Crowd estimates: your choice

We have commented on reporters’ accepting the size of crowds as given by event organizers, with the Boston classics of one million attending First Night or the July 4 Pops concert and fireworks over the Charles River. This would make the crowds almost twice the city’s population. What brings this up was an unusual crowd size report by David Bienick of WCVB Channel 5 about the Women’s March Boston, Jan. 19, 2019. Bienick reported that the organizers estimated the crowd at 40,000 while police estimated it at between 8,000 to 10,000.

File under: Cheers for skeptical reporting.