Journalism and cycling

magicbastarder

kinda ties in to some of the discussion a few posts up:

Cycling magazine apologises over 'token woman' picture caption
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/cycling-weekly-apologises-token-woman-picture-caption

sexist, or a little bit of truth telling from the subeditor?

Chuchote

The Herald on the rise of cycling commuting

http://www.herald.ie/news/dubs-get-on-their-bikes-as-number-of-cycling-commuters-goes-up-43pc-36089707.html

Dubs get on their bikes as number of cycling commuters goes up 43pc
Laura Lynott – 01 September 2017 02:30 AM

Dublin's cyclists are leading the fight for a greener route to work, with two-thirds of all commuting cyclists living in the capital, new figures show.

The number cycling to work nationally has risen dramatically - by 43pc (56,837) since 2011 - according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The Commuting In Ireland report highlighted that three million people were commuting to work, school or college daily in 2016 - up 9.3pc on 2011.

The number working in Dublin city and suburbs passed the half-million mark in 2016, with a daytime working population of 512,449, up 9pc on 2011, and a total of 29pc of the State's workforce.

In April 2016, two-thirds (38,870) of all cyclists were in the capital, while only 2,330 cycled to work in Cork city and suburbs, 1,874 in Galway, 968 in Limerick, and 395 in Waterford.

Men accounted for three-quarters of those who cycled.

The numbers walking to work increased by 4,570 to 175,080 - just 9.3pc of all commuters.

Walkers and cyclists accounted for 22pc of commuters in 1986 (196,750), falling to just 12pc (231,917) in April 2016.

Dublin is, according to the figures, bucking a national trend that has seen most drivers refusing to relinquish their cars for the daily commute despite congestion and environmental concerns.

More than 65pc (1,229,966) of the country's three million commuters take to the road or are transported to work in a vehicle.

More than six out of 10 used a car to get to work in Cork and Limerick, and seven out of 10 in rural areas. But Dublin showed itself to be greener, with just under half of workers driving to the office.

For those who decided to stay in their cars, commuting times increased.

(snip)

Chips Lovell

Dublin's cyclists are leading the fight for a greener route to work

It always gets on my goat when journalists assume that the only reason people cycle is that they care about the environment. I've yet to talk to a single cycle commuter who does it for environmental reasons.

magicbastarder

it's one of the reasons i do it. i am a bit of a treehugger though.

Doeshedare

Its one of the tree(sic)reasons I do it too...the others being fitness and stress

Chuchote

Part of the reason I got rid of the car was the fact that cars are a major cause of carbon pollution and implicated in diseases ranging from asthma to Alzheimer's. Part was the expense, which seemed crazy.

Chips Lovell

Now I've met tree of you.

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

kinda ties in to some of the discussion a few posts up:

Cycling magazine apologises over 'token woman' picture caption
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/01/cycling-weekly-apologises-token-woman-picture-caption

sexist, or a little bit of truth telling from the subeditor?

btw, i assume the simon richardson quoted in the article is not the same one who is a GCN presenter?

buffalo

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

It always gets on my goat when journalists assume that the only reason people cycle is that they care about the environment. I've yet to talk to a single cycle commuter who does it for environmental reasons.

+1 on this.

It's reliable (vs bus doesn't always arrive, traffic can be heavy), there's no daily costs (fare, petrol, parking), and it's convenient (no walk to/from bus-stop/station, don't have to find/book a parking spot). It's also contributing to my fitness, and I think it's generally socially responsible.

I like that it's environmentally friendly, but it's somewhere at the bottom of the top five reasons.

Fian

http://www.thejournal.ie/would-you-cycle-to-work-poll-3576241-Sep2017/

Comments are what you would expect.

Doeshedare

buffalo wrote: »

I like that it's environmentally friendly, but it's somewhere at the bottom of the top five reasons.

I forgot the 4th reason, money. Environment wouldnt be the top reason although I like to think I am concerned if I was really concerned I'd be a vegetarian by now.

Chips Lovell

buffalo wrote: »

I like that it's environmentally friendly, but it's somewhere at the bottom of the top five reasons.

I do care about the environment alright, but like you it's a way down the list. Main reason is it's convenient, fast and fun.

eeeee

Fcuk Cycling Weekly. It's disgraceful. I found this on Facebook this morning, and the comments made me lose faith in humanity. Again.
I then made the mistake of reading the comments under the Stickybottle article on same, and it was every bit as bad.

The absolute and senseless stupidity of people is a continuous surprise to me.


Equestrianism is the only Olympic sport where women and men compete as equals FYI.


Environmental issues don't make the top five reasons why I cycle, but it's in there.

magicbastarder

i reckon (maybe i mean 'like to think') it may have been deliberate by the subeditor - as in a 'this is the genuine attitude i deal with in this place and i'm not going to hide it' approach.

a friend of mine once had quite an argument with his boss about putting a photo of a woman on the cover of a magazine without photoshopping out her underarm stubble. i suspect he may have a few other stories along the lines of being told 'make sure the women in the photos are good looking'.

eeeee

magicbastarder wrote: »

i reckon (maybe i mean 'like to think') it may have been deliberate by the subeditor - as in a 'this is the genuine attitude i deal with in this place and i'm not going to hide it' approach.

a friend of mine once had quite an argument with his boss about putting a photo of a woman on the cover of a magazine without photoshopping out her underarm stubble. i suspect he may have a few other stories along the lines of being told 'make sure the women in the photos are good looking'.

LOL. That would be wildly optimistic.

It could also be an indication of the culture at that publication, mirroring that of the sport as a whole that it covers.

The apology was hilarious, god love them having to suffer with their one rogue element :rolleyes:

It's just pure, plain old fashioned sexism IMO. Difficult to defend it otherwise.

HivemindXX

buffalo wrote: »

An interesting emphasis comparison here - two stories, one each from the Irish Times and RTE, presumably both based on the same press release about the census:

The Examiner's article on this has the headline "Commuting times rise in every county" which is slightly less inflammatory. Only 10% take over an hour on the commute so it seems odd for the IT to focus on that. Who am I kidding, it is completely expected...

Apparently average commute times have risen from 26 minutes five year ago to 28 minutes this year. The increase doesn't seem too bad to me and a less than 30 minute commute seems reasonable. From reports so far anyone using a bus along the north quays in Dublin is seeing a big decrease.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/commuting-times-rise-in-every-county-458114.html

AndrewJRenko

HivemindXX wrote: »

Apparently average commute times have risen from 26 minutes five year ago to 28 minutes this year. The increase doesn't seem too bad to me and a less than 30 minute commute seems reasonable.

And they're the average figures, so for every person who has mad crazy 90-120 minute commutes, there must be 3 people with 10 minute commutes to balance them out.

amcalester

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

And they're the average figures, so for every person who has mad crazy 90-120 minute commutes, there must be 3 people with 10 minute commutes to balance them out.

Be interesting to see how long the mode commute is.

magicbastarder

HivemindXX wrote: »

Only 10% take over an hour on the commute so it seems odd for the IT to focus on that. Who am I kidding, it is completely expected...

well, to be fair, they've been running a series on how much commuting takes out of peoples' lives.

which, to be fair, is deathly dull.

magicbastarder

amcalester wrote: »

Be interesting to see how long the mode commute is.

our office is in leopardstown. a good few years ago, a woman commuted from armagh to the office. she drove to either newry or dundalk - can't remember which, but it was to catch the enterprise to connolly, got the dart from connolly to blackrock and the staff bus from blackrock to the office. and obviously the reverse in the evening.

Arcade_Tryer

nee wrote: »

Er no,. no it's not. Women have been systematically discriminated against, prevented from accessing education and sport for the vast majority of human history. Equality still does not exist. Sport is designed by men, for men.
The Giro, TDF etc. all happened before women even had the vote.
Contraception was illegal in this country until 1992 and we still don't have bodily autonomy in this state. It was legal to beat and rape your wife in this country in recent times. none of this is theoretical or hard to prove. To think sport operated entirely outside these few examples of systematic oppression is, frankly laughable if it wasn't so willfully ignorant. I find that viewpoint simultaneously worrying and chilling.
Historically women were barred from access to sport. Look up the history of women's football in the interwar and early post war era in the UK, women's football drew much larger crowds, was more professional and commercially lucrative. So the FA banned it :rolleyes:

It's not at all, even a tiny bit difficult to fins systematic sexism, misogyny with regards to women's sport historically, culturally and socially. And even right up to this day. As a woman who competes at national level (I've even won some medals) I can categorically tell you this happens every single day of the sporting week to one of us at least!

Parity isn't a wistful fantasy, it's a necessity. Commercialism or no commercialism.

Agree with most of that.

Some things are bigger than money.

That's for the market to decide.

Jawgap

Looks like the Irish Times is becoming more and more like RTE when it comes to finding subjects......they just interview one of their own......

The life of a cycling commuter: ‘I am acutely aware of the dangers

And apparently, cyclists riding in groups are the equivalent of drivers cutting up riders with their ton or more of metal......

Dublin Bus and Dublin taxis are “the worst offenders” for cutting off cyclists, he says. “Their attitude is that it is their territory”. But, he concedes, it is a “two-way thing” and cyclists have become more aggressive too as it becomes a popular sport with big groups going out on the roads.

Grassey

Jawgap wrote:

And apparently, cyclists riding in groups are the equivalent of drivers cutting up riders with their ton or more of metal......

I don't understand the parallel that groups of cyclists are aggressive? Are they groups of hoodlums out looking for trouble?

Chuchote

Grassey wrote: »

I don't understand the parallel that groups of cyclists are aggressive? Are they groups of hoodlums out looking for trouble?

https://twitter.com/fattakin/status/903614172994437120

Chuchote

The film Bikes vs Cars is available in full to watch till tomorrow (Sunday 3 September) - French subs, though a lot of it is in English:

http://www.telerama.fr/monde/regardez-bikes-vs-cars,-le-documentaire-militant-pro-velo-de-fredrik-gertten,n5181801.php?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1504259982

Chris Boardman says cycling in cities is too dangerous for him:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/31/chris-boardman-riding-a-bike-on-uk-roads-feels-too-dangerous-for-me

magicbastarder

Jawgap wrote: »

they just interview one of their own......

it's a weirdly clipped article as well - it reads as if it was twice as long and butchered to half its length. almost as if the chap was told to answer in sentences that could be used as pullquotes.

Chuchote

Bikes vs Cars with English-language subs here:

https://greenpeacefilmfestival.org/en/les-films/edition-2017/les-films-en-competition-2017/energie/bikes-vs-cars/

Chuchote

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2016/oct/21/islabikes-radical-new-plan-means-you-may-never-need-to-buy-your-child-a-bike-again

Isla Bikes trialling renting bikes rather than selling them to parents.

tampopo

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

And they're the average figures, so for every person who has mad crazy 90-120 minute commutes, there must be 3 people with 10 minute commutes to balance them out.

Me, for one!

magicbastarder

or what if you're like me - averaging three days a week working from home, the other two days i've a 50 minute cycle each way?