Different Viewpoints...

While watching the CBC news this morning, I heard a reference to a story that the National Geographic had written about the oil sands. They described the article as being quite condemning of the project, and that it included many distressing images of the project.

As an information junkie, I felt compelled to find the article to see for myself, and found a "Alberta gets fresh black eye with oilsands coverage" at canada.com, and "National Geographic paints oilsands with a dark brush" at the Vancouver Sun. Both articles cover the material in some depth, and both paint a fairly grim picture of what the original article says about the oilsands. NG's article, and the imagery it contains, are described as the "baby-seal moment" for the oilsands, which "no amount of damage control can overcome, no matter how reasoned the argument."

But my search at google had also uncovered "National Geographic features oilsands" from the Calgary Sun. There I found an article that describes the NG article, giving it a total of one sentence. That is followed up by (what I would describe as) some random spin about how the province is cutting its carbon emmisions by more than the American government, and that Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach had been interviewed for the article.

I was amazed. Stunned. Confused. Was this article really covering the same story?

For those of you who want all the facts, you can read the original article for yourself, and make up your own mind. Me, I'm worried about how our media can spin information to their own ends. The Ministry of Truth isn't so far away.