Folks Of Interest Rob gone from Rod & Custom

There was a shake up at Source Interlink today and Rob Fortier is no longer with Rod & Custom. It looks like Kev Elliot will be the main guy.

Also Eric Giesert is gone from Street Rodder.

On top of that Jeff Smith, the Tech editor at CAR CRAFT is gone - he had been there something like 38 years! That seems like a HUGE mistake to me.

Apparently a bunch of "Behind the Scenes" type folks were cut as well.

I guess it's a bit of a sign of the state of Print Media .......

 

Car Craft is one of my favorites strictly for the tech. Sounds like a huge gamble. Don, I agree "gamble" and "mistake" can be synonyms in this case.

 

I just re-upped with R&C for 2 more years. I hope it stays the same. Shame that those fellas got dumped, I liked them a lot. Big mistake as far as I'm concerned.

 

Jeff Smith gone? If Gray B.were still alive, they would fire him, too

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haven't bought a magazine in years...internet is better, and more money for car parts.

 

change for the sake of change not good. hope that there is a slot somewhere for all of them to fit into to help keep all of us informed and educated.

 

For those HAMBers born after 1985 who might not be familiar with the term, a "magazine" is like the internet made out of a tree.

 

Same here! I got a subscription to Popular Hotrodding for Christmas, and it reminded me why I haven't purchased any car mags for years! What a rag!

 

I'm sad to hear about this. Looks like a very close friend was affected by this.
Kev Elliott is a good guy though.


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What ever the reason those fellows were "let go" they all have enough talent and drive to land on their feet and in all likelihood in better positions with better pay. I'm betting we've not seen or heard the last from them.

Frank

 

That's quite a shake-up. Hopefully, they will all find work soon. Rob and Eric have been around awhile, but the Jeff Smith firing is a real shock to me. He has been the face of Car Craft for a long, long time.

Since the big corporations bought up the magazine industry back in the '80s and then broke them up and watered down the rest, it has never been the same. David Freiberger has really tried hard to pump life back into Hot Rod, and I can't even imagine how much resistance he gets from the corporate office.

 

You owe me a new keyboard.

 

They did poop on B'ville in his later day's treatment. Smith put up numbers AND drives his stuff.

 

+ 1 on Kev Elliot..
Great guy...he is the real deal !
Dave

 

I just buy it for the pictures. seems like all they do is build things with sponsors products and work on their own cars. I buy it out of habit more than anything else.

can't wait to see how they screw it up even further.

 

Can't believe Jeff Smith was let go, I don't know who they will get to do a better job as tech editor !

 

All bad news. Being recently in the same boat I can 100% relate. Creative jobs are always seen as expendable.

Print will die faster if it kills itself.

Online it is I guess www.dirtyhero.com

 

I like what Rob Fortier had done to R&C, it will be interesting to see what happens. It does seem way cheaper and thin than in years past

 

My subscription just ran out, (Rod and Custom) when I compared there fantastic renewal offer it was more than a new subscription. They certainly don't look after their customers and did not reply to my email regarding this. Needless to say I won't be renewing.

 

Bought my first Car Craft mag in 69'..started subscribing in 1970 and continued till around 81'. Have a "Honk" magazine in the bookshelf.. A bunch of good people over the years so I guess they (Mgmt) feel it will go on..

 

I do still like hard print...something about the feel of the pages. Sad to see them go.

 

I'm going to use that quote from time to time if you don't mind.

 

looks like there were 50 or so people axed out of their LA offices (where Hot Rod is produced) and another 20 in Irvine, where R&C and SR were done. Fortier had 20 years in, Geisert had 24 or close to it. heard it was "your position has been eliminated" kind of thing

 

Every year or so I buy some car mag just to see if I'm missing anything. Most of what I see is the same shit that they printed in the 70s!' If you buy so and so's double whammy dingdong and bolt it on to your mamas wheezer, you can be in the "10s". Yeah right! Out of all the names mentioned here so far, I am familiar with one and he's been gone for some time now. I'm sorry anytime people lose jobs, been there, done that , not fun, but times change, print media might not die, but it is already getting mighty pale and shaky.

 

the only reason i still get my car rags is cause my wife wont let me take the lap top in for a poop.

 

I'm probably like most of you, I grew up hanging out at the news stand, waiting for the latest issue of Hot Rod, R and C, etc to show up. Then in the 80's magazines got goofy with cars I couldn't relate to, so I stopped buying them. They seem to be getting back to their roots a little more now, but print media of all kinds is in trouble. If I buy one magazine a year now that is a lot. (and they ain't a quarter any more either ! )

Don

 

I get them because the subscriptions are dirt cheap (Car Craft-3 years for $15) and they still have some good stuff from time to time. I'll always like books and magazines over the internet.

 

RF is one of the good guys fighting OUR fight. Sad to see this. The bean counters are doing their best to kill print!

 

That's sad news!! I'm only 27 but Jeff smith IS car craft to guys my age. Wtf will that magazine become now? Rob was great for R&C IMHO, I'm sad to see him go. I'll remain optimistic it doesn't turn into 100 pages of ads and 10 pages of advertiser sponsored parts reviews like street rodder...


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Pretty sure ALL jobs in the magazine industry are coming to the chopping block.

I stopped buying magazines years ago. Print is dead to me. Honestly, I'm amazed that assholes are still dropping off the Yellow Pages to my house. Goes directly into the garbage.

I have an iPad, I can and have replied to messages on the HAMB while pooping. Was this one of them? Only I will know for sure...