A strange thing is happening in the local and national news media as they address the attempted recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The media outlets claim that Boudin is suffering from bad news media\u00ad\u2014and don\u2019t seem to recognize that they are playing a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality: This recall effort is entirely a media-created monster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The local news media have been obsessed with three themes: Crime is a growing problem in San Francisco. Locking people up is the best solution. Because Boudin isn\u2019t locking up enough people he\u2019s responsible for the alleged crime wave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A corollary: Drug deaths from Fentanyl are a crisis that is best addressed by arresting and prosecuting dealers. Boudin isn\u2019t locking up enough small-tine street dealers, so he\u2019s responsible for the overdose epidemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n None of these things are true. The data makes clear than none of them are true. And yet that\u2019s the message we keep hearing, over and over\u2014and it\u2019s exactly the message that the Recall Boudin campaign is trumpeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the record: Boudin is doing exactly what he said he would do when he ran for office. There is no evidence that he is corrupt or incompetent (even the very conservative Chron, which has been a big part<\/a> of this media<\/a> myth<\/a>, said he shouldn\u2019t be recalled<\/a>.)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Every prosecutor in the country has faced challenges during a global pandemic. Courtrooms have been closed; judges have limited access to the most serious cases. Crime patterns have shifted in San Francisco; while overall crime is down, property crimes that used to happen in tourist areas have moved to the neighborhoods.Sponsored link<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are, of course, homeless encampments, and some people with serious mental-health challenges, on the streets. This has nothing to do with the DA, and everything to do with federal, state, and city policies that have created an affordable housing crisis and left the most vulnerable on the streets. The overdose crisis is real, and everyone agrees it\u2019s a serious problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again: None of this has anything to do with the occupant of the District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile the cops, who hate Boudin because he has filed charges against officers who used excessive force (which was part of his campaign platform, a platform that got him elected) have essentially stopped responding to a lot of crimes. As MissionLocal reports<\/a>, they wouldn\u2019t even give him a truck to transport stolen goods from a major fencing operation. They want him to fail, so they can get a DA who won\u2019t hold them accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mayor wants him to fail, so she can appoint someone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Republican donors want him to fail, so they can go back to talking about putting Black and Brown people in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why are so many people in liberal San Francisco seemingly prepared to vote for t<\/strong>he recall?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s entirely because of misleading and sometimes sensationalized news media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s start the most recent chapter with The Atlantic, which ran a remarkable piece May 19 called \u201cThe People vs. Chesa Boudin.\u201d<\/a> It starts with an interview with Richie Greenberg, the Republican who tried and failed to get enough signatures to recall Boudin, before the big GOP money kicked in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The story makes it clear that crime is not up in San Francisco, that the problems the city faces are not about Boudin\u2019s policies, then notes that<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it is real or not, the crime wave is coming for Boudin. San Franciscans do not feel safe and secure. Polling commissioned by the recall campaign<\/a> shows that more than half of likely voters believe that Boudin is \u201cresponsible for rising crime rates in San Francisco, especially burglaries and thefts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n More:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is in part what Greenberg was talking about when he said that \u201cpeople are sick and tired of the whole atmosphere of the city\u201d and that it is \u201cnot fun to live here anymore.\u201d It is a sentiment that came up again and again as I talked with San Franciscans for this article, one I have felt myself from time to time in this jarringly unequal city. I pay crushing sums to live on the same street as a tent encampment. I have to make sure my kid does not pick up dirty needles or step in human excrement when we go for a walk.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n I am sorry that wealthy people in San Francisco don\u2019t think it\u2019s \u201cfun\u201d And the Atlantic admits that the \u201ccrime wave\u201d isn\u2019t real\u2014but keeps repeating the talking points of people who say it is, for their own political purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boudin has also shown himself to be less than adept at the political role he\u2019s taken on as D.A. He\u2019s arguing with his own constituents about their lived experience. He\u2019s sniping at the mayor and feuding with the police force. I can\u2019t remember interviewing a politician who seemed less politic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n So: Boudin tells the truth and doesn\u2019t try to spin things. This apparently is a big problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bigger issue here is that The Atlantic never acknowledges that it\u2019s part of the problem. If the news media say Boudin is failing and that\u2014despite all of the evidence, he\u2019s not doing his job\u2014then they are creating the grounds for the recall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now let\u2019s look at the SFStandard, which just ran a piece with the attention-grabbing headine:<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Chesa1.png\")
to live here anymore. It hasn\u2019t been \u201cfun\u201d for poor people to live here for a long, long time. It\u2019s not \u201cfun\u201d for people to lose their homes to speculators and face police harassment for the crime of having no place to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n