Tag Results for MBTA

MBTA general manager Dan Grabauskas resigned this week under pressure. His resignation follows a months-long feud with the Patrick administration that was played out in the media.

Boston Phoenix media critic and frequent Beat the Press guest panelist Adam Reilly weighs in today with a piece on how local media outlets handled the issue of MBTA Green Line trolley driver Aiden Quinn's gender identity.

Quinn, 24, admitted that he was texting on his cell phone just before he ran his trolley through a red signal and rear-ended another Green Line train, injuring scores of passengers. News organizations who pulled Quinn's driving record discovered that he had once listed his gender as "female" and had gone by the name Georgia.

Reilly talked to several news directors and editors about how they handled the fact that Quinn had apparently switched genders. His own conclusion is that while news organizations shouldn't have overplayed the identity issue, they couldn't ignore it either.

"Asking the reporters who covered the crash to omit any reference to Quinn's sex change is, in essence, a request for journalists to be advocates rather than reporters."

The Beat the Press panel tacked his one too. My opinion? It's a matter of both relevance and context. By itself, Quinn's transgendered status is not relevant to the crash. It cannot be included in a news story about the crash - no matter how far down it is played - without an implication that it is somehow germane to what happened. Readers and viewers have a justifiable and reasonable expectation that information contained in news stories is relevant to the subject.

Following a crash on the Green Line, local media reported that trolley operator Aiden Quinn was once called Georgia Quinn. Was Quinn's sexual identity relevant to the story or was it just a salacious detail?

Spoiler alert! If you're watching "Greater Boston" tonight at 7 you'll hear MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas say that trolley operator Aiden Quinn was the most seriously injured person involved in Friday night's crash near Park Street station. Quinn has admitted that he was texting his girlfriend when his trolley ran through a red signal.

Dan might want to check out this story in the Salem News. Staff writer Tom Dalton interviews 19-year-old passenger Samantha Mattei, who suffered a fractured back, a facial laceration that required five stitches to close, and a concussion in the crash.

Interestingly, Dalton reports that Mattei shared an ambulance with Quinn, 24, who broke his wrist.