Six weeks after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has “generated its highest level of coverage since the story broke, completely dominating the news agenda,” according to Pew Research Center’s weekly news index.
Nonetheless, “a litany of half-truths, withholding crucial video, blocking media access to the site and a failure to share timely and complete information about efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history have created the widespread impression that BP is withholding information about the April 20 oilrig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, if not misleading the public and the government,” McClatchy’s Erika Bolstad reported on May 29.
This raises the question: As BP continues to struggle to reduce (let alone stop) the amount of oil flowing in to the Gulf, what else should journalists be asking of all the parties involved in this disaster?
“Overall last week, the media continued to focus mostly on unfolding events such as the impact on the environment and the economy, as well as the containment and cleanup of the oil,” the Pew Research Center found. “About half the coverage went to these matters, while about one-third dwelt on the government’s role in managing the crisis and about one-sixth focused on BP’s culpability.”
Inquires thus break down into three general categories—what happened; what is happening; and what will happen. We’ve already seen some noteworthy coverage along these fronts. Reporters have dug into the risky method BP used to seal the well before the explosion; they are scrutinizing the impacts that oil and chemical dispersants may have on deepwater coral reefs and other marine life; and they are asking about the future of the oil industry, the federal Minerals Management Service, and U.S. energy legislation.
Many more details are needed to address these and other concerns, however. So, what questions have been seeping up from the depths of your mind?
Why after thirty years have the oil companies never made drilling a relief well next to every new well Standard Operating Procedure?
#1 Posted by Keith, CJR on Wed 2 Jun 2010 at 04:55 PM
Why are volunteers and nonprofit wildlife groups not being allowed to help with wildlife cleanup? Supposedly, BP is in charge of all such efforts as part of the cleanup, and says it will hire its own contractors. Who are the contractors and what do the wildlife biologists and wildlife rescue experts think about this?
#2 Posted by Suzanne, CJR on Wed 2 Jun 2010 at 05:13 PM
I want to know if those MMS people that are ressponsible for BP's getting away with MURDER once again, will face crimanal charges of murder/manslaughter?
I want every BP rig shut down until this is not only stopped, but all evidence is cleaned up!
#3 Posted by Cyndy tyler, CJR on Wed 2 Jun 2010 at 05:51 PM
Can the media (ideally The New York Times) ask ExxonMobil's Rex Tillerson to reconcile his quote of Bertrand Russell with his comment that ExxonMobil will just keep doin' what it does best for the next two decades and so on?
Can The Observatory analyze The New York Times's nearly non-existent critical coverage of ExxonMobil in comparison to the huge volume of ExxonMobil advertorials and PR statements in The Times over the last two years, including (many times) on the front page and also including periodic two-page spreads?
Can The Observatory ask both The Times and ExxonMobil to divulge the amount that ExxonMobil (or its affiliates) has spent on advertising in The Times over the last two years, in the interest of transparency? Both The Times and ExxonMobil have made strong statements about transparency over the past two years, so can they apply that principle to themselves? Will The Observatory ask, please?
Will The Observatory ask if The New York Times, and other media, will explore the implications of the fact that the new Chairman of General Motors is on the Board of Directors of ExxonMobil?
Can we get the media to focus on the big picture, and to help the public prevent problems BEFORE they happen, or do we have to resign ourselves to having media that only focus on a problem after it has happened and after it has become fashionable to hit on?
These are straightforward and fair questions. Can we get answers, please?
Thanks,
Jeff
#4 Posted by Jeff Huggins, CJR on Wed 2 Jun 2010 at 09:10 PM
Not very important in the horrific grand scheme of things, but how did BP manage to get everyone to go along with the idea that this is a "spill"? Like something a waiter would do.
The Exxon Valdez was a "spill." The ship hit a reef and the oil spilled out. This is an oil gusher triggered by who knows what, other than BP's shameful means of doing business. Think Red Adair or "Giant." Or try not to think of it.
#5 Posted by Steve Daley, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 10:21 AM
Why is airspace over the spill area restricted to the point where journalists cannot overfly the affected territory?
I'm sure the FAA doesn't want a mad crush of choppers getting in the way of cleanup - but surely a pool camera can be flown over the affected areas so the public can see the effect of the spill.
#6 Posted by murph, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 12:03 PM
How much is all this going to cost me and how soon? Because it's a dead certainty that any way you cut it, directly or indirectly , I and my countrymen are going to be on the hook for the full cost of this fiasco. BP will just file bankruptcy and go on its merry way.
#7 Posted by Rusty, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 01:01 PM
The emergency shut off valve that didn't work. How many other wells have installed this same valve from the same manufacturer? What is the risk? It that company helping out with the spill in any way?
#8 Posted by tvk, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 07:30 PM
TVK, I think I can answer your question. The BOP in all likelihood did work, at least partially. When the first ROV arrived on site hours after the explosion there was no oil leaking. Unfortunately, my belief at any rate, is that the BOP did not seat fully, either due to inadequate hydraulic pressure, some other factor or a combination. All it takes is a small leak from a damaged shear valve or constrictor and the valve body will disintegrate over time.
This would explain the increasing oil flows seen from immediately after the explosion (when no oil was leaking) until now.
#9 Posted by Mike H, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 08:00 PM
1) Why is BP allowed to be in charge of anything at this point?
2) Why are journalists threatened with arrest by law enforcement if they dare to take pictures of dead animals?
3) Why does the US government appear to be in the pocket of BP?
4) Where are the environmentalists - is our corporate media filtering them out?
5) Where are our brave Democratic Congressional members - is any action to be taken - ever?
6) Where was the oil being pumped out of this well destined to be sold?
7) Why don't we have an independent video feed of the leak? How do we know it is not being doctored?
8) Why isn't BP being told what to do by the US government? We have the emergency power authority to do this. When does it become enough of a disaster to do this?
9) How many decades of destruction will this area endure before it recovers from this spill damage?
10) Where do this regions Congressional members stand now after being in the pockets of big oil for so many decades?
11) Did any executives from the companies involved in this debacle attend any funerals of the deceased workers?
12)What were the payments to the families?
13) How will this be prevented in the future? What new technologies exist? What is being done in other countries to prevent this?
14) When will criminal prosecutions begin?
15) Why have we allowed these companies to write their own regulations? Why has BP been allowed to not follow US government directives regarding the cleanup?
16) What specific oversight policies were stricken during the Bush years that contributed to this debacle? Who were the people that sponsored and voted for these changes if voting was required?
#10 Posted by bob, CJR on Thu 3 Jun 2010 at 08:02 PM
why don't the New York Times or BBC stories include information about two questions:
1. Where does the seeping oil come from? Is there a vast undersea-bed reservoir?
2. If no intervention takes place, how long will the oil seep?
#11 Posted by Sandra Katzman, CJR on Fri 4 Jun 2010 at 10:09 PM
Why are booms being deployed incorrectly along the shoreline? Are they going to start placing them correctly, or are the booms just for show?
DKos Booming school (Warning--foul language)
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/5/11/11558/1890
#12 Posted by Julie, CJR on Sat 5 Jun 2010 at 05:42 PM