"In the fossil fuel-rich Permian Basin, a major producer runs a regional website that combines industry perspective with feel-good local stories."

"Across West Texas’ Permian Basin, the oil industry’s presence seeps into many facets of life. Businesses from hotels to veterinary clinics display oil pump jacks on their signs. An oil derrick is part of the logo for the city of Midland.

And there’s another way the industry influences local communities: Since 2022, one of the largest oil producers in the Permian Basin has run its own local news website. The Chevron-operated site, Permian Proud, provides local news coverage for a region with a dwindling number of local news outlets, while inserting articles with a positive spin about the company.

The news site doesn’t have staff reporters or editors like traditional news media, and instead is written by a San Francisco public relations firm and a Chevron public and government affairs adviser.

The Permian Basin covers a 250-mile by 300-mile swath of eastern New Mexico and West Texas. It is one of the most oil-rich areas in the world, producing more than 10 million barrels per day of oil and natural gas, the latter composed primarily of methane.

The founding of Permian Proud comes at a time when the oil and gas industry is under increasing fire for its dominant role in creating the climate crisis, and states and the federal government seek to replace fossil fuels with low- or no-emission sources of energy."

Felicia Alvarez reports for Floodlight August 19, 2024 (copublished by the Louisiana Illuminator). [2]