Of course, it doesn’t help when massive protests against Keystone XL are virtually ignored by corporate media. Photo: 350.org
According to a new Washington Post/ABC poll, the public overwhelmingly supports building the Keystone XL pipeline. The margins are pretty surprising–65 percent in favor, 22 percent opposed–but what’s most revealing is that people have some stunning misimpressions about the project. And much of the blame, you could argue, lies with the media.
As Post reporters Juliet Eilperin and Scott Clement (3/7/14) note:
The findings also show that the public thinks the massive project…will produce significant economic benefits. Eighty-five percent say the pipeline would create a significant number of jobs, with 62 percent saying they “strongly” believed that to be the case.
The Post points out that this isn’t so:
A recent State Department assessment said the project would create 1,950 jobs for a two-year period, after which it would generate 50 permanent jobs. But most people see it as a larger economic boon, the poll shows.
That the public is being misled on a given issue doesn’t always mean the media is to blame. But in this case, there are plenty of examples of stories that failed to adequately challenge dubious claims about the number of jobs Keystone would create. Often the debate was boiled down to a PR contest; as one New York Times story (2/2/12) put it:
For Republicans, the pipeline is a political trifecta. It unites most of their party and divides the Democrats. It is also fairly easy to explain to voters, and it hits on the key concerns of many Americans: jobs, energy independence and fear of economic competition with China, which Republicans have said will be the recipient of the Canadian oil without the Keystone plan.
“Obama might kill a no-brainer job creating bonanza” is especially “easy to explain to voters” when the message is being repeated by oil industry propaganda–and isn’t challenged often enough by journalists.
Of course, the media’s tendency to treat Keystone XL’s climate-wrecking potential as at best a side issue (Extra!, 4/13) doesn’t hurt the project’s popularity. Not to mention treating massive protests against the pipeline as basically a non-story (FAIR Blog, 3/5/14).
What I hear about Keystone XL, is , that the Tar sands are so heavy, that it requires more energy to warm it up, to put thru the pipeline, than it contains. In addition to that, it is a fossil energy, burning it, and similar coal is major cause of climate Change. If your mind only considers continuing to drive fossil fuel powered vehicles, or have invested in companies that extract those products, or is employed by them, It may sound good, but if global warming with drought, hurricains sea rising, displacement of millions of people, homes and businesses is of any importance to you and your offspring, You need to reconsider.
When you run the scoreboard
It ain’t hard to figure the winner
This scenario is so egregious and damaging to the human population that it is unbearably painful to see the extent of this misinformation campaign’s success. Never has so important an issue been so obfuscated by so much ulterior motivation. And unfortunately, it’s likely a plot worthy of undermining an entire civilization…
U.S. citizens are mostly in the dark about a lot of things All they no about Keystone is the propaganda about all the jobs it will provide , and make us more energy independent. They don’t know of all the environmental damage it will cause , or that all those jobs , are only during construction . They don’t know or realize that it is being built to ship oil to China , and India. It will probably cause us to spend more for gasoline , and fuel oil. It does not give us more oil. They are also in the dark about the TPP , NAFTA , and other trade agreements. How our leaders can stand up , and tell us of all the benefits these agreements provide , when the facts prove a very different story. The media is on board with with spreading their propaganda , and we lose. Why is there no independent reporting done and informing the public with the true facts?
Thank you for the information on Keystone. You are right in saying that most people don’t have any idea of what it’s all about. Why don’t you do an in-depth article telling people about the Keystone Pipeline XL?
@Richard- FAIR is a media watchdog, not a news outlet. It is not their mission to educate us on matters like Keystone with in-depth articles. There are PLENTY of independent news outlets that go to great lengths and effort to do that for us. Which brings me to…
@Charles – you just need to know where to find these independent outlets that are reporting the truth (and then share them far and wide). Here are just a few to start: Real News Network, TruthOut, The Nation, The Guardian, ConsortiumNews, AlterNet, TruthDig, MotherJones, Salon, Raw Story, and Counter Punch. Happy reading!
Wrong question…What we should be asking is will the development of our own energy means in our part of the world help us in times of crisis tobe more self sufficient.
It’s much less objectionable if it were a very limited(restricted)/long term transit so that the energy remains domestic and we don’t have this great “gold rush” and boom/bust in pricing. Norway did it right knowing the north sea finds were to eventually run out and they moderated the greed to make it last longer rather than “bing on the lotto” windfall.
We need a XL water pipeline more desperately (ocala aquafer or canadian snow?)!