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April 20 marked the 6-year anniversary of the biggest oil spill in US history, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which new research says was even bigger than previously understood, at least in terms of the amount of coastline that was oiled. That's noted in a piece on NationalGeographic.com (4/20/16), one of a very few outlets to note the occasion with reporting beyond a "This Day In History" squib.
April 20 marked the 6-year anniversary of the biggest oil spill in US history, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which new research says was even bigger than previously understood, at least in terms of the amount of coastline that was oiled. That's noted in a piece on NationalGeographic.com (4/20/16), one of a very few outlets to note the occasion with reporting beyond a "This Day In History" squib.
Some media, like the New York Times (4/14/16), allowed the White House to use the anniversary as a peg to release regulations they released in draft last year--aimed, we're told, at preventing equipment failures like those that contributed to Deepwater Horizon. New rules will tighten controls on blowout-preventers, there will be more real-time monitoring of drill and spill containment. Government is proud, some environmentalists are skeptical, the industry says it's too much.
It's standard stuff, as if the paper forgets its own reporting (9/4/14) on the ruling on Deepwater in which US District Court Judge Carl Barbieri cited not a lack of rules but a failure to respect them, calling out the entire industry as "motivated by profit" to operate with "conscious disregard of known risks."
In a case where business as usual is the problem, journalism as usual can't be the response.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
April 20 marked the 6-year anniversary of the biggest oil spill in US history, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which new research says was even bigger than previously understood, at least in terms of the amount of coastline that was oiled. That's noted in a piece on NationalGeographic.com (4/20/16), one of a very few outlets to note the occasion with reporting beyond a "This Day In History" squib.
Some media, like the New York Times (4/14/16), allowed the White House to use the anniversary as a peg to release regulations they released in draft last year--aimed, we're told, at preventing equipment failures like those that contributed to Deepwater Horizon. New rules will tighten controls on blowout-preventers, there will be more real-time monitoring of drill and spill containment. Government is proud, some environmentalists are skeptical, the industry says it's too much.
It's standard stuff, as if the paper forgets its own reporting (9/4/14) on the ruling on Deepwater in which US District Court Judge Carl Barbieri cited not a lack of rules but a failure to respect them, calling out the entire industry as "motivated by profit" to operate with "conscious disregard of known risks."
In a case where business as usual is the problem, journalism as usual can't be the response.
April 20 marked the 6-year anniversary of the biggest oil spill in US history, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, which new research says was even bigger than previously understood, at least in terms of the amount of coastline that was oiled. That's noted in a piece on NationalGeographic.com (4/20/16), one of a very few outlets to note the occasion with reporting beyond a "This Day In History" squib.
Some media, like the New York Times (4/14/16), allowed the White House to use the anniversary as a peg to release regulations they released in draft last year--aimed, we're told, at preventing equipment failures like those that contributed to Deepwater Horizon. New rules will tighten controls on blowout-preventers, there will be more real-time monitoring of drill and spill containment. Government is proud, some environmentalists are skeptical, the industry says it's too much.
It's standard stuff, as if the paper forgets its own reporting (9/4/14) on the ruling on Deepwater in which US District Court Judge Carl Barbieri cited not a lack of rules but a failure to respect them, calling out the entire industry as "motivated by profit" to operate with "conscious disregard of known risks."
In a case where business as usual is the problem, journalism as usual can't be the response.