Chevron's "Crude" Attempt to Suppress Free Speech

[Derechos]

snip

But our story is about another petrochemical giant -- Chevron -- and a major threat to independent journalism. In New York last Thursday, Federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered documentary producer and director Joe Berlinger to turn over to Chevron more than 600 hours of raw footage used to create a film titled Crude: The Real Price of Oil.

Released last year, it's the story of how 30,000 Ecuadorians rose up to challenge the pollution of their bodies, livestock, rivers and wells from Texaco's drilling for oil there, a rainforest disaster that has been described as the Amazon's Chernobyl. When Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001 and attempted to dismiss claims that it was now responsible, the indigenous people and their lawyers fought back in court.

Some of the issues and nuances of Berlinger's case are admittedly complex, but they all boil down to this: Chevron is trying to avoid responsibility and hopes to find in the unused footage -- material the filmmaker did not utilize in the final version of his documentary -- evidence helpful to the company in fending off potential damages of $27.3 billion.

This is a serious matter for reporters, filmmakers and frankly, everyone else. Tough, investigative reporting without fear or favor -- already under siege by severe cutbacks and the shutdown of newspapers and other media outlets -- is vital to the public awareness and understanding essential to a democracy. As Michael Moore put it, "The chilling effect of this is, someone like me, if something like this is upheld, the next whistleblower at the next corporation is going to think twice about showing me some documents if that information has to be turned over to the corporation that they're working for."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-moyers/chevrons-crude-attempt-to_b_576595.html?utm_source=Media

[Judi Lynn]

1. Sickening. Chevron needs to be thwarted, somehow. So many people know about them now.

Thank you for posting this news. Will be looking to find out more about this latest evil action against people who are Chevron's (and supporters of crudely used wrongfully acquired power) moral superiors.

Recommending, #2.

[Wilms]

2. k&r n/t

[protocol rv]

3. Rain Forest Chernobyl?

That sure is a lot of hype. I know people who visit the area, and they say there's no such "giant pollution" or anything like that. It's what you call "ambulance chasers" creating a fake case.

Also, how come you don't mention the state oil company, Petroecuador, has been operating those fields for about 20 years? How can there be a good claim when the evidence being presented is for areas controlled by Petroecuador, and not Chevron? You guy snever seem to address this topic, why isn't Petroecuador named in this suit? :-)