Slate's Bizbox
press box: Media criticism.

Bogus Trend Story of the WeekThe Los Angeles Times on Southern California street racing.

By Jack Shafer
Posted Friday, Oct. 12, 2007, at 6:16 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

In the past, most drag racers waited until night when traffic cleared up to stage their races, contacting each other on cellphones and Internet message boards to set dates and times for the illegal contests.

Now, [LAPD Det. David] Millan and others said, a growing number of daredevils are embracing the thrill of rush-hour racing, leading to broad-daylight deaths of innocent bystanders.

But "In the past" isn't a very precise interval. From context we can assume that the Times is referring to a time when young racers had access to cell phones and Internet message boards, which could be a single week last month or the two years between 1995 and 1998. Also note the nebulous observation sourced to Det. Millan and "others" that "a growing number of daredevils are embracing the thrill of rush-hour racing." If numbers are really growing, a theme the piece returns to for the third time, why not provide numbers? Perhaps because the numbers don't exist?

When Times reporters finally deliver the hard, useful numbers the story cries out for, they write:

From 2000 through 2006, drivers pleaded guilty to illegal speed contests in about 50,000 cases, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Last year, about 6,100 drivers pleaded guilty to drag racing, according to the DMV.

By applying arithmetic to these numbers we learn that, on average, about 7,142 street racing guilty pleas were entered yearly over seven years. But only 6,100 guilty pleas were entered last year. One could argue by this crude measure that statewide racing is down or holding steady!

Why, then, does the paper tilt the story in the other direction? If I, too, can be allowed to present anecdote as proof, it may be that the intense coverage of Los Angeles street racing provided by local TV news raises the perceptions that racing is growing when it really isn't. Gentlemen and ladies of the Los Angeles Times, please restart your engines.

******

Thanks to reader William Murray, who alerted me to the article and suggested the arithmetic. Send bogus trend stories and other anecdotal evidence to . (E-mail may be quoted by name in "The Fray," Slate's readers' forum, in a future article, or elsewhere unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent disclosure: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.)

VIEW AS SINGLE PAGE
Print This ArticlePRINTDiscuss this in The FrayDISCUSSEmail to a FriendE-MAIL
Share on FacebookPost to MySpace!Share with MixxDigg ThisShare with RedditShare with del.icio.usShare with FurlShare with Ma.gnolia.comShare with SphereShare with Stumble Upon
Jack Shafer is Slate's editor at large.
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES
Washington Post
The Washington Post
OPINIONS
Over the Line
Harold Ford Jr. | I know what it's like to be smeared by your opponent.
: The Positive in Negative Ads
PLUS » Milbank: The President's Lullaby