{"id":19095,"date":"2021-06-16T11:55:49","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T18:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=19095"},"modified":"2021-06-16T12:01:16","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T19:01:16","slug":"washington-post-calls-out-inaccurate-reporting-by-chesa-boudins-local-media-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/06\/16\/washington-post-calls-out-inaccurate-reporting-by-chesa-boudins-local-media-critics\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post Calls Out \u2018Inaccurate\u2019 Reporting by Chesa Boudin\u2019s Local Media Critics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>15 JUNE 2021 (SFist.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Chesa1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19100\" srcset=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Chesa1.jpeg 400w, http:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Chesa1-150x150.jpeg 150w, http:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Chesa1-300x300.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption><em>Image: @chesaboudin\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/chesaboudin\/status\/1314280480561217536\">via Twitter<\/a><\/em><br><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The media fascination with Chesa Boudin regularly produces national headlines, but now at least one national news source is casting a skeptical eye on the local news coverage of the SF district attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This morning,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfist.com\/2021\/06\/15\/electronic-vaccine-cards-coming-for-ca-residents\/\">SFist briefly mentioned<\/a>&nbsp;a video of a shoplifting incident at a Hayes Valley Walgreens, which is seen below. That video is currently going viral, is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/san-francisco-walgreens-video-shows-man-fill-garbage-bag-with-items-takes-off\">the toast of Fox News<\/a>&nbsp;as \u201can example of the city\u2019s lawlessness,\u201d and has the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jason\/status\/1404607236777779204\">VC financiers of the Recall Chesa Boudin movement<\/a>&nbsp;declaring \u201cSan Francisco \/ Gotham City\u201d and \u201cwe wonder why @Walgreens is leaving the city.\u201d (<strong>Note:&nbsp;<\/strong>As Hoodline reported&nbsp;<em>just 36 days<\/em>&nbsp;into Boudin\u2019s administration,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/hoodline.com\/2020\/02\/why-are-so-many-san-francisco-walgreens-locations-closing\/\">Walgreens was already closing multiple SF locations<\/a>&nbsp;in what the company called a \u201ctransformational cost management program\u201d that was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2019-08-06\/walgreens-to-close-200-u-s-pharmacies-in-cost-cutting-expansion\">announced in 2019<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1404574079156318210&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fsfist.com%2F2021%2F06%2F15%2Fwashington-post-calls-out-inaccurate-reporting-by-chesa-boudins-local-media-critics%2F&amp;sessionId=6e2102dfc503520599001ea1236c13e335a2a91a&amp;siteScreenName=SFist&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Never mind the obvious questions posed by the above video. (What did the security guard expect when allowing in a guy on a bicycle? Why is absolutely no action taken here? Do we really think the robber even knows who Chesa Boudin is, and has thoughts on \u2018progressive\u2019 prosecutors&#8217; leniency?) What is unusual is a local reporter hashtagging the nakedly biased kicker \u201c#NoConsequences @chesaboudin.\u201d &nbsp;That video has more reactions than any tweet mentioning Boudin, an insight into the perverse incentives to create biased reporting about the current district attorney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Washington Post covers these perverse incentives in a lengthy op-ed piece \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2021\/06\/14\/bogus-backlash-against-progressive-prosecutors\/\">The bogus backlash against progressive prosecutors<\/a>.\u201d While it mentions several new-ish progressive district attorneys around the country, the crux of the piece is a different KGO story by reporter Dion Lim that allegedly misreported a key detail in a story highly critical of Boudin, and the coaching\/browbeating of witnesses and sources to trash him in the press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1404529975223521281&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fsfist.com%2F2021%2F06%2F15%2Fwashington-post-calls-out-inaccurate-reporting-by-chesa-boudins-local-media-critics%2F&amp;sessionId=6e2102dfc503520599001ea1236c13e335a2a91a&amp;siteScreenName=SFist&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The story in question is a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfist.com\/2021\/03\/15\/good-samaritan-thwarts-safeway-carjacking-of-75-year-old-woman\/\">Safeway carjacking incident from March<\/a>. KGO published a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/amp\/sf-safeway-carjacking-san-francisco-crime-arrest-richmond-district\/10674919\/\">follow-up story in May<\/a>&nbsp;which claimed that \u201cSources tell ABC7 News anchor Dion Lim that felony charges against one of the suspects were dropped by the district attorney.\u201d That story was&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MrAndyNgo\/status\/1396046985887555588\">picked up by right-wing provocateur Andy Ngo<\/a>, who makes sure to mention that the suspects are \u201cblack youths,\u201d making the story a hit in the wingnut blogosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-2&amp;features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1372029986216017920&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fsfist.com%2F2021%2F06%2F15%2Fwashington-post-calls-out-inaccurate-reporting-by-chesa-boudins-local-media-critics%2F&amp;sessionId=6e2102dfc503520599001ea1236c13e335a2a91a&amp;siteScreenName=SFist&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&amp;width=550px\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe problem is that Lim was wrong,\u201d writes the Post\u2019s Radley Balko. \u201cThe charges against the assailant were never dropped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn California, as in most states, juvenile cases are generally sealed, so state law prevents the DA\u2019s office from discussing the case with the public,\u201d he continues. \u201cBut in phone interviews, both the victim and [intervening good samaritan Harry] Mulholland tell me they were informed by Boudin\u2019s office that Lim\u2019s story is inaccurate, that the juvenile not only still faces charges but that she also had a court date last week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Mulholland and the anonymous victim say Lim browbeat them into giving her quotes critical of Boudin. \u201cThe victim says Lim persisted until she reluctantly provided a quote criticizing the district attorney,\u201d according to the Post. The good samaritan Mulholland told the Post, \u201cI feel like I was played for a fool,\u201d and \u201cHonestly. I felt a little violated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img.sfist.com\/2021\/06\/Screenshot-2021-06-15-3.24.51-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption><em>Screenshot: SFGov.org<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For the umpteenth time, SFist is embedding the above graphic from the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfgov.org\/scorecards\/public-safety\/violent-crime-rate-and-property-crime-rate\">Violent Crime Rate and Property Crime Rate dashboard<\/a>&nbsp;showing that San Francisco crime is generally down over the last few years. Yes,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfist.com\/2021\/04\/02\/burglaries-were-down-nationwide-last-year-in-sf-they-went-up-50\/\">robberies went up in 2020<\/a>, likely thanks to pandemic poverty, a trend seen nationwide. But homicides are&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfist.com\/2020\/12\/31\/despite-violent-year-around-the-bay-and-the-nation-sf-is-set-to-record-similar-homicide-rate-to-2018\/\">near-historically low<\/a>, and no, VC bro, we are not living in a goddamned Batman movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, SFist has occasionally done some biased reporting too. (A&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfist.com\/2021\/06\/02\/rofl-trump-shuts-down-his-blog-after-one-month-because-no-one-is-reading-it\/\">certain former president<\/a>&nbsp;comes to mind). And honest mistakes happen in every industry. When journalists get something wrong we try to issue a correction and clean up the mess as quickly as possible. It happens to every reporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there\u2019s a difference between an honest mistake, and an agenda-serving hit piece designed to catch on with right-wing media, get retweeted by users with Pepe the Frog as their avatar, and perhaps score a job interview at One America News Network. And there\u2019s reason to suspect that some local news veers toward that direction. Because in the social media era, news sources may have more incentives to be provocative than to be correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sfist.com\/2020\/12\/17\/sf-police-chief-and-district-attorney\/\">SF Police Chief and District Attorney Insist They&#8217;re Not Enemies, Chief Says They Don&#8217;t Always Agree [SFist]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>15 JUNE 2021 (SFist.com) The media fascination with Chesa Boudin regularly produces national headlines, but now at least one national news source is casting a skeptical eye on the local news coverage of the SF district attorney. This morning,&nbsp;SFist briefly mentioned&nbsp;a video of a shoplifting incident at a Hayes Valley&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/06\/16\/washington-post-calls-out-inaccurate-reporting-by-chesa-boudins-local-media-critics\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19095"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19095"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19101,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19095\/revisions\/19101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}