Journalists who come too close to oil spill clean-up efforts without permission could find themselves facing a $40,000 fine and even one to five years in prison under a new rule instituted by the Coast Guard late last week.
It’s a move that outraged observers have decried as an attack on First Amendment rights. And CNN’s Anderson Cooper describes the new rules as making it “very easy to hide incompetence or failure.”
The Coast Guard order states that “vessels must not come within 20 meters [65 feet] of booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations under penalty of law.”
Anderson Cooper breaks down the things reporters can’t cover:
I’m no drill-baby-driller, but I can’t get too worried about this particular rule. The CG regulation bans *boats*, not *reporters*, from getting within 65 feet of cleanup operations. Any sailor will know that 65 feet really isn’t very far away when you’re out on the water. I’m not a pro, but if I was trying to manage a boat that had a bunch of cleanup equipment – maybe over the side, trailing behind, whatever, I’d be very nervous if there were lots of other boats buzzing around.
Anderson Cooper can probably afford a nice telephoto lens.
Yes, oil spill outrage, but I’m catty when I hear Coop’s name, for I wish he’d edge the fuck out of the closet!
http://www.dlisted.com/node/37901
Look, if he came out he could be a much more effective advocate for truth and justice, no? Even for the crucial freedom of CNN to be able to use video closeups to bolster their weak-ass reporting.
65 feet does not seem like an unreasonable safety margin to me. The Coast Guard has enough to deal with without having to rescue some jackass who decided to park his Zodiac in front of a ship that couldn’t slow down in time.
Sixty five feet isn’t an entirely unreasonable distance to keep back from a couple guys playing frisbee.
64 1/2 feet i could understand, but 65 feet? it’s an outrage, i tells ya!
This is bullshit. And Anderson Cooper is a sexy mutha.
You just can’t help but wonder, given BP’s malfeasance and cover-ups, if the Coast Guard isn’t being used to further cover-up more bad behavior?
You’re overreacting. 65 feet? That’s not far. They got new fangled cameras zoomers that can see that far real easy.
The argument on photography isn’t the concern here; any decent modern photog can manage with 65 feet. It’s the lack of direct access to engage workers and staff that’s the problem. This makes people off-limits.
If anything, I’m upset at Anderson and these other two for trying so hard to obfuscate the actual rule. You can get as close as you want to a boom lying on the beach. The rule specifically calls out only ‘vessels.’ And if this guy was just on the phone with the vice president, how hard can it be for him t get a hold of the Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New Orleans to get permission for some of his guys to do their work?
65 feet is really close, especially when dealing with the huge ships they’re using. That’s just good maritime safety. They can buy a damned zoom lens. Just think of the outrage you’d see if an oil tanker ran over and sank CNN’s ship and sent Anderson Cooper to the bottom of the Gulf.
65 feet is really close, especially when dealing with the huge ships they’re using. That’s just good maritime safety. They can buy a damned zoom lens. Just think of the outrage you’d see if an oil tanker ran over and sank CNN’s ship and sent Anderson Cooper to the bottom of the Gulf.
That was a short crisis.
I had a Jesus fuck once. It was sort of unnerving. I don’t care for people who mix religion and intercourse – particularly when they start in with the hymns.
Catalina, I believe that to Cooper and his not-my-boyfriend-don’t-hold-my-hand-in-public, a Jesus fuck is what they prepare for every Tuesday by sending the town car to fetch their favorite hustler from Spanish Harlem.
@2 Not really. Anderson Cooper is already creating exposure for gay rights, albeit while acting like an impartial observer. One huge drawback to coming out would be the inability to travel to, and cover world events in countries hostile to gays. Obviously he feels staying in the closet is right for him- and as long as he isn’t trying to hinder gay rights, I don’t really care.
@16, I think we fundamentally disagree about the impact on global affairs of having Anderson Cooper do a live remote.
I don’t even know how this is constitutional. The First Amendment grants nearly blanket freedom of the press. There has been very few press restrictions that have been ruled to be constitutionally allowed, and those are pretty narrow and specific. A blanket policy like this seems too broad to pass constitutional muster. I would guess that if any media sued over this, the Coast Guard would have to back down.
65 feet is really close, actually. It’s less than 1/4 of a football field – that’s nothing. And if they want to talk to the workers, talk to the ones on shore.
Though personally, I would rejoice if they would declare a ban on the phrase, “tar ball.” One of the anchors here in Baton Rouge used that term about 18 times in a 30 second report. “Boaters have found dime-sized tar balls, and penny-sized tar balls, and nickle-sized tar balls, and quarter-sized tar balls, and tar balls on the beaches…” etc.
@18: This isn’t a press restriction, it’s an everyone restriction. Nobody’s allowed to get too close to the equipment, for fear they’ll screw up and damage it. 65 feet is not very far. Only a touch longer than an articulated Metro bus.
Although the general provisions of this may seem “reasonable”, the larger issue is that BP has engaged in an ongoing, systematic campaign to restrict press access to individuals and public locations.
One has only to look at the long list of articles reporting on BP’s actions (and their apparent collusion with the U.S.C.G. and local L.E.A.’s), to understand why some members of the press might exhibit a certain amount of not unwarranted skepticism regarding these latest restrictions, even if they do, on the surface at least, appear to be reasonable.
You won’t see CNN spending any money to sue the government about this violation of press rights.
We’ll just have to settle with Cooper’s mewling.