Is BP blocking journalists from doing their jobs?

Posted on June 9, 2010
Filed Under News |

By Lauren Keane-Farrell

Is BP keeping journalists from documenting the environmental fallout of the oil spill?

The Washington Post reported on June 3, 2010 that it appeared that the British company was trying to keep American journalists off of the beaches affected by the oil spill. Last week, journalists were denied access to public beaches by BP, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Coast Guard.

On Wednesday June 2, Mother Jones reported that BP was banning photos of dead wildlife. With 444 birds, 222 sea turtles and 24 mammals dead because of the oil spill, pictures or not, the information is getting to people.

A Daily News reporter was able to bypass the BP controlled security and stated:

“There is a lot of coverup for BP. They specifically informed us that they don’t want these pictures of the dead animals. They know the ocean will wipe away most of the evidence. It’s important to me that people know the truth about what’s going on here. The things I’ve seen: They just aren’t right. All the life out here is full of oil.”

This disaster isn’t the first time that cleanup crews have tried to prevent journalists from covering a story. During Katrina, FEMA attempted to block journalists from covering the removal of dead bodies. A suit was brought against FEMA for their violation of the journalists First Amendment.

Toby Odone, BP spokesman, denied that BP is trying to hide the damage from journalists. In addition, he noted that BP has organized press visits to the spill zone. As far as police denying journalist access to the area, he says BP cannot control what the police do.

Share and Enjoy: