Activists Suspicious of Chevrons Relationship With Journalist

The San Francisco-based environmental group Amazon Watch has accused Chevron of an inappropriate relationship with writer Pat Murphy. The group wants Chevron to divulge their financial relationship in light of disclosures that Murphy's website accepts fees for editorial control of news articles written under Murphy's byline. "Chevron's public relations office and Pat Murphy appear to be engaged in an online deception," said Amazon Watchs Mitch Anderson. "Murphy writes pro-Chevron articles under the masthead of a commercial blog cleverly designed to look like a newspaper." Next week, Chevron begins a trial in San Francisco federal court on charges it helped the Nigerian military shoot and kill unarmed villagers who had taken over an oil platform in an act of civil disobedience. Murphy was slated to cover the trial as a self-styled "independent" journalist with a press pass from the San Francisco Police Department. Murphy's website, the San Francisco Sentinel, has the look and feel of an online newspaper and does not mention that it accepts fees for control of editorial content. For several months Murphy has been posting articles to discredit indigenous groups suing Chevron for environmental contamination in Ecuador. Murphy has also written pro-Chevron blogs regarding the Nigerian lawsuit that Amazon Watch says are riddled with inaccuracies and obfuscations, and that largely repeat the talking points prepared by the company's public relations department.

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