Gene Randall, Ex-Reporter, Hired By Chevron To Counter "60 Minutes" Report On Pollution

New York Times:

What did Chevron do when it learned that "60 Minutes" was preparing a potentially damaging report about oil company contamination of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador? It hired a former journalist to produce a mirror image of the report, from the corporation's point of view.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Ratfink1]

This is nothing unusual. Faux News does this every day. Take any current event and spin it in the opposite direction.

[destruct1]

and the so-called other news stations don't do that....wow..you are in a true fantasy land.

[rf-hawaii]

None of the others goes to the depths that Fox does. Not even close.

[Beard]

Facts all come with a point of view,they can say anything you want them too.

[woundedduck]

Note to reporter: There is no effective coping mechanism for Faustian bargains.

[profitforless]

Once all the Oil is plundered what will companies like Chevron do? There is only a set amount .

[essbird]

There was plundering before oil, and there will be plundering afterwards.

[madashellvoter]

Are you kidding? They're in the midst of buying Green energy co's just to cover there bases.

[rf-hawaii]

They're also buying into the green business to mess it up and slow it down.

[kmich718]

What just irks me more than anything, the Rethugs and therefore, Corporations claim to be the MORAL party.

This is a moral issue. We don't have the right to polute our planet, but have an obligation to make it as pristine as possible.

So what do both do? Fight tooth and nail because it will affect their bottom line.

[DSOTM]

Whether Chevron is legally obligated to clean up the toxic waste they left behind is irrelevant, protecting our environment is not a legal obligation but a moral obligation.

Chevron, your a big corporation, go back to Ecuador and do the right thing, clean up the mess you helped make.

[digital]

Oil is a wasteful, polluting, wreckless way of producing energy.

Everyone should be focusing on clean, renewable energy sources.

Oil spills and pollution like this should not ever happen, we are smarter and better than to pollute and burn indiscriminately.

It's the 21st Century and it is time for a sea-change in energy production.

[WasteNJ]

Well at least now we'll have a nice current example of the best "journalism" money can buy.

Do a little research on the history of Chevron in Ecuador and you'll see the litany of corruption, intimidation and outright killing that has taken place to silence anybody opposed to Chevron's plundering of their resources. We have launched wars for less against foreign actors.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

Boston College has to be real proud at this point after just having Chevron CEO David Reilly deliver the keynote address to their graduates.

[progressivegreg]

Didn't Chevron at one time have an oil tanker named for Condi Rice?

[WasteNJ]

Sure did.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

you mean for their board member of the same name? uh huh.

[solarian]

did but renamed it

[voltage356]

And you wonder why countries dislike America when they go into other countries and pollute and try to worm their way out of paying for the damages they caused to the people of that country. One word can sum this up is arrogance.

[rf-hawaii]

Yes, America has been corporate-run for a long time. Now Obama has much to apologize for while representing our interests to the world.

Schools in the middle east teach kids to hate America because it's the only defense they have.

[Pippen]

I work in this environment, in the entrenched Corporate America machine that most people know nothing about. Think of it this way, a highly organized crime ring supported by the U.S. and British government. Now think of how powerful this organization would be if they owned several foreign countries. . . . . . did I lose anyone ? Lets keep going shall we. . . .

Now imagine that the product this crime organization sells is a drug that EVERYONE has to have. Without it, whole nations would be at war til extinction.

Still with me ? . . . .

Now imagine the amount of money that is used to influence American politics and to prop up and create a candidate out of thin air. The money spent on American government is mere pocket change, gumball pennies compared to what is at stake.

You don't know the BOSS is going to give you the kill order, til 10 lackies hand the word down from his office and you never actually hear him say it, you just get the intent of the suggestion that if you don't sign off on hiring a 3rd world subcontract that you know will destroy the planet your out of a job before the end of the month. And no other oil company will touch you. Your black listed from the industry.

The vast majority of executives capable of making these decisions are in fact hard core right wing. If they weren't they would

[protagonia]

This creep will have the same success representing oil companies that Michael Steele had at the Press Dinner.

[18wheeler]

I work in the oil field (Permian Basin) and am shocked by the extent of destruction and pollution being allowed to go on here in the States... I can only imagine how careless and recklessly these oil companies perform in third world countries, where they can bribe any and every government official... By the way, I AM from a third world country, speaking from experience...

[DrVeruju]

Exxon Valdez and Bhopal come to mind.

[WasteNJ]

Unlike what Chevron has done across South America, the Valdez and Bhopal were actual accidents.

[Palemoon]

Don't we have laws against propaganda? If not, can we get some passed? Because that's what this amounts to. What's more, we should pass laws about putting the TRUTH back into journalism. We could give them a free pass on getting a story wrong, so long as they run a correction on it and admit it was an error. Any deliberate lying in the news media should carry an automatic, non-appeal-able $500 million fine. And that should also cover infomercials, commercials in general as well as lobbying efforts like this stunt being played by Chevron.

[WasteNJ]

Can't legislate truth, no matter what your truth happens to be.

[rf-hawaii]

Very hard to prosecute. Especially when the speaker is just a little careful with his words.

[Spiritof1982]

It's funny to see this comment right now. I'm in the middle of a paper for my Corporations Law class about greenwashing and climate change. It's weird to think about, but our legal system basically allows ridiculous and blatantly false statements like this to be made under various legal doctrines. It's really just an indicator of the insanely long leash that corporations get via our collective race to the bottom (i.e. - the states' attempts to attract corporate residents through increasingly lax corporate laws).

One problem with your suggestions though: the infallible $500mil fine. That will never happen. Ever. It simply flies in the face of an accountable judicial system. There has to be some avenue for review of the decision.

[JeremyO]

This is how the human race destroys the planet and then itself. By one scummy creep at a time, selling us out for an extra nickle. Greed's our downfall isn't it?