Mayor Slams Media Coverage

During a wide-ranging discussion with members of the Poplar Hill Community Association on Wednesday night, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was critical of the media and how it portrayed some of her policies.

Rawlings-Blake said no matter the good intentions of her administration—such as an announcement earlier in the day about to help finance and maintain road improvements in Roland Park—there would be bloggers who pursue "a relentless effort to cast a negative spin." 

"I don’t write. I just work," Rawlings-Blake said.

She did not specify what, if any particular blog, she was speaking about.

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In a response to an audience member’s question about the decision to close city recreation centers, Rawlings-Blake said specifics of her proposal, such as her intention to open four new recreation centers, or that the centers are so dilapidated they needed to be replaced don’t receive much media attention.

She criticized coverage of the issue as a limited conversation describing the reporting as "tabloid" and driven by a desire to sell newspapers.

"It’s not about what’s closing. It’s about what’s opening. It’s about the future," she said.

This isn't the first time the mayor has used a North Baltimore community meeting to criticize the state of journalism in the city.

Last year, during the Mount Washington Improvement Association's annual meeting, Rawlings-Blakestations for not wanting to cover the positive stories in the city.

At that same meeting, during her campaign for mayor, she was also critical of the media for trying to push the narrative that her administration was too worried about downtown and not the city's neighborhoods.