Reports from the spill of tar sands oil from an ExxonMobil pipeline at Mayflower, Arkansas, indicate that reporters are being kept from doing their jobs. They are kept far away from the oil, threatened with arrest, and told things that aren't true. It looks like Exxon — not federal clean-up agencies — is running the press operation. The result may be skewed or scant coverage — possibly a boon for an Obama administration facing a tough choice on the Keystone XL pipeline.
- "InsideClimate News Reporter Threatened With Arrest at Ark. Oil Spill Site," InsideClimate News, April 5, 2013, by Susan White (check out the last paragraph).
- More on media access at SEJ's The Daily Glob.
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