You are hereMedia finally gets it.
Media finally gets it.
Looks like the mainstream media has finally clued in to the fact that the APD arrested an alleged bike thief TWO DAYS AGO.
First off, KEYE picked the story up in their 10 o'clock news and were in such a hurry to scoop the other TV stations they actually used a pic from ATXBS. Even credited us with a URL under the photos! KVUE also caught the event in their broadcast late last night. Austin on Two Wheels also picked up the story early yesterday morning, beating all the TV stations or print media to the punch. Nice!
This morning at 10pm the police had a press conference (Elliot covered it), at which point the rest of the media was off! KXAN got with the program and released their story today, as did the local fox affiliate.
Isadora Vail also polled the local bike populace by posting to various forums (including this website), then released this story on the Austin-American Statesman website. I'm kinda "meh" towards their coverage of the story, particularly this line:
Wimberly said the biking community is torn in its response to Clayton's arrest.
Did he really say that? I'm surprised that they'd be torn over a bike thief coming to justice. Hm.
Update: Mr. Wimberly addressed this error in the comments section of the article, as well as on this site. To quote him, what he "intended to convey is that there were mixed feelings about James Clayton before charges were pressed, not mixed feelings in the communities reaction to Clayton's arrest." Thanks for that clarification Brad, and way to go Statesman.
Dan Mottola of the Chronicle and Andrea Ball of the Statesman are also working on stories, so stay tuned for links.
That's not all folks, Rob D'Amico (a true bicycle superhero) sent me the following request for information:
Hi, it's Rob D'Amico, League of Bicycling Voters guy and writer (http://www.damicoaustin.com). I'm also working on a story on James Clayton. So if you have any interesting information on the case or knew or interacted with him in any way, give me a shout: damico@damicoaustin.org or 627-1343.
Of all the reporters, writers or bloggers that have contacted me looking for leads, he's the one I'm looking forward to reading the most. If you're at all involved in this case give him a holler, I'd really appreciate it.
I'm sure at this point there's even more than this out there. If you see something I don't have posted yet or if you're a reporter looking for some hot leads, holla!
Hey Guys,
I responded to the Statesman's story yesterday online. If you just look further down below the article under comments you will see this.
Notice in the article that were no quotations around "...the biking community is torn in its response". I believe what I said was misinterpreted. To clarify what I intended to convey is that there were mixed feelings about James Clayton before charges were pressed, not mixed feelings in the communities reaction to Clayton's arrest.
Posted on 2/5/2009 7:09:17 PM
I thought it wise to be a bit vague and not tell all I could think of with a trial coming up. I did not mean to confuse anyone. I have already spoken with detective Scott Askew and offered my help if needed.
Brad Wimberly
Shoot, I didn't even notice the comments in the article. I'll have to make sure to dig through those as well when I'm checking the AAS in the future.
I appreciate your clarification, that makes me feel a lot better and I'm sorry to see that you were mis-quoted in the print article. Makes sense about your wanting to be vague, I'm somewhat concerned about the repercussions of writing some of the things I have but at this point, heh, no turning back.