So which big news outlet didn’t get advance copy of Comptroller’s Citi Bike report?

We can’t say for certain, but as of Saturday morning, the NY Times had yet to produce one word about the audit. It’s possible they were on the leak list but found the report so demoralizing that it wasn’t fit to print.

• Andrew Tangel of the Wall Street Journal gets credit for breaking the story -- at 8:42 pm Thursday night.  Tangel also broke the news back in early May that negotiations were under way to buy out Alta.

• So which reporters are on Scott Stringer’s must-call list. They would be:

MEDIUM	REPORTER	DATE	TIME
Wall Street Journal	Andrew Tangel	12/11/2014	20:42
NY Post	Daniel Prendergast	12/11/2014	11:59 PM
NY1	Vivian Lee	12/11/2014	NA
amNew York	Dan Rivoli	12/11/2014	NA
Associated Press	Verena Dobnik	12/11/2014	NA
NY Daily News	Annie Karni	12/12/2014	0:00
WNYC (Transportation Nation)	Kate Hinds	12/12/2014	4:00
Capital New York	Dana Rubinstein	12/12/2014	4:56

Look at the times Hinds and Rubinstein filed. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

• These news outlets devoted staff to cover the story after the comptroller’s office went public with it Friday morring:

NY Observer	Jillian Jorgensen	12/12/2014	10:03
NY Business Journal	staff	12/12/2014	10:45
DNA Info	Jeff Mays	12/12/2014	11:37
WABC-TV	Tim Fleischer	12/12/2014	18:17
Gizmodo	Sarah Zhang	12/12/2014	18:25
NY Magazine (Intelligencer)	Jen Kirby	12/12/2014	NA
Curbed NY	Zoe Rosenberg	12/12/2014	NA
Next City	staff	12/12/2014	NA

• Our vote for the worst headline? The Post’s “City audit proves wheel messy for embattled Citi Bike”

• We were surprised that only two outlets, the Daily News and Curbed NY, chose to focus on the safety aspect of the audit.  To us, broken bikes can be a demoralizing
  • incovenience, but since they can’t be ridden pose no real threat. Bikes with failing brakes, on the other hand...
  
  
  
  • Here’s the full list of coverage with links to the stories:
  
  

  MEDIUM	URL
  Wall Streeet Journal	http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-city-comptroller-scott-stringer-knocks-citi-bikes-operation-1418348573
  NY Post	http://nypost.com/2014/12/11/city-audit-proves-wheel-messy-for-embattled-citi-bike/
  NY1	http://www.ny1.com/content/news/220290/comptroller--citibike-stations--bikes-not-being-properly-maintained/
  amNew York	http://www.amny.com/transit/citi-bike-audit-shows-tough-first-year-1.9706196
  Associated Press	http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/NYC-bike-share-audit-reveals-problems-5952208.php
  NY Daily News	http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/citi-bike-faced-safety-risks-due-inspections-report-article-1.2042663
  WNYC (Transportation Nation)	http://www.wnyc.org/story/citi-bikes-shoddy-management-has-left-riders-lurch-audit/
  Capital New York	http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/12/8558355/citi-bike-gets-harsh-audit-promises-improvement
  NY Observer	http://observer.com/2014/12/comptrollers-audit-finds-poor-citi-bike-maintenance/
  NY Business Journal	http://m.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2014/12/12/citi-bike-audit-finds-that-operator-needs-to-pedal.html?r=full
  DNA Info	http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141212/central-harlem/citi-bikes-docking-stations-left-broken-dirty-audit-says
  WABC-TV	http://7online.com/traffic/new-york-city-bike-share-audit-reveals-problems/433473/
  Gizmodo	http://gizmodo.com/theres-a-good-reason-why-citi-bike-is-such-a-mess-in-ny-1670546626
  NY Magazine (Intelligencer)	http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/12/confirmed-citibike-had-some-problems.html
  Curbed NY	http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/12/12/citi_bike_has_apparently_been_unsafe_for_riders_since_launch.php
  Next City	http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/citi-bike-safety-problems-report-new-york-bike-share