Proclamation - by a Czar/Tsar/Kaiser/Caesar.... ?
Whatever - just one more reason to...
TOSS THE SALAD in 2012!
Posted on 07/03/2010 9:03:54 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
White House Enacts Rules Inhibiting Media From Covering Oil Spill By Noel Sheppard Created 07/03/2010 - 11:28
The White House Thursday enacted stronger rules to prevent the media from showing what's happening with the oil spill in the Gulf Coast.
CNN's Anderson Cooper reported that evening, "The Coast Guard today announced new rules keeping photographers and reporters and anyone else from coming within 65 feet of any response vessel or booms out on the water or on beaches -- 65 feet."
He elaborated, "Now, in order to get closer, you have to get direct permission from the Coast Guard captain of the Port of New Orleans. You have to call up the guy. What this means is that oil-soaked birds on islands surrounded by boom, you can't get close enough to take that picture."
As the segment continued, Cooper expressed disgust with this rule repeating several times, "We are not the enemy here" (video follows with transcript and commentary, h/t Cubachi [1] via Hot Air [2]):
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: But we begin, as we do every night, "Keeping Them Honest".
This time, however, we're not talking about BP. We're talking about the government, a new a rule announced today backed by the force of law and the threat of fines and felony charges, a rule that will prevent reporters and photographers and anyone else from getting anywhere close to booms and oil-soaked wildlife and just about any place we need to be.
By now, you're probably familiar with cleanup crews stiff-arming the media, private security blocking cameras, ordinary workers clamming up, some not even saying who they're working for because they're afraid of losing their jobs.
BP has said again and again that's not their policy. Yet, again and again, it has happened. And we have seen it. But that's BP.
And now the government apparently is getting in on the act, despite what Admiral Thad Allen promised about transparency just nearly a month ago. Here is what he said back then.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: I have put out a written directive -- and I can provide it for the record -- that says the media will have uninhibited access anywhere we're doing operations, except for two things, if it's a security or a safety problem. That is my policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Uninhibited access, unless it's a security or safety problem.
Well, the Coast Guard today announced new rules keeping photographers and reporters and anyone else from coming within 65 feet of any response vessel or booms out on the water or on beaches -- 65 feet.
Now, in order to get closer, you have to get direct permission from the Coast Guard captain of the Port of New Orleans. You have to call up the guy. What this means is that oil-soaked birds on islands surrounded by boom, you can't get close enough to take that picture.
Shots of oil on beaches with booms, stay 65 feet away. Pictures of oil-soaked booms uselessly laying in the water because they haven't been collected like they should, you can't get close enough to see that. And, believe me, that is out there.
But you only know that if you get close to it, and now you can't without permission. Violators could face a fine of $40,000 and Class D felony charges.
What's even more extraordinary is that the Coast Guard tried to make the exclusion zone 300 feet, before scaling it back to 65 feet.
Here is how Admiral Allen defends it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well, it's not unusual at all for the Coast Guard to establish either safety or security zones around any number of facilities or activities for public safety or for the safety of the equipment itself. We would do this for marine events, fireworks demonstrations, cruise ships going in and out of port.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So, this is the exact same logic that federal wildlife officials used to prevent CNN on two occasions from getting pictures of oiled birds that have been collected, pictures like -- like the -- well, that we're about to show you which are obviously deeply disturbing, pictures of oiled gulls that we just happened to catch. Suddenly, we were told after -- after that day we couldn't catch it anymore. So, keeping prying eyes out of marshes, away from booms, off the beaches is now government policy.
When asked why now, after all this time, Thad Allen said he had gotten some complaints from local officials worried people might get hurt. Now, we don't know who these officials are. We would like to. But transparency is apparently not a high priority with Thad Allen either these days.
Maybe he is accurate and some officials are concerned. And that's their right. But we've heard far more from local officials about not being able to get a straight story from the government or BP. I have met countless local officials desperate for pictures to be taken and stories written about what is happening in their communities.
We're not the enemy here. Those of us down here trying to accurately show what's happening, we are not the enemy. I have not heard about any journalist who has disrupted relief efforts. No journalist wants to be seen as having slowed down the cleanup or made things worse. If a Coast Guard official asked me to move, I would move.
But to create a blanket rule that everyone has to stay 65 feet away boom and boats, that doesn't sound like transparency. Frankly, it's a lot like in Katrina when they tried to make it impossible to see recovery efforts of people who died in their homes.
If we can't show what is happening, warts and all, no one will see what's happening. And that makes it very easy to hide failure and hide incompetence and makes it very hard to highlight the hard work of cleanup crews and the Coast Guard. We are not the enemy here.
We found out today two public broadcasting journalists reporting on health issues say they have been blocked again and again from visiting a federal mobile medical unit in Venice, a trailer where cleanup workers are being treated. It's known locally as the BP compound. And these two reporters say everyone they have talked to, from BP to the Coast Guard, to Health and Human Services in Washington has been giving them the runaround.
We're not talking about a CIA station here. We're talking about a medical trailer that falls under the authority of, guess who, Thad Allen, the same Thad Allen who promised transparency all those weeks ago.
We are not the enemy here.
Actually, Anderson, to this administration, anyone trying to tell the truth to the American people is the enemy.
Maybe if folks like you would have accurately reported the background of Barack Obama when he was running for president he wouldn't have assumed you were going to continue to misrepresent and ignore facts for his benefit after if he got elected.
To anyone with even a lukewarm intelligence quotient, this was an eminently foreseeable consequence of the media treating candidate Obama like a rock star. If they had acted like journalists back then instead of groupies, maybe they'd be treated with more respect today.
Now that some press members actually want to act like reporters again and aggressively try to cover what's going on in the Gulf Coast, the White House must feel somewhat spurned by his previously complicit press thereby necessitating rules to keep them from getting close to the truth now that they mysteriously seem interested in reporting it.
Of course, those on the other side of the aisle are not at all surprised, for like so many of the promises this man made during the campaign, we didn't believe his most transparent administration in history pledge either.
Maybe in the future media won't allow their love for a candidate to make them so gullible and compliant, but I wouldn't count on it.
“You will know the truth and [redacted]”
Once again, people: 65 feet cannot hide anything even with my own little digital camera, not to mention pro cameras with huge telephoto lenses. If I was on deck, I couldn't get a better photo. What? You want to count the number of hairs in some old CG Chief's ear? This is NOT censorship. It's about safety and efficiency. Know something about seamanship before you freak out. And while you're at it, Google telephoto lense. Sheesh.
Sheesh. The ignorance on this thread is mind-boggling.
“What part of transparency is 65ft obscuring? “
Its not just the 65ft limit. Of course the coast guard needs some area to work. there are a myriad of things the govt is doing to limit the news access to what is occuring. The White House is taking over the official website. The White House does other things to limit the media in many issues such as the G20, visits to soccer games, visits to Russia.
Its almost like a trend.
Thanks for serving, Sir. And trying to explain basic seamanship. It’s tough for those who haven’t spent time on a large vessel. Hell, I suspect that many still think sailors still just lay around in hammocks while waiting for the next port.
Your asinine assumptions are whats mind boggling. Nobody is even asking to be on board coast guard boats, or on oil skimmers. Nor are they asking to be with 1000 feet of the boats.
They are asking for non-govt controlled access to the spill area.
Or do you think 100% govt control is a good thing?
Are you even watching the news? I see everyday photos and videos of marshes and animals and pools of goop and brown oil waves lapping against beaches and huge groups cleaning up and aerial shots of oil slicks and hundreds of boats in close proximity to each other and...
I give up.
Why are you wasting your time with this poster? You will never convince those who see conspiracies in everything at all times. Good try, though. I gave up.
Yeah, I'm all for 100% government control. Long live the king.
Yes you prefer to throw insults behind my back.
“Tough to stay on point, eh?”
You mean like pining away about the old days as a bosuns mate? Or making up a story about reporters trying to help with line handling?
When that has nothing to do with a free press and BO trying to control the message that gets out.
Don’t we have camera tech that can zoom in on a gnat from a mile away?
I heard it also...These are serious minded a political people. George has more credibility than Art BEll and the methane gas is going to be the headline in days or weeks to come. I rarely ever listen to Keith Oberman, but this week he had a scientist who is doing flyovers in the gulf and atlantic waters. He claims that the dipsersants being used are only camophloging the actual oil that gets hidden on the floors of these waters, only to emerge again into huge flumes of oil that will eventually force its way into water channels, like the great mississipp river and other tributaries. Methane gas is the problem...and the question remains as to HOW this happened??? I am keepiong all ears open and see this new media ruling as the new threat. I live in Louisiana and have many family members in NEw Orleans, Baton Rouge as well as Mississippi and Florida.
I did her them. Sounds like typical Coast-to-Coast conspiracy.
But, one night Ian Punnett was interviewing the head of the Wildlife Heritage Foundation. He was saying he was allowed to fly over the spill area and saw over 250 fires burning oil and the stench (at 3000 feet above sea level) of millions of gallons of toxic solvents being dumped to disperse the oil. His story seems more credible.
“The difference between sabotage and negligence is only a matter of intent.”
Yup, saboteurs often defer maintenance, and the neglectful often set bombs.
Here is a story on what you referenced....I don’t know how true it is, but certainly interesting:
http://www.infowars.com/methane-and-martial-law-in-the-gulf-of-mexico/
Weeeeeeewwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Space alien incoming. Here on earth, down on Free Republic, on this thread, we have been arguing about the fact that Anderson Cooper is complaining about not being able to get closer than 65 ft.
Of course with a good spy satellite quality lens on your space ship, you could have got photos of the oil spill down to about 6 ft resolution or better on your way in.
What is pathetic is that I learned most of this when I was age seven sailing Optimist prams. Boats is boats and rules is rules.
You are an infant.
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