But what most caught my eye in the Post story was D.C. resident Joseph Clay’s other quote. “The only crime I hear about is what I read in the Washington Post,” he said.

The story’s reporters—Joe Heim, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin—surely didn’t need to include this quote. My guess is they did so as a shot across the bow to their colleagues on the Opinion Page, who’ve echoed Trump’s false D.C. crime narrative (FAIR.org, 8/14/25).

But it’s not just the Opinion Page who needs a wake-up call; so do editors on the news side, at least those responsible for writing headlines.

The poll results story’s strong opening stated [that] D.C. residents “overwhelmingly oppose” Trump’s moves, but the headline only read “Most DC residents oppose” them. And even this downgrade, from “overwhelming” to “most,” wasn’t enough for Post higher-ups, who further weakened the headline to “We Asked 604 DC Residents About Trump’s Takeover. Here’s What They Said.”

(Emphasis original.)