American media at its worst: Matt Lauer interviews BP CEO Tony Hayward

[AndyA]

Matt Lauer is a right wing hack. He's also a LOUSY journalist/reporter/whatever he thinks he is.

On this morning's Today Show, Lauer interviewed BP CEO Tony Hayward, and during the interview asked him about the 24 super tankers that hadn't been used to suck up the oil/water in the Gulf to prevent the oil from spreading. This idea was originally suggested by a former top Shell Oil Company executive in the early days of the Gulf disaster.

The idea was that the super tankers could suck up a big portion of the contaminated oil/water before it spread.

Tony Hayward responded, but did not answer the question. In fact, he lied and said all options to contain the spill had been considered. Why this particular one hadn't been implemented wasn't addressed.

Instead of going back and asking the question again, or telling the man he hadn't answered the question, Matt Lauer just continued on.

Why do either of these men have their jobs? Neither are doing them.

It has been suggested that the reason the super tankers haven't been used is because they are sitting around, full of oil, waiting for the prices to go up before they unload. That makes them unavailable. Just one way the price of oil is being manipulated in this country, and around the world.

Someday, perhaps the governments will see the petroleum industry for the scam it is. Until then, we will have more high prices, dead wildlife, and destroyed environments, all so those at the top in the oil industry can remain hyper wealthy.

[ixion]

1. Oh, they're doing their jobs alright...

that is, in fact, why they have them. They are willing to obfuscate the Truth and support the Big Lie.

[mfcorey1]

2. I have felt the same way about Merideth Viera. JUst closely monitor her and you will see a pattern

of demonizing those on the left during most of her interviews. I thought it was just me that saw one sided journalist on the Today Show.

[mzteris]

3. "it has been suggested"

by whom? based on what facts? Is this idle speculation?

I'm not apologizing for BP - and yes he should have answered thedamn question and yes it goes without saying that Lauer is not a real journalist.

But using "it has been suggested" is not "real journalism" either.

Evidently over 70,000 ideas have been directed to BP . It does take time to sort and vette and then take the plausible ideas and investigate and then if it is even viable research any legal ramifications as well as implementation feasibility.

Everyone "distrusts" BIG OIL, but the former president of SHELL OIL says it so it MUST BE TRUE! Is it true what he's claiming" If it's true, then why hasn't he just DONE something about it?

There is not only a lot of shoddy journalism going on, but critical thinking on the part of those journalists' consumers appears to be nearly non-existent!

Lots of people have these "great ideas", but upon further review - they either don't work, aren't feasible, or cause more harm than good!

If this shell oil guy has the working prototype -where is it? If he has the technology and the ability then let's see it in action and not these vague "secret stories". Admittedly I've not read anything more about what he's "said" since he first floated this "idea". Maybe there is more real info out there, but if it were I think we'd've heard about it by now.

[AndyA]

5. First of all, I'm not a real journalist. Never said I was, so your comparison is silly.

I believe the discussion regarding the supertankers was on Keith Olbermann's show. O'Donnell perhaps was the one who brought up the possibility they weren't being used because they were full of oil. A quick search will show you that oil has indeed been sitting in the water on these supertankers in recent months, apparently in an attempt to drive up the price of oil.

As far as the Shell guy doing something, what exactly do you expect a past Shell Oil executive to do? BP will barely allow anyone near the area.

As far as a working prototype, the process was proven effective during a Saudi spill in 1991, where it sucked up an estimated 85% of the oil.

You're directing your anger at the wrong party. :eyes:

[mzteris]

8. I wasn't comparing "you" to a journalist

I'm sorry if I made it seem that way.

"oil has indeed been sitting" - could you provide this? I mean I can look it up, but for others reading your posts, it would be nice to be able to "see the source" right away, ya know?

The "secret Saudi spill"?

All I'm saying is, if you don't trust Oil execs, why are you taking the shell guys word for anything at face value?

I'm gonna need P-R-O-O-F - verifiable data - before I buy any of what he's selling.

I'm not mad at YOU. I'm mad at the whole damn thing. I mostly mad that it HAPPENED. But yeah, shoddy fact-checking is one of my hot-buttons.

[AndyA]

14. Here's an accounting of an interview

with John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil, and Nick Pozzi, a former pipeline engineering and operations project manager for Saudi Aramco. Between the two of them, they have over 60 years of experience, Pozzi alone has 40.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1646820/could-the-gulf-oil-spill-could-cleaned-up-by-supertankers

The CEO of BP was asked this morning on The Today Show why this idea hadn't been addressed, and the CEO beat around the bush and didn't answer the question.

Here's info about the idled oil tankers:

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6086

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/11/oil-companies-storing-oil-on-tankers.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008630438_tankers15.html

Some of those stories are older, but this has been going on for a long time.

Here's a report of some attempts to suck up the oil/water mixture by smaller vessels:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100508/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_cleanup

Where are all the big super tankers that could really help clean this up? They are all sitting full of oil, and aren't available, that's where they are. That's why the CEO of BP didn't answer the question, too.

[spanone]

4. don't ever expect journalism from the today show...it's a fluffy lite infotainment cartoon

[charlesg]

6. The PR campaign is in full force

[nevergiveup]

7. Rachel is the only journalist today that will follow-up

when the original question is not answered. No one else does it. Sometimes I start screaming at Ed Schultz because he just moves on to the next question as if he didn't even listen to the response. Don't know about Keith as he only does soft interviews. Christ Matthews is pathetic as he always lets conservative interviewers off the hook. Maybe it is because these guys have limited time and a script to follow but it certainly is frustrating.

[mzteris]

9. Rachel - I would trust

to get to the bottom of it.

[bdamomma]

10. Rachel knows her stuff, I love listening to her.

she definitely has substance.

[Juneboarder]

11. Blah, blah, blah... pat on the back.

That's all they know and why they are considered MSM.

[MyNameGoesHere]

12. Wait, Hayward isn't in jail?

well I guess there is nothing we can do after all.

[Hubert Flottz]

13. Matt Liar belongs on FOX!