MISDVENTURES IN JOURNALISM: Whataboutism rules on front page of New York Times while decades of oil company climate change lies gets buried on page 4 of business section

 

Front page of 1/13/2023 New York Times.  Note top-right headline.

Pages 4 and 5 of business section.    Note headline at bottom left.

Related reading:

The Nation, 4/22/2019

The late Herb Schmertz was a public-relations legend, a dedicated oil man who revolutionized the way his industry and other corporations manipulate American news, public opinion, and government policy. As a senior PR executive for Mobil, Schmertz pioneered what he called the op-ad. Beginning in October 1970, Mobil paid The New York Times to publish regular op-ed articles, written by the oil company, in which it delivered its views on energy, the environment, and other issues of the day. In a 1991 interview revealed here for the first time, Schmertz explained: “Everything we did was organized as if it was one big political campaign.” The goal of the campaign, Schmertz continued, “was to win elections also. On public-policy issues.”