When Journalists and Officials Inflate the Body Count, They Deflate Their Credibility
On Saturday, Oct. 3 at 5:30 a.m., Banner Montgomery reporter Ginny Bixby published an article stating that Montgomery County had recorded 38 pedestrian traffic fatalities in 2026. Bixby linked her text to the state’s Zero Death Maryland dashboard. Bixby got the number wrong. There had been 38 total traffic fatalities, but only 14 of them were pedestrians. Bixby’s report exaggerated an already tragic figure by 171 percent.
By 9:15 a.m. on Saturday, Montgomery County Councilmember Evan Glass had shared Bixby’s article on Facebook, Instagram, and X, writing above the link, “Montgomery County has seen 38 pedestrian traffic fatalities this year.” His reposts generated hundreds of reactions and comments and were seen tens of thousands of times.
Readers on social media pointed out the error, both to Banner Montgomery and Glass. The Banner corrected its story at 3:29 p.m., ten hours after it was published. But nearly 48 hours after his post, Glass still hasn’t made the same correction. A Councilmember regurgitating bad information is bad; not correcting it is worse. When you add that this particular Councilmember is a former CNN journalist, it’s a phenomenal blunder. Glass knows how quickly an inaccurate report can spread, and how difficult it is to put the genie back in the bottle once it does.
Forty-eight hours after posting and more than a full day since the Banner made its correction, Glass’s inaccurate statement remains untouched.
The fact that Glass claims to be a leading advocate on the Council for pedestrian safety but didn’t recognize the error immediately is embarrassing. Glass’s failure to correct further undermines his credibility with an audience already largely skeptical about the results of Vision Zero, the engineering controls being put in place, and the leadership making the decisions. Readers who argue the problems are overstated now have proof to back their claims.
Bixby’s careless reporting similarly undermines her credibility as a journalist, marking another significant error the Banner has had to retract or correct. To add insult to her self-inflicted injury, shortly before Bixby updated her article to reflect 14 pedestrian deaths and 38 total fatalities, the state dashboard had already updated the overall count to 39. She didn’t correct that either.
