The Irish Times plugging for Shell Oil in Mayo again

national | arts and media | other press Tuesday January 30, 2007 13:25 by Miram Cotton & David Manning - MediaBite editors at mediabite dot org

Anonymous editorial reproaches objectors

MediaBite have just circulated the second of our MediaShots, which addresses the issue of press coverage of the objection to existing plans for Corrib Gas in County Mayo. Titled ‘Gas Gaeilge and the Media’, the timing is appropriate given developments this week and also in the light of how press coverage of this issue seems set to sing from the Shell Oil hymn sheet without demur. Read our analysis here:

http://www.mediabite.org/

In an extraordinary editorial in the Irish Times yesterday, objectors to the Corrib Gas terminal/refinery that is planned for Bellanaboy in County Mayo have had to withstand yet more finger-wagging from the ever-more paternalistic stable of journalism that characterises the IT. The unattributed piece heralds an imminent announcement from the Environment Protection Agency that they are minded to approve the project, despite many specific problems and oversights that have gone un-addressed and unacknowledged in several vitally important respects. The piece concludes:

"It would be wise for the agency to take this course. It would be wise also for those for and against the project to participate fully and vigorously in these proceedings. Let all have their say; let each side seek to persuade with expert assistance and throw their arguments open to challenge. And if procedures have been followed correctly, let everyone accept the eventual decision, whatever it may be. In the meantime, it would be better if the confrontations on the roads around Bellanaboy ended and more energy was expended on assembling arguments based on facts and reasonable hypothesis." [Our emphasis]

Either we are looking at an inexcusable degree of ignorance about this project or we have the IT in it’s comfortable pro-business role - almost an extension of corporate PR departments. The continuing misrepresentation of the Shell to Sea campaign can only be regarded as wilful at this point. Nobody is trying to prevent the extraction of gas from Corrib. The industry are being asked to locate their operations at sea in the interests of the legitimate environment, health and safety concerns of the local community - and as they would be required to do in many parts of the world. If this were California, there would be no debate - it would be unconscionable that the project would go ahead as proposed. Shell would be in disgrace.

If the IT editorial writer concerned were genuinely concerned to know whether application procedures have been followed correctly so far, it would not be difficult for that person to find out. As it stands, Shell have only to claim they are following correct procedure and the IT will obediently report it as fact. And the most blindingly obvious fact of all is of course that building work has begun on the site in advance of approval: it could not be more obvious that procedures have NOT been followed correctly. What are local people to do in the face of peremptory behaviour like that? Allow their community, literally, to be steamrollered? And as to describing the violence at the Bellanaboy site as ‘confrontations on the roads’, again the easily discernible facts are that peaceful protestors from all walks of life, of every persuasion and none, are being violently assaulted by the state’s police force on behalf of Shell Oil simply because they are upholding and defending the assault on our democratic processes, our national interest and their own community. Where are the fearless journalists?

Media complicity and indifference in this situation is a major concern for us all. The conduct of the Corrib Gas proposal has acutely exposed the true nature of the relationship between government, big business and the corporate mainstream media. We hope our analysis will go some way to shining a light on that phenomenon.