Balance in transportation coverage: One story, two reports

Global BC covered the City’s Transportation Monitoring Report in two media – online and on TV – by two reporters.  The differences in viewpoint are revealing.

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 First, John Daly on the Global BC newscast:

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Click here for link.

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Ohrn’s analysis:

Despite an amazing story here (people on bikes increase, car trips decrease to 50 percent mode share), John Daly at Global chooses to report on danger, going so far as to interview an anonymous bike rider who advises people to not ride a bike because ” . . .it’s incredibly dangerous”.  And around 30 percent of the video report is devoted to good old h*lmets.  The caption under the video howls the tired old “bikes vs cars” tune.

HUB’s Erin O’Mellinn does a great job in the video, apparently not getting drawn in to the negativity.  …

Both the video and text report also make sure to harp (…. get it …) on helmet fines not being paid (oooooh, them scofflaw bike people).  Reinforcing tired old memes once again.

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Next, the accompanying online coverage by Justin McElroy :

Using data obtained through trip diaries of 2,500 Vancouverites, ICBC figures, and counters on bike lanes, the report painted a picture of a city where cycling, walking and public transportation are increasingly the norm for many citizens.

Here are five charts that outline the numbers.

1. Half of trips are made by transit, walking, or cycling

The city says that 50 per cent of all trips by people in Vancouver are now made by a form other than a motor vehicle, compared to 44 per cent in 2011.

Technically, driving still leads, with an estimated 918,000 trips in 2014 compared to 905,000 on transit, bicycle and foot.

It also means the city has eclipsed its target under the Greenest City Action Plan.

Full story here.

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McElroy’s piece is a pretty straightforward presentation of the facts within the limits of a graphic medium – but without the false equivalency that often passes for balance in news media, and which taints Daly’s coverage.

I don’t think Daly is doing a gratuitous anti-bike number.  He’d no doubt argue that he was doing his job: reporting on the issues in the real world.  And though it would be easy to say the difference in emphasis is due to the reporters’ ages and outlook, of course it’s not that easy. Here’s a line, for instance, from Daly’s bio:

On his days off, John can be found high in the hills mountain biking or bike touring.

I noticed the same phenomenon among some senior business people of similar age in their opposition to the Hornby cycle track: several were avid radonneurs, more than comfortable on two wheels.  And yet they just couldn’t conceive how it could be justified to take away car space and parking for an agenda pursued by a few fanatics and their political supporters, much less that it could be the beginning of a seismic change in transportation.  As the charts now illustrate.

Daly still reflects that sceptical worldview – though it increasingly comes across as a “Get off my lawn” cantankerousness.  (“Why aren’t you wearing helmets and stopping at stop signs!”)  McElroy documents how that world is changing.

As the 50 percent taking ‘alternative’ transportation become the majority, then, one hopes, there will be a lot less false equivalency when it isn’t equivalent.