Media Watch
Google-Funded Pundit: Forget Transit, the Future Belongs to Robocars
Last week Salon ran a pretty horrendous piece on the future of transportation called "Oops -- Wrong Future."
May 16, 2012
How Ad Dollars Help Explain the Media’s Bike Backlash
The media loves drama, of course. As your high school English teacher explained it, if Hamlet doesn’t get pissed about his dad’s murder or if Atticus Finch doesn’t step up to defend a black man falsely accused -- that is, if somebody doesn’t say no, you’ve got no story. So the vociferous opposition of a handful of people to a handful of bike lane projects in New York City has been dramatized, through a series of news stories and op-eds, into a full-blown citizens’ backlash against the complete streets movement.
April 4, 2011
New Report Examines the Media’s Role in the Gas Tax Debate
The success of state-level plans to increase gas taxes is tied to the media's portrayal of the proposals in question, with narratives tied to "crumbling infrastructure" and "economic progress" showing more success than those emphasizing long-term transportation budget gaps, according to a new report released by the University of Vermont's Transportation Research Center (TRC).
May 26, 2010
In Texas, One Newspaper Laments the Highway Lanes Not Built
The Transportation Enhancements program, which requires states to set aside 10 percent of their federal transport money for new bicycle and pedestrian facilities, among other projects, turns 19 years old this year. But you'd almost never know it after reading Saturday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in which the paper tallies -- with no shortage of alarm -- the federal money not being spent on new roads.
January 25, 2010
For D.C. Area Residents, a Worthy Take on the Year in Transport
When the Washington Post devoted an entire transportation column to the "best and worst" of 2009 -- its content written by interest groups with a stake in adding more lanes for more cars -- Streetsblog Network member blog Greater Greater Washington (GGW) took the initiative and sent in its own retrospective.
January 19, 2010
What Does Virginia’s New Governor Owe the State on Transportation?
In a lean season for in-depth transportation debate, the Virginia gubernatorial contest -- won this week by Republican Bob McDonnell -- became a proving ground for nationally relevant questions about how to manage the infrastructure of congestion-plagued but still-growing metro areas.
November 5, 2009
Urban Traffic Report Sparks Clever Headlines, But Little Transit Talk
The latest edition of the Texas Transportation Institute's influential urban mobility report was released today, prompting a flurry of mainstream media coverage focused largely on a faux-ironic theme that would do Alanis Morrissette proud -- the bad economy is giving us less traffic!
July 8, 2009