Eyes on the Street

Eyes on the Street: Media Envy in DC

In Washington for the National Bike Summit, Clarence Eckerson snapped a shot of this ad for the capital's NBC affiliate and its reporter Joe Krebs (described in his bio as "an avid swimmer and cyclist").

By Brad Aaron

2:16 PM EST on March 9, 2011

In Washington for the National Bike Summit, Clarence Eckerson snapped a shot of this ad for the capital’s NBC affiliate and its reporter Joe Krebs (described in his bio as “an avid swimmer and cyclist”).

In January, Dave Alpert at Greater Greater Washington noted the astounding difference between livable streets coverage in his city, where reporters are apt to pick apart a shoddy hit piece, and in New York, where, “It’s not clear how much of [the bike lane] ‘revolt’ is widespread negative public sentiment versus the objections of relatively few amplified by hostile press outlets.”

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that a prominent DC newser happens to ride a bike. Or maybe it’s further evidence that in order to do justice to the urban transportation beat, it helps to have a press corps that doesn’t see every urban transportation story through the prism of a windshield.

For New York’s distracted-driving, hatchet-wielding journos, that would be a different angle for sure.

Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.