[j4pe]

Joe Eskenazi, the author of this piece, is a solid journalist who helps run the tiny donation-funded Mission Local. They've done incredible reporting on corruption in the SF city government and punch way above their weight in the stories they break. I have respect for how Joe refused to join in reporting this murder as evidence of a violent crime epidemic, while still reporting on homelessness and property crime.

[Pils]

The current CEO of YCombinator regarding an article in Mission Local a few days ago:

Mission Local seems to serve their local bureaucratic masters over the basic public safety needs of the people. [0]

This is gaslighting. You should be ashamed. [1]

In this case they are “independent” of a sort [2]

In all fairness, he did retweet this article a couple hours ago.

[0] https://twitter.com/garrytan/status/1644520924828540929?s=20

[1] https://twitter.com/garrytan/status/1644510807060021249?s=20

[2] https://twitter.com/garrytan/status/1644535178856124418?s=20

[yonran]

The top part of Joe Eskenazi’s earlier article https://missionlocal.org/2023/04/bob-lee-crazy-bob-mobilecoi... was good (where he reported evidence that the Bob Lee killing was not a robbery), but I agree with Garry Tan that the bottom part of the article (where he makes a broader commentary on whether San Francisco is “safe” unrelated to Bob Lee) is gaslighting and reductionist. It makes many claims and implications that are questionable: e.g., that rampant property crime does not make you unsafe (despite the fact that many thieves are armed), that festering drug addiction does not make you unsafe (which may have been a contributing factor to the car not stopping for the victim), that the problem with crime is “feelings” rather than real risk, and that those who are concerned about crime must have come from sheltered “suburbs”. And there’s no mention of anti-Asian robberies that got the previous DA recalled.

Eskenazi is a well-connected journalist, but he is also arrogant and often presents only one side of issues. For example, virtually nothing that he wrote in this article (anonymously sourced from disgruntled politicians) about the magnet school Lowell High school ended up being true (magnet schools do not violate state code as claimed, and the school did return to test-based admission which he claimed would not happen) https://missionlocal.org/2022/02/lowells-old-merit-based-adm.... So while his reporting is mostly good, you have to be aware of his bias.

[rideontime]

In all fairness, I’ll be impressed when he posts a retraction and apology.

[toss1]

This is a prime example of the growing stated perception outside of tech bubble, "tech bros killing each other and blaming the homeless". It didn't take long for people to start posting that.

Yes, street crime is itself a taking of rights and freedom of the people living and working in a place, and it is more important to contain it than to maximize the criminals' rights.

But this shows that the reputation of the tech industry is pretty much underwater, and premature postings like that don't help.

[ipqk]

I think he un-retweeted it, and then re-tweeted someone else still blaming it on "lawlessness".

[kaycebasques]

They really do some amazing reporting. Based on the fact that this is the first article I'm seeing on this topic, it seems that Mission Local may have got the scoop [1] on the Chronicle and other big newspapers on this high-profile topic. That is a big deal for journalists (if I recall correctly) because it means you're doing better original reporting and you're more connected to the neighborhood.

[1] https://grammarist.com/idiom/get-the-scoop/

[bombcar]

Any small local news organizations will almost ALWAYS get the scoop on the big ones, for local news. Because the vast majority of "big" news things are a division of some conglomerate and just regurgitate Reuters.

[JieJie]

This is great writing, "the abrupt closure of the mid-market Whole Foods, leaving San Franciscans just eight other Whole Foods within city limits". What a scoop, brilliantly delivered.

[asdfman123]

If you like this article, think about subscribing to them.

Lots of little papers like this seem healthy and then unceremoniously go out of business because they don't make enough money in ad revenue to pay their journalists like 45k/yr. That's not a typo: that's how much Bay Area reporters make.

Support local journalism!

[jeffbee]

Mission Local is great. We are blessed with a wealth of local journalism like Mission Local, Cityside, even SF Standard if I hold my nose about the fact that it is controlled by a reactionary political movement. It is why I never understood the whining about "support your local newspaper". There's no chance of me ever subscribing to the Chronicle. I donate to these other, better news outlets instead.

[shuckles]

SF Standard has some of the city’s best journalists on staff, and you’d be hard pressed to identify how Moritz is influencing their coverage decisions.

[biomcgary]

I have not heard of the SF Standard (I'm not in CA). You seem to value SF Standard (at some level) even while disagreeing with underlying political stances. That juxtaposition seem unfortunately rare in the current era, could you expand on what value they create (for you)?

[okdood64]

Yes, I think this was one of the better pieces of journalism I've read recently. It was a breath of fresh air.

[jkestner]

I wish more reporting would have the level of context and data that this piece does, instead of lazily quoting experts with an agenda.

[pentagrama]

I'm in doubt if is ethical journalism reveal the name and LinkedIn profile of an alleged killer, sounds like doxing to me.

[microtherion]

Given how heavily and uncritically the initial theory of a homeless/lower class person as the killer was promoted (not least of all here on HN), I think it made a lot of sense to reveal that the actual suspect now arrested worked in the tech industry and was acquainted with the victim.

Beyond that, it's nor clear to me that revealing the actual name or other personal details of the suspect serves a legitimate purpose of advancing justice or society; however, it is not out of keeping with journalistic practice in other criminal cases in California. Suspects' names get printed in newspapers for far lower profile crimes all the time.

[sowbug]

Arrests sure better be public record in a free country.

[aeternum]

Is the public's failure to understand the meaning of the word alleged a problem with journalism?

The police arresting people in secret has historically been .. problematic at best.

[anigbrowl]

It's hard to believe that you're not aware the name is published by the police following an arrest, which was almost certainly the subject of a warrant application.

[hindsightbias]

I’ll go with the perp being rich and white. LinkedIn has already been deleted. No conspiracy needed.

[doctoboggan]

Depends on the track record of the journalist and whether you believe that they did their due diligence and have good sourcing.

[hker999]

It's only because he's a white male. Person of color suspects rarely get doxxed by the media and the story usually disappears the next day.

[mkehrt]

I cannot praise Eskenazi highly enough as a reporter.

[throwaway894345]

I don’t know anything about Mission Local, but reading of the article prior to reading your comment left me with the impression that the author was really invested in this being a targeted killing. The first part of the article started strong, and then it felt like the author was grinding a political axe, though I’m sure it’s in response to other articles grinding different axes. It was a well-written article to be sure, but I guess I’ve grown weary of motivated journalism.

[not2b]

Looks like the author had very good reason to think that this was a targeted killing, as in, if the suspect did it it was a targeted killing.

Jumping to the conclusion that some homeless guy or street thug did it, without any evidence, is also something that people with axes to grind do on a regular basis.

[johnea]

Yep, just more proof that San Fransisco is overrun with the criminal wealthy...

[lazyasciiart]

If you find it difficult to recognize a solid journalist in someone who uses language in a standard way that you dislike, that would be a problem with your own ability to exercise judgment.

[roundandround]

> But the city’s violent crime rate is at a near-historic low, and is lower than most mid-to-large-sized cities.

Wow, more evidence that this is a city in the US?

[say_it_as_it_is]

Joe Eskenazi shared the identity of the alleged killer, potentially ruining the life/career of someone who may not have killed Bob.

[dang]

That's standard practice isn't it? If you get arrested for a newsworthy crime, the news will say your name while saying "alleged" to make it clear you haven't been convicted yet.

[phendrenad2]

I don't think hiding the names of accused suspects is realistic. Instead, we should try to educate the public and remind them that people are still innocent until proven guilty.

[Aloisius]

The jail shared it. It's a public record.

[etc-hosts]

Looks like the SFPD waited a while to verify a possible narrative of what they believe happened before making an arrest.

If it's all made up, that would be amazing. Doubtful.