"I’m not going to call it a ‘sketchy’ neighborhood" - but evidence suggests that it is.

Sometimes, you just cannot credibly make up what actually does occur. DC news crew robbed while reporting on app that identifies ‘sketchy’ neighborhoods by Scott Kaufman. This sounded so pat that I couldn't believe it. However, googling around, it does appear to be a legitimate story.

A District of Columbia news crew reporting on an app that identifies “sketchy” neighborhoods had their van burglarized while they were interviewing individuals who lived in a neighborhood the app identified as “sketchy.”

WUSA9 reporter Mola Lenghi said that he, photographer James Hash, and intern Taylor Bisciotti were in the Petworth area interviewing residents who lived there.

“We were doing a story on an app that describes ‘sketchy’ neighborhoods,” Lenghi said. “It led us to the Petworth neighborhood of Northwest, and I’m not going to call it a ‘sketchy’ neighborhood, but as folks were telling us that it was a good neighborhood, and that not much activity happens around there — as that was being told to us, our van was being robbed.”

“We got back to the news van,” he continued, “and noticed that the lock was popped out. Got in there, and noticed that all of our stuff was gone. I had a backpack full of electronics.”

Sounds like the politically correct/excessively polite journalist might have benefited from reading some Shakespeare during college.

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

Alternatively - sketchy is as sketchy does.