The Generic Times

The Generic Times is a newspaper publication that is famous for reporting on motorsport related news.

Founding

The Generic Times was founded in 1979 by Alfred Generic, for the sole purpose of reporting on international motorsport news in various categories, from Formula One to NASCAR. The weekly paper, which was only sold in the UK, gained popularity for the well-written articles it published. It continued to grow in popularity until 1993, when Alfred Generic passed away at the age of 73.

The Current Era

Ownership of the paper passed to Alfred's son, Jonathan Generic, who wasn't interested in running the paper. All of the well known journalists left, and the paper resorted to hiring small time workers who only wanted to get paid. As a result, the quality of the paper started to fall, as did the readership, and by 1995 it had already destroyed its former reputation. It now only published unsubstantiated rumours, poorly researched statistics and defaming articles about drivers, and when it got a story right it was a miracle.

In March 1996, three disgruntled staff of the newspaper left Generic Times to purchase the ailing The Grand Prix Journal, forming a new publication, J.O.U.R.N.A.L. in process.

Controversy

In one of the most famous examples of its poor reporting, in 2011 the paper was sued by the REECCS after it published an incorrect story about the dominant Skodas:

"The dominant Skoda 110R has been banned from REECCS competition for simply being too fast, according to the main series official. All drivers who are currently in the Skoda have to switch cars before the next round. Officials for the series are currently in hiding, for the fear that HWNSNBM will pelt them with papayas, Brucie Kibbutz would overdose on the bull-shark testosterone and go into a violent rage and Niko Bellic would steal their expensive Mercedes S Classes."

This story sparked an immediate reaction from teams running the Skodas who panicked and immediately bought Ladas and Dacias instead, before the REECCS management had time to issue a statement to the contrary. Later that year, the paper was also sued by the F1RWRS Commission after a series of false articles, and it was ruled that The Times could no longer report on F1RWRS events.