Eric Boehlert, a progressive media critic and founder of the Press Run newsletter, was killed Monday evening after being struck by a train while riding his bicycle in Montclair, New Jersey. He was only 56.
The Daily Beast noted "the circumstances surrounding the accident were unclear". Boehlert's wife said he biked through Montclair every evening and always wore high-vis gear and flashing lights.
Boehlert wrote about music for Billboard and Rolling Stone before covering the media for Salon. He was also a senior fellow at Media Matters for America. He founded Press Run in January 2020, promising an "unfiltered, passionate, and proudly progressive critique of the political press". (I was a proud subscriber.)
Boehlert called out blatant disinformation and bothsides-ism in the mainstream media and was relentless about the steadfast refusal of The New York Times and Washington Post (and many others) to use the word "lies" to describe any of Trump's 30,000+ lies while in office. Once Trump was out of office and access was not an issue, the media gave in and used the word "lies" a few times, here and there, but not so often that you'd notice it.
Boehlert was also the author of two books: Lapdogs: How The Press Rolled Over For Bush and Bloggers on the Bus: How The Internet Changed Politics and the Press.
1/oh my goodness: Just got crushing news from Tracy Breslin, wife of @EricBoehlert https://t.co/l0nOnE0Tad Has died in a bike accident, age 57. Adored his kids Jane and Ben, his dogs, biking and running and basketball and good friends, a fierce and fearless defender of the truth
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 6, 2022
3/A terrible loss. We’ve lost an awesome human being, handsome/cool/witty dude who kicked ass on our behalf. Crazy devotion to facts, context and good reporting. Enemy of BS, fake news. “We can’t mend this American mess if we don’t fix the press.” Deep condolences to his family.
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) April 6, 2022
RIP to our friend @EricBoehlert pic.twitter.com/hdVYeithIG
— Media Matters (@mmfa) April 6, 2022
We are devastated by the loss of esteemed journalist and former @Salon senior writer, Eric Boehlert.
— Salon (@Salon) April 6, 2022
Our condolences to Eric’s family and friends during this difficult time. His passing is a huge loss to media criticism and progressive journalism.
Rest In Peace Eric Boehlert. Greatly admired his passion and tenacity.
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) April 6, 2022
This is deeply tragic. Eric was brilliant and relentless.
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) April 6, 2022
a lot of the shit that’s wrong with media like “racially tinged” weasel headlines and quoting lying republicans at their word were surfaced by eric who had a natural eye for that BS. if anyone writes an obit I forcefully demand it include a quote about him from someone in a diner
— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) April 6, 2022
Two of his last tweets highlighted the double standard when reporting on the two political parties:Eric Boehlert, a savvy commentator on the failures of corporate media, and a bold critic of right-wing bias in broadcasting, has died at age 57. A skilled reporter and a fierce analyst, @EricBoehlert shaped our understanding of how dishonest media creates dysfunctional politics. pic.twitter.com/OcQUki29QK
— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) April 6, 2022
“After Friday’s stellar jobs report CNN published three pieces suggesting the red-hot economy might be bad news for Biden.
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) April 4, 2022
On Friday afternoon, readers at WashPost homepage had to scroll down 87 headlines before seeing reference to the jobs report”
ABC assigned three reporters to this story
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) April 4, 2022
In fourth paragraph readers learns there’s absolutely nothing unusual abt what Secret Service is doing; https://t.co/0y7oXx6DyA
I didn't recognize his name when you told me about this, but I certainly know his byline. How terrible. Also strange. I wonder if it was intentional.
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