Dissecting Media Bias: Keegan Kyle’s Subtle Digs on Critical Mass Affect All Bicyclists

I posted last month about Keegan Kyle’s (Voice of San Diego) apparently negative impressions of the Critical Mass ride he went on. Some readers didn’t find Kyle’s take negative, others did. Well, Kyle is at it again, with a short bit about this month’s upcoming ride. The headline and teaser this morning on the “This Just In” section on the main Voice page reads:

Watch for Bicyclists Friday Night: Hundreds of riders will hit the streets, break traffic laws, anger some motorists and be the primary duty of a few police officers.

The first problem here is that Kyle doesn’t identify Critical Mass specifically. Just reading this, the problem becomes “bicyclists” who have to be watched for, like a hoard of roaming brain-hungry zombies. Get the shotgun Martha, those damn bicyclists are out again. Moving on, the first thing those bicyclists will be doing (after hitting the streets, which is their legal right), will be breaking traffic laws. Then, they’ll be angering some motorists. Then, they’ll be tying up police officers who might be protecting and serving elsewhere were it not for these nasty bicyclists. Not a word about the statement Critical Mass is trying to make, just the problems it causes. The brief entry that follows is the same.

The monthly cycling event in San Diego called Critical Mass is scheduled — sort of — for Friday. No one actually schedules the event, but it’s become tradition for hundreds of residents. A cyclist herd rides through the city on the last Friday of every month without regard for its traffic laws or motorists. I reported last month’s event and how police accompany the group.

The bicyclist herd moves with no specific leadership and its course changes every month. It starts at the large fountain in Balboa Park after dusk. It travels more than 20 miles, usually, riding through the downtown at some point.

I won’t be covering this month’s event, but I’d love to know how it goes. I would like to hear from all perspectives — bicyclists, law enforcement, motorists, etc. Send an e-mail about your experience to keegan.kyle@voiceofsandiego.org. I hope to write a short blog post about reader responses next week.

Let’s first point out that referring to the group as a “herd” is immediately dehumanizing and urges readers to disregard the legitimacy of the event and the people involved. This seems particularly dangerous since the afore-mentioned angry drivers may already regard these human protestors merely as roadway obstructions. The focus on disorganization highlights the unpredictable (read: dangerous) behavior of the group. And once again, Kyle emphasizes the disregard of traffic laws and inconveniencing of motorists. It’s impossible to deny that these things take place during Critical Mass, but Kyle consistently fails to notice to what end all of this supposed anarchy is put.

Kyle says he wants to hear from bicyclists about the event. I urge all bicyclists to write to Kyle, whether they like Critical Mass or not, and urge him to consider that his words have an impact on the way every bicyclist is viewed in our city. With careless words and confrontational, dehumanizing language, Kyle is fueling the hate of motorists who see me and other bicyclists on the street every day and think “that’s one of those Critical Mass assholes, I’m gonna teach ’em a lesson.” I never like to ride the morning after Critical Mass because I wonder if some angry driver is going to run me down because he had to wait twenty minutes the night before. Now I’m starting to wonder if riding the day after a Keegan Kyle story comes out is safe either.