Brill's Cream

Discover Magazine Perhaps we're still whiffing the Jayson Blair scandal or the impending consolidation of the media industry, or maybe Gothamist is just paranoid (as usual), but lately we've been hypersensitive to the appearence of journalistic impropriety. Recently, while reading Discover Magazine's slavish paean to the grotesque MaxiMog, we were appalled by the conflict of interest. The MaxiMog was designed and built by one Bran Ferren, formerly of Disney's Imagineering. However nowhere in the praise heaped on Ferren and his kooky car could you find the fact that Discover is also owned by the Disney corporation. The Economist, on the other hand, is one of our favorite magazines. Aside from being foreign, and therefore inherently superior, they scrupulously note every time their parent company, Pearson, or their sister publications are mentioned. For example, this article would seem to suggest that editorial independence is not yet dead (or at least wasn't in 1998).

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

July 4, 2003 8:08 AM

Comments [rss]

yuppietruckluvr

i saw it all i was in my new mercedes suv. i didnt have to be pulled out because i dont like to get all dirty

chevyZ71

I can tell you that ford guy is typing the truth..... I know because I was stuck in the same mud hole so he hooked me up right behind the maxitrooper and started tugging. If you see that big Ford tell him thanks for me.

maximogfanNOT

Yeah, I ran into that guy one saturday... he asked me to pull him out of a mud hole good thing I had the Ford F350

maximogfanNOT

Yeah, I ran into that guy one saturday... he asked me to pull him out of a mud hole good thing I had the Ford F350

Nobody

All Discover magazine articles are essentially useless, like TIME magazine for news or People magazine for entertainment.

However, in Discover's defense, the MaxiMog is not a Disney project. Disney, in fact, has nothing to do with it. That kind of exempts Discover from disclosure, because there's nothing to disclose. Is Discover supposed to research the employment history of all its subjects? I heard that Paleontologist Bob Bakker -- also written up in the July issue -- recently took his kids to see Finding Nemo. For shame!

Jen

This post had the same effect on me! ...MaxiMog blah blah blah blah blah...

Aserdaten

That is one hell of an SUV (memory of the rest of Justin's post fades away as male forebrain absorbs with fascination Maximog's specifications at maximog.com).