Electricity filled the air at the Great Hall at Cooper Union as cameras, cables, wireless mics and the friction from pencils on paper covered the events of the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) final vote. Big names - CBS, NBC, ABC, New York Times - and smaller - Crosswalks TV, Noticias 1380AM, and a Columbia University Journalism Student - showed up for the final take on what was widely reported as a strange year for the RGB. Some of the faces behind the mics and notepads included: Rebecca Spitz of NY1; Vince Demintri of WCBS; Darlene Rodriguez of WNBC; Nina Pineda of WABC; Madelyn Vega of Channel 47; Lisa Evers from 1010WINS; Bruce Lambert of the NY Times; and Tom Topousis of the Post.

One voice that was not present, however, was that of the Village Voice which opted to cover the redevelopment of Cooper Union, where the final vote was held, instead of covering the rent increases affecting some 2.3 million tenants. The Voice coverage of the 2001 RGB final vote was all of seven words long: "… this week's annual vote on rent hikes."* This is all the more surprising given the fact that the Voice was the only wide distribution paper to give in-depth coverage of the arrests last year with multiple stories. And much of the press excitement about the civil disobedience was due to it's desire to catch the arrest of the tenant protesters on camera, that the Voice had so eloquently reported last year.

TV stations - CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC and WB11 - followed a similar pattern, presenting statistics up front, followed by clips of rallying (or rowdy as some put it) tenant members and interviews from both the tenant and landlord perspective.

Print coverage - NY Times, Post, Daily News, Gotham Gazette, Associated Press - was a bit more in depth, following the pattern of the three new board members in switching votes and going with the mayor's flow. Bruce Lambert of the New York Times provided the most extensive coverage with a follow-up report on June 22, in which Mr. Giuliani's aides confessed his support for the new increases. The Time's Lambert appeared to be one of the few remaining at meetings end as his was the only article to mention increases on hotels and lofts.

Camera crews, for the most part, left the scene following the high profile votes of 4%/6% and the downing of the poor tax, especially once it seemed clear that the police were not going to arrest anyone before deadline. Overall, tenants had the widest coverage as they showed up in higher numbers and out-voiced any landlord support that may have been present. Most of the media did, however, provide a landlord perspective. The most extensive tenant coverage came from Tenant/Inquilino and our very own Rent Wars, both sticking it out until the end.

The event statistics were accurately reported across the board, with the exception of the Associated Press who reported 4% increases on one-year leases, and 5% increases on two-year leases. CBS also reported in error when referring to the defeat of the poor tax, claiming: "A $15 surcharge for empty apartments was eliminated." This, according to the CBS interpretation, was a big victory for the inhabitants of the empty dwellings? The CBS and Associated Press errors only highlighted the unorganized, confusing, non-sequitor, and random nature of the RGB's proceedings. Apparently CBS combined the denial of the additional vacancy increase with the defeat of the poor tax.

Additional reporting by Ronin. Given the large number of press members there we may have missed some. Please let us know if you are aware of any that are not listed here.

* The Village Voice's J.A. Lobbia wrote the Cooper Union article as well as the arrest articles a year earlier that highlighted the absurdity of the arrests of the seniors (which were not planned, nor justified). The seven words about the RGB hearings were similar to a bank teller tapping in Morse Code, "Get Help!" Throughout the entire RGB season the Voice completely ignored the proceedings. In shocking contrast to past years where the Voice was the premier publication for relevent information. Clearly the desperate sentence slipped into the Cooper Union article must be seen in the context of J.A. Lobbia's long record of tenant reporting. She was trying to give the Voice readership some notice of the event. Even her post-RGB article on gentrification is up to snuff. So what happened to RGB coverage?
.....Clearly this was an editorial decision. Cooper Union is directly across from the Voice headquarters. Noisy tenants marched with placards. TV Satellite trucks filled the street in front of the Voice for more than 5 hours. Surely even the densest news outlet would wonder "what are all these news vans doing in front of our building?" So, it is pretty clear that this was a conscious decision on the Voice's editorial part.
.....In "Silencing the Voice, the Gagging of Julia Lobbia" we'll explore the relationship between the Voice's Real Estate advertising section and editorial policy. Will the publisher's greed ultimately destroy the Voice's long tradition of reporting for the people?