This is a free country. If a reporter and camera man wish to come ten inches from the subject they’re shooting regardless of the danger, so be it.
This is pure and simple gagging tof he media.
I love all the landlubbers here who are so ignorant of what constitutes safe navigation on the sea.
Quite simply, man, if you operate a boat in a way that makes collision appear imminent when you have a duty to stand clear, then the other boat is quite within its rights to cut its gear and take action to avoid. It can then turn around and sue for the damage and lost equipment in a court of law. Additionally, the perp of this navigational error has probably committed additional felonies having to do with intentionally harming the environment, etc.
You clearly have no idea how many mindless numbskulls there are out with boats, big boats, fast boats, with powerful engines, that can cause messes in seconds that will take years to recover from.
No professional mariner would condone the sort of interference with marine operations that you are condemning the Coast Guard for prohibiting.
So.... if Anderson Cooper wants to get in a fast, high-powered boat and pull alongside a Navy Destroyer, you see no problem with that?
The PICTURES are ALREADY AVAILABLE. The INFO is ALREADY AVAILABLE. Just because Anderson Cooper and the MSM have not been PUBLISHING IT is not a sign of any loss of freedom.
The media isn't allowed to just AMBLE UP to OBAMA anytime or anywhere they want.
Is that 'gagging of the media'?
The MSM is completely FREE to publish, broadcast anything about the spill, including the tons of pictures currently available, that they want.
HOWEVER, they don't. It is not because OBAMA won't let them.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS is filming a REPORTER in a CANOE telling us how DEEP and DANGEROUS the flooding is, while a citizen walks by revealing the water is only about one foot deep.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS is reporters telling us how BAD OFF the 'minorities' in New Orleans were, while IGNORING the other TEN THOUSAND people along the coastline who were hit much worse.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS is ignoring that OBAMA keeps most of his history and true background hidden.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS is CRYING WOLF by complaining somebody is hiding INFORMATION from you, when the truth is that info is right at your fingertips.