Jalopnik is a Weblog covering cars, car culture, and the automotive industry. Owned and operated by Gawker Media since 2004, Jalopnik emphasizes irreverent humor.[1][2]
Jalopnik contributors regularly attend media events and press conferences hosted by automotive manufacturers, which prior to the rise of the blogosphere in the 2000s, were limited to traditional media outlets.[3][4][5] Jalopnik's site's Editor-in-Chief, Ray Wert, appears regularly on live news programs including CNBC's On the Money.[6]
The word "Jalopnik" is a portmanteau of Jalopy and Beatnik.[7]
On February 2nd, 2011, Jalopnik, underwent a major redesign of their format that faced overwhelming & immediate criticism to which the Editor in Chief responded: "We're not going back to the old design. You'll have to deal with that.[8]"
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The site's editor-in-chief is Ray Wert[9] , and other writers include features editor Justin Hyde and features editor Matt Hardigree. Mike Spinelli, who founded Jalopnik and served as the site's Senior Editor, contributes regularly with Jalopnik as editor-emeritus. In addition to the full-time editors, writers "Murilee Martin" (a nom de plume), and John Krewson contribute to Jalopnik regularly. Most recently, Hungarian writer Peter Orosz has contributed, providing coverage of Formula One and other subjects. Former staffers include Ben Wojdyla and Sam Smith.
Jalopnik's news items are often intermingled with humorous stories highlighting car culture, humorous criminal incidents, strange cars offered for sale on eBay or Craigslist, humorous phrasing and sarcasm within the items themselves, callbacks, inside joke and repeating themes.
Jalopnik includes several regular, usually humorous features addressing car culture.
Question Of The Day and Answers Of The Day (abbreviated QOTD and AOTD, respectively) - For the Question Of The Day, editor Mike Spinelli asks a question of the general Jalopnik commentariat, with the question usually at least somewhat loosely related to automotive transportation or uses thereof, and gives and example of what his personal answer would be. In the comments section, the commentariat takes advantage of this opportunity to show off their bountiful automotive knowledge, often coming up with quite interesting and erudite answers. By the next day, intern Martin Grossinger has chosen his favorite ten responses and organizes them, in gallery format, along with a quick explanation for each as to why the selection makes sense, in the Answer Of The Day article. The commentariat then generally gets quite angry and each insists that Martin is an ignorant prick for not choosing their specific suggestions. [22] [23] AOTD is a generally only a summer feature, as Martin is only employed by Jalopnik during the summer months. Since 5.NO was put into affect, only QOTD has been posted, and Jalops worldwide have lamented the lack of AOTD. Some Jalops have boycotted QOTD until they get their AOTD back.
Project Car Hell - In this item two equally time and money consuming restoration projects are picked from the typical second hand websites like craigslist and eBay. Readers are then asked to vote on which car is more "Hellish" to restore; i.e., how bad of a condition it is in when initially acquired, rarity and cost of parts, complexity of mechanicals, and how ultimately desirable the car would be in the chance that it would be completely restored. Although this often involves one car pitted against another, every now and then offers will include three or more cars. Additional humor is derived from the optimistic tone of voice most sellers will use when they try to sell their car(s); "runs reasonably well (no 2nd and 3rd gear)", or "This car is anyones dream project!".
Jalopnik Fantasy Garage - Jalopnik keeps a running list of desirable vehicles (usually historically significant, sometimes just very fast, beautiful, or capable). For a car to get into this list, it has to be proposed by a Jalopnik writer and voted in by readers, usually in a simple Yes/No poll (accompanied by an article introducing the car and explaining its significance) or by having readers choose from a batch of similar cars. If a car in the list is thought to have become unpopular, readers are given a chance to vote it out in a Trimming the Fat feature.
Classic Ad Watch - Murilee Martin covers in this series old television advertisements for cars from around the world, mostly focusing on somewhat off-kilter ads (Japanese ads are most famous for this). Most of the ads feature odd voiceovers, heavy usage of stunt-driving or unintentionally hilarious jingles. Ironically optimistic ads for models or marques which later failed are also popular choices.
Jalopnik Reviews - Reviews, typically by Wes Siler, include three parts: a general description of the car; an evaluation of the car (with ratings in categories such as handling and interior design); followed by reasons why a buyer would or would not buy the car. [24]
Official Car Pundit Drinking Game - A drinking game first played during editor Ray Wert's appearances on CNBC's On the Money, and since expanded to when any Jalopnik writer appears on television. Commenters post drink rules corresponding to the automotive issues that are to be discussed.
Nice Price or Crack Pipe (abbreviated NPOCP) - The readers are asked to approve (Nice Price) or disapprove ("Crack Pipe") of the price of a particular vehicle for sale. [25]
Commenter of the Day (abbreviated COTD) - The Jalopnik commenters (or the "commentariat") are honored with the COTD (Commenter of the Day) award. A short story precedes the COTD in order to explain the nature of the comment. The other commenters are then free to discuss the comment and congratulate the winner; a congratulatory reward usually includes a tasteful depiction of a girl and a car (delivered by $kaycog) and a bottle of Jalopnik brand Breakfast Scotch. Notable repeat winners of 'Commenter of the Day' include such resident commenters as Spiegel, pauljones, Ash78, Desu-San-Desu, and Potbelly Joe, among others. [26][27]
Church of Hoon - A more recent addition to the Opposite Lock section of the site. Members of the site have begun to form the basis for an in-site religion based on the teachings and prophets of the automotive kingdom. It has been called the best religion.... In the wuuurld. [28]
Down On The Street (abbreviated DOTS) - Editor Murilee Martin takes photos of an interesting, usually old car in his current hometown, Denver, Colorado, or his former hometown of Alameda, California, and includes a short commentary to go with it. The only specific criteria that a car must meet to qualify for DOTS is that it must be parked on the street (cars parked in garages or driveways do not count as they are on private property), hence the name of the article. More recently this feature has included Bonus Editions which feature reader-submitted photos and commentaries of old cars in their hometowns or abroad.
Jalopnik Gold - A members-only feature unveiled on April 1, 2009 which allowed member to have both preview and edit buttons and other member-exclusive features. This service was discontinued the same evening.
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