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Eric Boehlert Dies: Media Critic For Media Matters & Salon, Founder Of Press Run Newsletter Killed In Bike Accident At 57

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This is sad especially because it was so sudden. I have posted many articles by Eric as recently as last week.
frown.gif

Condolences to his family and friends

Eric Boehlert Eric Boehlert/Facebook Eric Boehlert, a media critic devoted to calling out right-wing misinformation through his writing at Media Matters for America, Salon, Daily Kos and most recently as the founder of the Press Run website, died Monday in a bike accident. He was 57.

His death was announced on Twitter today by journalist and friend Soledad O’Brien, who called Boehlert “a fierce and fearless defender of the truth.” Boehlert was struck by a train while biking in Montclair, New Jersey; Montclair police reported yesterday that a man riding a bicycle was struck and killed by a New Jersey Transit train in Montclair on Monday evening.

“A terrible loss,” O’Brien writes. “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.” O’Brien described Boehlert as “an amazing friend,” adding, “Brutal to bad media on twitter, sweetest guy in real life.”

https://deadline.com/2022/04/eric-bo...57-1234995804/

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Eric Boehlert FB
 
Rest in peace.
 
Sudden and shocking, RIP.

(I do not know very much about the man, not that it should matter.)
 
Former Secretary of State and Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted, “I’m devastated for his family and friends and will miss his critical work to counteract misinformation and media bias. What a loss.”

Media Matters released a statement saying, in part, “We are better for having known and worked with such a thoughtful, fearless and passionate media critic. It was always a treat when Eric would visit the D.C. office; while he was direct and unsparing on social media, he was equally as warm, inspiring, and helpful to his colleagues.”

Read the entire Media Matters statement below, along with other reactions from friends and colleagues.

 
Very sad to hear, he was a good one.

Also, a bit scary, we both ride more than 2000 miles a year on our bikes, it can be dangerous at times. So many drivers never look out for you, to ride a bike means you have to have total awareness of all the things that can hit you. I got hit once, flew on to the car that hit me, dented his hood, then bounced off to the very hard asphalt below. I had my helmet on, and I was ok, but....boy it hurt for a while.
 
We have really lost a media critic who especially was dedicated to fighting fake news. He will be sorely missed. :(
 
This is sad especially because it was so sudden. I have posted many articles by Eric as recently as last week.
frown.gif

Condolences to his family and friends

Eric Boehlert Eric Boehlert/Facebook Eric Boehlert, a media critic devoted to calling out right-wing misinformation through his writing at Media Matters for America, Salon, Daily Kos and most recently as the founder of the Press Run website, died Monday in a bike accident. He was 57.

His death was announced on Twitter today by journalist and friend Soledad O’Brien, who called Boehlert “a fierce and fearless defender of the truth.” Boehlert was struck by a train while biking in Montclair, New Jersey; Montclair police reported yesterday that a man riding a bicycle was struck and killed by a New Jersey Transit train in Montclair on Monday evening.

“A terrible loss,” O’Brien writes. “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.” O’Brien described Boehlert as “an amazing friend,” adding, “Brutal to bad media on twitter, sweetest guy in real life.”

https://deadline.com/2022/04/eric-bo...57-1234995804/

View attachment 67384284
Eric Boehlert FB

How exactly does one get killed by a train while biking?
 
How exactly does one get killed by a train while biking?
He probably got stuck on the tracks or perhaps even fell (details are scarce) Not uncommon for bikes, motorcyles or cars to get stuck on the tracks and get hit

Many times those drop down rails don't work indicating there is an oncoming train.

No doubt this will be investigated
 
He probably got stuck on the tracks. Not uncommon for bikes or cars to get stuck on the tracks and get hit

It's not uncommon for the bikes to get hit, its very uncommon for the rider to get hit as well
 
It's not uncommon for the bikes to get hit, its very uncommon for the rider to get hit as well
I edited my post;

He probably got stuck on the tracks or perhaps even fell (details are scarce) Not uncommon for bikes, motorcyles or cars to get stuck on the tracks and get hit

Many times those drop down rails don't work indicating there is an oncoming train.

No doubt this will be investigated
 

Charles P. Pierce: Eric Boehlert's Spirit Was Decades Younger and His Wisdom Decades Older​

One of the only media critics who mattered has died at 57 years old.

I got the news at the funeral of another friend. Which, I suppose, is the way things go in this year of our Lord 2022, even though it’s increasingly obvious that The Lord is taking this year off, mercy-wise. Eric Boehlert, who fashioned for himself a career as one of the only media critics who really mattered, was killed while riding his bike through his beloved New Jersey suburbs. He was 57, but his spirit was decades younger and his wisdom was decades older, and that’s just the way that was, too.


I first came to notice him back when I had a gig at what we now call the mainstream media. (I confess, until his passing, I never knew Eric had worked for Billboard.) He was a clear, clarion voice against all the free passes given out to the Avignon Presidency in the long wake of 9/11. He also was one of the people who first implanted in me the thought that the people writing on the Intertoobz seemed to be the only people writing who were having any fun at all. I have found this largely to be true as I’ve wandered along the way.

He was gloriously unimpressed by reputations. He was the implacable foe of journalistic laziness in all its forms, especially as expressed through access journalism and the reportorial arch-heresy of Both Siderism. Take him all in all, he was something of a proud throwback to what the craft of journalism ought to be. It pains me as a professional to know that a lot of famous yahoos are going to get a freer ride now that he’s gone, although I feel certain that the likes of Dan Froomkin and Margaret Sullivan—and, in its own little way, this shebeen—will carry on his work as best we all can.

We were friends, always happy to see each other at one gathering or another, every couple of years or so. May his memory be a blessing to his wife, Tracy Breslin, and to their children, Jane and Ben. And let us remember him by being kind to each other, and by being careful and skeptical readers, and by doing all we can to support the true craft of journalism so that, having done so, we can help save our poor, wounded republic. Sail on, brother. Sail on.

 
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