Enthusiast Media Enthused About Bribes

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Since we're in New York, our automotive experience is limited to taxis and other cars that get in the way of taxis, but that doesn't mean we're insensitive to the largely undiscovered (or undercovered) world of automotive media. Hairy-backed sib site Jalopnik has just begun to idly berate car mags like Popular Hot Rodding — yes, Popular Hot Rodding — for the thinly veiled practice of trading car parts for good reviews. It seems almost like medieval bartering, but we suppose it's no different than raiding the fashion closet for listicles, then taking home the newly distressed samples for further "review." Apparently this is more a case of impoverished "enthusiast media" journalists just not getting paid much in cash, so they take their editorial compensation in advertiser payola. We doubt many carburetors get offered nonchalantly across desks in Manhattan media offices, but if they do, we want to hear about it. Don't tell us about the payola you've accepted (unless you want to), but feel free to pass on anecdotes of the most baldfaced advertiser bribe you've ever turned down.