BP Continues to Impede True Media Coverage on Gulf Oil Spill

HOUSTON (AP) -- Researchers studying the flow of oil from the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico said Thursday that up to twice the amount of oil previously thought may have been spewing into the sea since an oil rig exploded nearly two months ago.

The new figures could mean anywhere from 42 million to more than 100 million gallons of oil have already fouled the fragile waters, affecting people who live, work and play along the coast from Louisiana to Florida _ and perhaps beyond.

It is the third _ and perhaps not last _ time the federal government has had to increase its estimate of how much oil is gushing. Trying to clarify what has been a contentious and confusing issue, federal officials on Thursday gave a wide variety of estimates.

All of the new spill rate estimates are worse than earlier ones _ and far more costly for BP, which has seen its stock sink since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and triggered the spill.

While reporters in the Gulf of Mexico may want to do more to protect themselves from the risks involved in touching and swimming around in the oil, the larger battle they are fighting as they cover the oil spill crisis is one of access. BP has exerted no small effort in keeping the press at arm's length from the story. They've been barring reporters from oil drenched areas, forbidden aerial flyovers, clamped down on shooting photos of the dead wildlife, and basically worked hard to give reporters the runaround.

Mac McClelland of Mother Jones has chronicled some of the struggles she's faced in trying to get up close to the story. In a more recent example, here's a video of ABC News' Matt Gutman, filing a report from a beach in Alabama. Gutman was setting up his equipment to shoot a daily webchat, when a BP manager started hassling him:

While preparing for a video chat on his laptop from a public beach in Alabama, Gutman was hassled by the manager of a nearby crew, asking Gutman why he was on the beach.

"You mind if I ask why you've set up a camera right here while my guys are working?" the man asked. After Gutman explained that he was a reporter for ABC News, the manager responded, "I find it interesting."

For Gutman and other journalists along the Gulf, it's tough to report when so many are barred from talking.

"It's incredibly frustrating working here because of those conditions," Gutman told ABC's Dan Harris. "Everywhere you go, you find police barricades, people telling you, you can't do this, you can't do that, or you can't talk to these people. We're not exactly sure why that is."

I tell you what, if the presence of a reporter on the beach is something a typical BP manager finds "interesting," maybe he should take a step back and take a look at ALL THE OIL, THAT IS EVERYWHERE.

Fueled by the static thrown his way, Gutman and his in-studio partner Dan Harris ended up filing a terrific report. Gutman couldn't help notice that the workers who were initially in his shot were all asked to pull down the beach until they were out of camera range. He went on to relate just how difficult it's been for reporters to talk with the locals involved in the clean-up activity, many of whom are afraid to speak on the record because they now depend on BP for their livelihood.

6/11/2010, 8:38 a.m. EDT - The Associated Press
(AP) — HOUSTON - New figures for the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico show the amount of oil spewing may have been up to twice as much as previously thought, according to scientists consulting with the U.S. government. That could mean 42 million gallons (160 million liters) to more than 100 million gallons (380 million liters) of oil have already fouled the Gulf's fragile waters, affecting people who live, work and play along the coast from Louisiana to Florida - and perhaps beyond. It is the third, and perhaps not the last-time the government has had to increase its estimate of how much oil is gushing. Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said: "We're finding out more and more information about the extent of the damage ... Clearly we can't trust BP's estimates of how much oil is coming out."

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[NibiruMagick2012]

fav and sub*****

[JoolzBeth]

@NibiruMagick2012 - thank you my friend. J X

[Vidar1979]

@marekmazurkiewicz It is actually very distorted IMO...I'm not sure why there are not more reports of this nature everywhere?!

[max9r]

UFFF.. shotGUN marriage

[justaman6972]

open season on all corporate officers and bankers ,no bag limit!

[marekmazurkiewicz]

this video has 1,900 hits .. any lebron james video, millions ?.. priorities are really lined up .....

[9TruthSeeker11]

The clean up crew was hired by BP But the are employed by Halaberton. ( < may be spelt wronge ) check it out. If that came out people would freak.

[MirageScience]

Afraid to condem a company? WTF? YELL SO ALL CAN HEAR YOU. FUCK OUR CORPORATE MASTERS.

[DianeDi]

Great post - and shared ! I don't think this will end anytime soon. They may have struck an undersea volcano. Time will tell.

watch?v=EG_pupjoavU&playnext_f­rom=TL&videos=IPBdhohQXeQ

[aerostockians]

interesting - good post