4 Ways BP and Officials Are Working to Suppress the Outrageous Facts About the Gulf Disaster

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Tara Lohan

4 Ways BP and Officials Are Working to Suppress the Outrageous Facts About the Gulf Disaster
From intimidating reporters to trying to enforce no-fly zones, there seems to be a concerted effort to block public access to information.

June 17, 2010 |


With BP's oil gusher in the gulf approaching two months, public anger is approaching the boiling point. When will the oil spilling into the gulf be stopped and what remediation can be done for the ecosystem and the local economy? Those of us who aren't at ground zero have to rely on what the media is reporting -- which is turning into an outrageous scandal of its own.

"Journalists struggling to document the impact of the oil rig explosion have repeatedly found themselves turned away from public areas affected by the spill, and not only by BP and its contractors, but by local law enforcement, the Coast Guard and government officials," wrote Jeremy W. Peters for the New York Times. "To some critics of the response effort by BP and the government, instances of news media being kept at bay are just another example of a broader problem of officials' filtering what images of the spill the public sees. Scientists, too, have complained about the trickle of information that has emerged from BP and government sources. Three weeks passed, for instance, from the time the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20 and the first images of oil gushing from an underwater pipe were released by BP."

So what's really going on? Is there is concerted effort to block information from reaching the public? Here are four examples that point to a widespread effort to suppress public access to information about an environmental disaster -- we may still not yet know exactly how bad this thing is, or how bad it's going to get.

1. Restricting Access

One of the most common complaints so far from journalists is that they are having problems getting the access they need to do their jobs -- like CBS, which reported its news team was threatened with arrest while attempting to get footage of an oil-soaked public beach. Weeks of similar complaints resulted in a memo issued by Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, claiming that the company is not interfering with press access.

The memo states: "Recent media reports have suggested that individuals involved in the cleanup operation have been prohibited from speaking to the media, and this is simply untrue. BP fully supports and defends all individuals' rights to share their personal thoughts and experiences with journalists if they so choose."

But when WDSU news anchor Scott Walker tried to interview cleanup workers on a public beach on Grand Isle, LA, private security guards tried to prevent him. The news agency reports: "He told the guards he intended to ask contracted cleanup crews about their efforts while workers were on their breaks. The guards told Walker he could not question the workers and was not allowed on the public beach." ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/environment/147236/4_ways_bp_and_officials_are_working_to_suppress_the_outrageous_facts_about_the_gulf_disaster/

[flyarm]

1. They are using the president to do worthless speeches to bullshit the people

of this country ..who do not live on the Gulf..who aren't getting local news of how bad this is and has been from day one...and are clueless to our Eco System on the Gulf..
They are using Our presidents buddies at Goldman Sach's to cover up the depth of this disaster..and every corportae whore they can to cover up the depth of this disaster..

now go pray...

Don't think it will do a damn thing for the Gulf's hole..hell some of us have been praying since the explosion..how's it been working for the birds and marine life so far..and the Hole?? Nothing is stopping it from flowing death to the Gulf..

but if it makes you feel better..As Obama advised..pray..and come on down and eat the lushious fish ..that is very likely contaminated.

Oh but a warning here..I am 300 miles south of the hole..people were swimming on the beach near mine..and they came out of the water Sunday with Oil all over their bodies..they were wisked away by some BP owned thugs..and made to scrub down with COMET..the oil was not seen on the surface of the water..and the story was silenced...

so Indeed ..come on down and swim our once beautiful Gulf of Mexico..isn't that what our presidett told you to do??

[Slit Skirt]

2. where are you exactly

if you don't mind me asking

[Karmadillo]

3. Kick

nt