The constant smear campaign against cycling

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uart
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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby uart » Sat Jul 28, 2018 10:18 am

Thoglette wrote: I've been trying to track this for some time. And in particular when cycling puff pieces turned into venomous attacks.
I thought the recent reporting of a WA cyclist getting a mobile phone usage fine was interesting.

- Here is the ABC report: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-24/c ... 94215485=1

- And here is the Yahoo-7 report: https://au.news.yahoo.com/road-users-di ... 41712.html

Note the difference in tone. In particular that the Yahoo report adds in some extra failings to the cyclist - not wearing a helmet (not even sure if this is true) and having the "usual" bad attitude of a cyclist.

Most interesting of all however is that the Yahoo report strategically changes the gender of the cyclist from a woman to a man! Many people will mock me on this, but I honestly believe that this is deliberate and due to the (disputed by some) "fact" that hatred of male cyclists is far more publicly acceptable than it is for females. In other words, what I'm saying here is they they wanted a piece that would generate hate. And that subtle little gender change was actually conducive to that end.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby mikesbytes » Sat Jul 28, 2018 2:41 pm

There is also the point that the mobile usage fine has only been reported because the transportation device was a bicycle. If it had been a motorcar it wouldn't of been reported and failing that, the article could of stated that nnn motorists have been fined for mobile usage in over the previous nnn period
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby P!N20 » Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:58 am

Here we go again: https://www.news.com.au/technology/inno ... a1aad52d99
POLICE in Queensland have booked more than 230 cyclists in the past two years for speeding
Speeding? Really? Queensland cyclists must be an elite bunch if they can exceed speed limits for any amount of time to be detected and fined.
He was joined by presenter Ron Wilson who fired up saying “someone has to do the should be for heaven’s sake”.
I couldn't agree more. Hang on, what?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby human909 » Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:14 pm

uart wrote:Most interesting of all however is that the Yahoo report strategically changes the gender of the cyclist from a woman to a man! Many people will mock me on this, but I honestly believe that this is deliberate and due to the (disputed by some) "fact" that hatred of male cyclists is far more publicly acceptable than it is for females. In other words, what I'm saying here is they they wanted a piece that would generate hate. And that subtle little gender change was actually conducive to that end.
WOW.

We are all used to horribly biased reporting. But this is outright lying. And I struggle to believe misreading or mistyping he or she is believable but the detail of the 'father' and everything else indicates this was a deliberate change.
Wilson shared his experience, saying as someone who drives in the middle of a large city every day, “I can tell you that bicycle riders treat the road as their own and see motorists as the enemy.”

Fantastic reporting. Of course being "someone who drives in the middle of a large city every day" gives you an authoritative opinion of what bicycle riders are thinking and doing.

Motorist aren't the 'enemy' of cyclists except in some motorists own minds. For sure cyclist see cars and motorists as a potential danger but given the vast majority of cyclists are also motorists at least on occasion it would be odd to see yourself as an enemy....

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby mikesbytes » Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:24 pm

The video is a big slab of out grouping, no different to saying that a particular sector of the community are criminals because a member of that community stole a loaf of bread
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby RobertL » Mon Sep 17, 2018 1:55 pm

P!N20 wrote:Here we go again: https://www.news.com.au/technology/inno ... a1aad52d99
POLICE in Queensland have booked more than 230 cyclists in the past two years for speeding
Speeding? Really? Queensland cyclists must be an elite bunch if they can exceed speed limits for any amount of time to be detected and fined.
I bet that 90+% of those speeding cyclists were coming down Mt Coot-tha. It's a very popular cycling spot, and a very popular spot for a police speed trap. It also has a 50km/h limit.

I think that the police are mostly there to catch speeding motorists, but I am sure that they are happy to catch cyclists too.

Mind you, I doubt that any speeding car or bike there has contributed to accidents - it's just not that sort of road - so it probably fails to meet all of the usual police criteria for siting a radar trap.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby human909 » Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:11 pm

mikesbytes wrote:The video is a big slab of out grouping, no different to saying that a particular sector of the community are criminals because a member of that community stole a loaf of bread
I just skimmed the article. Your comment made me follow up and watch the video... Absolutely disgusting 'journalism'. And like you said very much out grouping.

Like you say they might as well be saying that all <insert minority group here> are criminals.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby uart » Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:20 pm

Quote from the above video.

Wilson: "Should be, should be, I love the expression should be. There should be a crack down drug dealers! There should be crack down on bicycle riders!"

The problem of bicycle riders hey. Second only to drug dealers apparently. :shock:

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby AdelaidePeter » Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:29 pm

uart wrote:Quote from the above video.

Wilson: "Should be, should be, I love the expression should be. There should be a crack down drug dealers! There should be crack down on bicycle riders!"

The problem of bicycle riders hey. Second only to drug dealers apparently. :shock:
It sounded to me like he said "drug takers", but still his rant was pretty equal measure ingorance and prejudice.

For instance he said indignantly (and I'm paraphrasing not quoting) "nearly all (bicycle related) road rules begin with the words 'drivers must'" - that's because, in the road rules, "driver" means "driver or rider". What an idiot.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby DavidS » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:29 pm

human909 wrote:
mikesbytes wrote:The video is a big slab of out grouping, no different to saying that a particular sector of the community are criminals because a member of that community stole a loaf of bread
I just skimmed the article. Your comment made me follow up and watch the video... Absolutely disgusting 'journalism'. And like you said very much out grouping.

Like you say they might as well be saying that all <insert minority group here> are criminals.
Nah, News Ltd would never do such a thing (Sudanese gangs anyone?).

I won't watch the video as I avoid News Ltd like the plague (the resemblance is astounding).

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby mikesbytes » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:42 pm

BTY 230 / 104 = 2.2 speeding tickets a week. How many speeding tickets were issued to motorists a week? Were the tickets issued to motorists reported on?
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby human909 » Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:47 pm

DavidS wrote:Nah, News Ltd would never do such a thing (Sudanese gangs anyone?).
No. Even News Ltd don't go that far on race. I haven't seen it blatantly said like this, in the same way as all cyclists are being tarred here.
An on the issue you raised I've also seen other journalist swear the sky is green.

Good journalism is about raising providing facts and opportunities to discuss current events. I welcome more discussion of cyclists and other out groups. But just less frothing at the mouth.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby DavidS » Tue Sep 18, 2018 12:19 am

human909 wrote:
DavidS wrote:Nah, News Ltd would never do such a thing (Sudanese gangs anyone?).
No. Even News Ltd don't go that far on race. I haven't seen it blatantly said like this, in the same way as all cyclists are being tarred here.
An on the issue you raised I've also seen other journalist swear the sky is green.

Good journalism is about raising providing facts and opportunities to discuss current events. I welcome more discussion of cyclists and other out groups. But just less frothing at the mouth.
Good luck with that :wink:

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby mikesbytes » Tue Sep 18, 2018 3:30 pm

Perhaps we could outgroup journalist, using the video as an example.... but 2 wrongs don't make a right
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby Thoglette » Tue Sep 18, 2018 5:22 pm

human909 wrote:I haven't seen it blatantly said like this, in the same way as all cyclists are being tarred here.
Remember Madga? Or Cockroaches on wheels?

It will only stop when someone successfully sues a journalist for either contributing to a death

Or when a journalist gets sloppy and libels/slanders an individual in one of these pieces.
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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby g-boaf » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:17 pm

mikesbytes wrote:Perhaps we could outgroup journalist, using the video as an example.... but 2 wrongs don't make a right
Two wrongs don't make a right, but it doesn't stop the holier-than-thou journalists from slandering everyone else.
human909 wrote:Good journalism is about raising providing facts and opportunities to discuss current events. I welcome more discussion of cyclists and other out groups. But just less frothing at the mouth.
It hasn't been about providing facts for a very long time. Journos for a long time will totally ignore the facts and come up with their own bizarre twisted version of the story to suit the editorial line, or to try and get even in their vendetta against someone they don't like. Vendetta you ask? Yes indeed, that has happened too.

Nowadays, journalism is strictly about alternative facts and fake-news. They are a bunch of leaches.

News Limited hit record lows with the Daily Telegraph reporting on Gillard and that Federal Parliament speaker whose name escapes me. Photoshopping of images like that should NEVER occur. I'm sure the journos or the graphic artists at News Ltd wouldn't like someone doing the same to them - they'd be fuming, or probably trying to get offending images taken down.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby Cheesewheel » Sat Sep 22, 2018 8:01 am

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/paren ... ed04483adb

Why I’ve banned my kids from cycling

Can't help but think the illustrating of operation pedro as "a job well done", et al, along with the ultimate result being "these people no longer ride a bicycle" sends the message to your typical fruit fly dna'd MM as another success, something like "well at least she woke up to herself and got off her bicycle now".
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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby mikesbytes » Sat Sep 22, 2018 3:43 pm

Cheesewheel wrote:https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/paren ... ed04483adb

Why I’ve banned my kids from cycling

Can't help but think the illustrating of operation pedro as "a job well done", et al, along with the ultimate result being "these people no longer ride a bicycle" sends the message to your typical fruit fly dna'd MM as another success, something like "well at least she woke up to herself and got off her bicycle now".
The article is using video of close passes in Sydney but talks about not riding in Perth

More importantly it is using data of cycling violations to give cyclists the worse possible image. How does that data stack up against the same measures for motorists?, the public don't know because it wasn't published along side it.
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby P!N20 » Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:16 am

Looks like Mr X is at it again...actually his Photoshop skills were better than that:

Image

You'll need to scroll down:

https://www.news.com.au/national/rush-h ... 040d754d63

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby AdelaidePeter » Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:40 am

P!N20 wrote:Looks like Mr X is at it again...actually his Photoshop skills were better than that:

Image

You'll need to scroll down:

https://www.news.com.au/national/rush-h ... 040d754d63
I'm genuinely wondering (with an open mind either way), why do you think it's Photoshop?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby P!N20 » Tue Oct 02, 2018 9:47 am

^ The shadow of the dude at the rear just looks wrong to me. He's lost his head and it's at a different angle to all the others.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby fat and old » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:30 am

Is there any way that can be definitively proven? The story is all over morning TV. Sunrise is smashing it.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby AdelaidePeter » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:41 am

Also, what is the road? Is is a 24/7 bicycle lane?

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby g-boaf » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:46 am

AdelaidePeter wrote:
P!N20 wrote:Looks like Mr X is at it again...actually his Photoshop skills were better than that:

.....

You'll need to scroll down:

https://www.news.com.au/national/rush-h ... 040d754d63
I'm genuinely wondering (with an open mind either way), why do you think it's Photoshop?
A few things make me wonder about the authenticity of the image too - a few of the riders look placed on the scene.

But as for one comment:
“As a cyclist this pisses me off … we have our own lane and I doubt they’re matching the speed of the cars going by,”
I was commuting this morning and going at 50km/h, the speed limit on one particular flat road - I'm on my own, so this group should be able to go pretty quickly.

There is a pathway beside where I was riding, but there are so many people meandering along it and obstructions blocking the way (eg, unfinished construction works), it is safer and easier to not use it.
AdelaidePeter wrote:Also, what is the road? Is is a 24/7 bicycle lane?
If you read the article, you'll see what the road is.
Last edited by g-boaf on Tue Oct 02, 2018 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The constant smear campaign against cycling

Postby P!N20 » Tue Oct 02, 2018 10:51 am

fat and old wrote:Is there any way that can be definitively proven? The story is all over morning TV. Sunrise is smashing it.
Only if the original image can be found.

Even if it hasn't been 'shopped, what can't we see that would make the cyclists move over to the right? (Illegally) parked car? Roadworks? Bus stop?

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