John Diaz: BART attack spurs racist remarks
Several commenters on SFGate demanded to know why a robbery that occurred at 9:35 p.m. on a Saturday night did not get reported in the media until Monday. “How is it possible that this did not make Saturday or Sundays news?” asked one reader. Here’s how it came to light.
Sunday, 5 a.m.: The BART police daily log is sent to more than 500 subscribers, which include members of the media and residents who requested it. It includes three brief items, including a one-paragraph account of the robberies at the Coliseum Station.
Monday, 8 a.m.: The Chronicle is tipped off to the crime and pursues the story. Once the story is posted online, other local media quickly jump on it — and before long, it is the top-read story on local news sites and is attracting national attention.
Bottom line: While BART did not exactly hide the incident, it certainly made no concerted effort to assure that Bay Area residents were aware of it.
Why? Alicia Trost, a BART spokeswoman, said if the crime had resulted in a more significant service disruption or station closure it would have triggered alerts to the media and more immediate inquiries. “We know it’s big when we work at BART and our friends and relatives start reaching out to us and asking: ‘Is BART safe?’ ” Alicia Trost, who insisted the system, which provides 430,000 trips a day, is a relatively safe mode of travel, and that security has been tightened since the Coliseum Station robberies.