71–77 of 77 posts
Finding a pilot willing to loose his $6k+ pilots license to the FAA, no matter how farked the FAA is would be tough. Easier to get a $300 RC plane setup, lightweight camera and a boat. The Slowstick by GWS makes an easy to fly, inexpensive camera platform. If I was anywhere near the gulf, I'd be doing this myself.
Sounds like a great opportunity for real reporters to dress up as fishermen to sneak out there and take some unique pictures. This kind of thing only stops the half-ass-reporters out there who will go home after running into the coast guard to complain and feel sorry about themselves. boo hoo BP is trying to control the press coverage Uh, yes, that's what a public company has to do: maximize shareholder value. Now do…
I'm not sure that obstructing the legitimate first amendment rights of the press (which courts have tended to interpret broadly) in pursuit of short-term advantage necessarily maximizes shareholder value. Fighting a lawsuit against multiple news organizations or a class of professional freelance photojournalists could get quite expensive.
Here's the most graphic images I've seen, but they're over a week old and pretty tame compared to Valdez. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/oil_reaches_louisia...
I hope you mean the images are pretty tame in comparison, and not the spill itself. Not only has the BP leak massively surpassed Valdez in volume (2-10x), it took place a mile underwater, which multiplies it's danger. Exxon Valdez was a surface spill, so most of the oil that was spilled stayed on the surface of the water and began to have dramatic effects on the coastal environment. This disaster is leaking millions…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The flight ban is also being enforced by the FAA. Probably difficult to find a pilot willing to put their career at risk. I'm not clear why my tax dollars via the FAA should be used to fund the PR response of a public company.
Career? You do know that if you have a pilot's license you can just go rent a Cessna for $100 an hour, right? (And a pilot's license is not that hard to get. It's like a driver's license; except that when I got a driver's license, I had to have 100 hours of driving logged before I could take the test. For a pilot's license, it's like 40 hours.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately, lone bloggers and community journalists don't have the resources to fight a legal battle if caught. Back in the golden age of print media, you at least had the possibility of support from the publication you worked for or its parent company.
Wait-a-sec, what about the kids over at Crisis Commons ( http://oreil.ly/dm1OW0 ) and Grassroots Mapping( http://bit.ly/99sLWo ) considered community journalists, and doing their best to work around the resources issue?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What you propose risks criminal and civil liability from multiple directions. Few, if any, photojournalists can afford to take such risks. Most news organizations won't. Yes, disasters and war are where much great photojournalism takes place. But it's ironically easier to do that abroad with the specter of the mighty US State Department at your shoulder than it is in your own backyard, where you're just a meddling sh…
This is pure FUD. What criminal and civil statutes would be violated by taking a picture of a public place? Something a low-level drone working for the government says does not a law make.
Basically, if you persuade the pilot of a plane or boat to flout FAA or Coast Guard regulations by bribery or deception, you could be charged with reckless endangerment or be accused of having committed various torts. I do not agree with this media blackout at all, but as a practical matter most journalists and pilots would rather not run afoul of some overstressed official with arrest powers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd guess BP is paying someone off.
SomeONE? Maybe you didn't notice but the coast guard is not one person. I find it hard to believe they could pay off enough, or high enough, level people for that to be possible.
One characteristic of hierarchy is that influencing one person ends up influencing many.
>I find it hard to believe they could pay off enough, or high enough, level people for that to be possible.
BP is a very connected company. I doubt very much that influencing high-ups is only possible in non-US countries.