision on the fact that this event is likely no different from those accredited automotive journalists attend on a regular basis. I understand our rules might be different from those of hard-news journalists -- but if they weren't, no one would ever write about a car.