Following the BP Oil Spill
April 20, 2010 is a very important date for our country. Now most people may not immediately remember what happened on that day, but mention BP Oil and a light goes on. On April 20, 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig for BP Oil had an explosion which would soon cause the worst oil spill that has ever occurred in U.S. waters. Countless lives, both human and otherwise, were affected by the oil spill causing huge media attention from the press and the public.
The first news of the oil spill was reported the morning after the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Most coverage of the oil rig explosion focused on the workers both those that had been rescued and those that could not be found. The notion that the oil rig could sink and that some of the oil was going to leak into the ocean was mentioned in some articles, but very few elaborated on this. The New York Times for instance had a report on the oil rig the next day, April 21, 2010, discussing the missing workers and the actions that were being taken to control the fire caused by the explosion. The author mentions the threat of water pollution, “The rig was taking on water…but company officials said they did not expect it to collapse” (Cambell). Many other news reports were broaching the possibility of an oil spill, but most kept an optimistic outlook on it. The cause of the explosion is explored in the article in the New York Times as well, mentioning how the phase in the drilling that they were in can be temperamental. However, the article cites an oil analyst who says that it is highly unusual for this to happen. Since the explosion had just happened and it seemed as if it was being taken care of there was very little media attention.
For the next two days news sources covered the efforts of firefighters to stop the fire from the explosion and the search of the missing workers. Then on April 22, 2010, it was confirmed that the oil rig had sunk into the ocean with oil now being leaked into the ocean through the open wellhead. Now the media attention turned to the very real potential of one of the biggest oil spills in history. Blogs, newspapers, radio broadcasts, and more all over the country were all covering how the oil spill was going to affect countless ecosystems, companies and communities. One of the biggest concerns was how the oil was going to affect the wildlife of the Gulf area. Many environmental organizations and bloggers were posing the catastrophe that would be caused by the water pollution. News reports focused on the different ways that the Coast Guard was trying to contain and clean up the oil. Reports were given by the Coast Guard and BP Oil of the estimated amount of oil that was leaking into the ocean. Soon more reports were given to the public by outside scientists that were not affiliated with BP estimating much higher amounts of water pollution (Brenner).
On July 15, 2010 the wellhead of the oil rig was capped, stopping any more oil from leaking into the ocean. Still the damage had been done with more than 62,000 barrels of oil being released from the oil rig a day since it sunk in April. Now the focus was turned to how much oil had been released and how much was still in the ocean. Reports were widely scattered with the government issuing a statement that almost 80 percent of the oil had dissipated, with private companies claiming that the dissipation of the oil did not necessarily mean that it was no longer affecting the ocean. Scientists also went against the government’s claim that the oil was mostly gone, arguing that it could not take into account any oil under the surface.
With the oil spreading out across the Gulf of Mexico and approaching the shore, the blogging community exploded with information for the public. Soon blogs that were devoted to documenting the reach of the spill formed, showing live Webcam footage of the spill and posting updates on what both the government and the different oil companies involved were doing. Every person had a different view on the oil spill: what caused it, what should be done to clean up the oil, how it would affect the wildlife, and how this kind of disaster could be prevented in the future. During this time there were many conflicting reports between the government, BP Oil, and private scientists and universities. There was also conflict over the information given to the public by BP Oil. Wildlife and environmental organizations called for more government support to get information that BP was hiding. Journalists were also prevented by BP Oil and the government from getting access to public areas to cover the spill. This caused a lot of mistrust from the public, who focused on information provided by the press and by the blogosphere. While this did help the public get first-hand accounts from people who were being affected by the oil spill it also caused problems with misinformation, especially from conspiracy theorists.
During this time the public blew up with talk of conspiracy theories. Stories ranged from simple mechanical failures in the engineering of the oil rig to political cover-ups organized by the White House. These theories were not just voiced by your average conspiracy theorist sitting in the basement writing about the existence of Area 51 and how Elvis is currently alive and living in Kansas. Rush Limbaugh discussed on his radio broadcast that “environmental whackos” caused the explosion on the rig to make a statement about drilling for oil. A news website in Raleigh had an article discussing how the explosion was caused by North Korean submarines firing torpedoes at the oil rig. Many more people claimed that this was an act of terrorism. WorldNetDaily, an independent news company which is known for being socially conservative, described the explosion as an act of God caused by poor relations between President Obama and Israel. The conspiracy theories not only discussed what caused the oil spill, but also theorized many different and rather unlikely events that would soon happen because of the oil spill. These ranged from methane gas explosions underwater to the disturbance of a UFO buried under the ocean (Phillips). With all of this information out on the Internet, who was the public supposed to trust? The public began to push for more government action and more transparency with what was going on in the Gulf.
As attempts were made to clean the oil out of the ocean, media attention turned to the cause of the initial explosion. The public was outraged by how their lives were being affected by the oil spill and they wanted straight answers calling on the government to make sure that justice was brought to whoever was responsible. The government promised an investigation into the explosion at the oil rig, forming committees and requesting investigations from private engineering organizations. While there were many reports as to where the blame lied over the following months, the government’s final report indicated that BP Oil was responsible for the explosion due to cost and time cutting measures that were taken that went against the safety precautions for the oil rig.
Once the final reports were issued to the public giving BP Oil and its affiliated companies responsibility for the spill, the news turned its attention to making sure that those who were affected by the spill were compensated. Besides funding all of the measures that had to be taken to clean up the oil, oil companies donated funds to organizations such as the National Fish and Wildlife Association. Despite going to great lengths to make sure that justice was brought, public opinion of both BP Oil and the U.S. government was very low.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the worst oil spill in U.S. open-water to date. Because of this it acquired an enormous amount of media attention. Every writer had their own take on what was going on and who was at fault. This brought a lot of conflicting ideas to the American public. While most writers focused on how BP Oil was to blame, some wrote it from a different point of view. Matthew Lynn, a columnist for the financial corporation Bloomberg, wrote about how the public should be blamed for the oil spill. He discusses how the high consumption of gas forces the oil companies to cut corners with cost and drill in more dangerous places. Other writers drew parallels between the attention on this oil spill and the lack of attention on much more severe oil spills.
The oil spill had such a great impact on our country that it is still being talked about today, almost two years after the event. Many people are still looking for the government to help prevent such a disaster form ever happening again. Others are still trying to recover from the damage that was done. One thing that can be said about this catastrophic event was that it showed the power of the press and of the media. National attention focuses on whatever the news brings to light. When the news reports focused on the missing workers that is what the public focused on. When the news reports focused on the cause of the explosion that was what the public focused on. The ability of the press to change the subject or bring a subject into a new light is something that can change how disasters are handled now and in the future.
Works Cited
Brenner, Noah et al. “Coast Guard confirms Horizon sinks.” Upstreamonline.com. 22 April 2010. http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article212769.ece
Phillips, David. “Conspiracy Theories Behind BP Oil Spill in Gulf – From Dick Cheney to UFOs.” CBS News 01 July 2010. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-43240454/conspiracy-theories-behind-bp-oil-spill-in-gulf----from-dick-cheney-to-ufos/
Robertson, Cambell. “Search Continues After Oil Rig Blast.” New York Times. 21 April 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/us/22rig.html?ref=gulfofmexico2010
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