Coverage of the Fossil-Fuel Industry ‘Doesn’t Have to Be This Way’

Michelle Amazeen says oil and gas money is fueling conflicts of interest.

Michelle Amazeen, who studies advertising, journalism, and misinformation at Boston University’s College of Communication, recently noticed a marked shift in how major news outlets were talking about the energy economy, including the necessity of fossil fuels, the unreliability of renewables, and accountability for major oil and gas corporations. “It made me so mad,” Amazeen told me. “I was so shocked, and I didn’t have a good place to put it.”

In March, as the United States and Israeli bombardment of Iran sparked a global energy crisis, Amazeen published an analysis of recent coverage on the website of Climate Action Against Disinformation, a coalition of climate-concerned organizations. She criticized the New York Times for quoting an academic without disclosing his oil company ties or mentioning that the paper accepts advertising revenue from the fossil-fuel industry. The war in Iran is “our latest reminder of the importance of independent, skeptical coverage of energy policy,” she wrote, “and it makes the commercial ties between newsrooms and fossil-fuel advertisers an urgent public concern.”