Top Gear, top journalism: Three lessons for political journalists from the world's most popular TV show

Abstract

This article examines the BBC program Top Gear, discussing why it has become one of the world's most-watched TV programs, and how it has very successfully captivated an audience who might otherwise not be particularly interested in cars. The analysis of the show is here framed in the form of three ‘lessons’ for journalists, suggesting that some of the entertaining (and highly engaging) ways in which Top Gear presents information to its viewers could be usefully applied in the coverage of politics – a domain of knowledge which, like cars, many citizens find abstract or boring.

It's not hyperbole to suggest that when Jeremy [Clarkson] first appeared on old-style Top Gear, his style changed the face of modern motoring journalism. He did this by realizing that people were less interested in being told about a car's valve timing, compression ratios and tyre sizes than they were in knowing (a) whether said car would improve their general quality of life and (b) whether being seen driving one would make attractive people want to sleep with them. When Top Gear returned in 2002, the show took this philosophy, added rocket-boosters and ran with it. The rest, as they say, is history.

British Broadcasting Corporation n.d.

Notes

1. A good example of this was when (in 2005) Clarkson suggested that a ‘quintessentially German car’ would have indicators that mimicked a Hitler salute, a satellite navigation system that only goes to Poland, and a fanbelt that lasts for a millennium (Hall and Meller 2005; Stephenson 2005).

2. In September 2010, the High Court of England overturned an injunction by the BBC which had attempted to prevent the publication of racing driver Ben Collins’ autobiography, in which he revealed that he had played The Stig from series 3 onward. After revealing his (highly secret) identity, Collins was promptly fired from the show.

3. Indeed, a large problem in this program is the often uninformed (and arguably irresponsible) views of the hosts when deviating off the topic of cars. Jeremy Clarkson, for instance, is a strong opponent to the over-regulation of roads, and road safety. He once expressed great scepticism towards climate change based on his assessment on one occasion (series 8, episode 3) that northern England was experiencing an especially cold winter.