Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Media Watch

Google-Funded Pundit: Forget Transit, the Future Belongs to Robocars

By Angie Schmitt | May 16, 2012 | 35 Comments

Last week Salon ran a pretty horrendous piece on the future of transportation called “Oops — Wrong Future.” Writer Michael Lind argued that the “case for infrastructure investment has suffered from the lack of a plausible vision of the next American infrastructure.” Things that are not “plausible,” according to Lind, include “renewable energy and mass […]

How Ad Dollars Help Explain the Media’s Bike Backlash

By Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez | Apr 4, 2011 | 31 Comments

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 […]

New Report Examines the Media’s Role in the Gas Tax Debate

By Elana Schor | May 26, 2010 | 6 Comments

(Chart: University of Vermont Transportation Research Center) 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 […]

In Texas, One Newspaper Laments the Highway Lanes Not Built

By Elana Schor | Jan 25, 2010 | 2 Comments

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 […]

For D.C. Area Residents, a Worthy Take on the Year in Transport

By Elana Schor | Jan 19, 2010 | No Comments

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. And in a show […]

What Does Virginia’s New Governor Owe the State on Transportation?

By Elana Schor | Nov 5, 2009 | No Comments

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. Virginia Gov.-elect McDonnell (R) at his first press conference yesterday. (Photo: Virginian-Pilot) Which makes […]

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