ADN losing credibility over gasline issue

January 31, 2006

Jomo Stewart\Another View

If all you had to gauge the opinion of Alaskans regarding natural gas development and gas line construction were the Anchorage Daily News (ADN), and the Voice of the Times (VOT), you might believe that the Alaska people (or at least the people of Anchorage) were united in support of an ExxonMobil/British Petroleum/ConocoPhillips (Big Oil)-owned Canadian Highway gas pipeline and opposed to an all-Alaska gasline.

You would be mistaken. Two elections and ongoing polling data consistently show that the vast majority of Alaskans - including Anchorage residents - prefer the all-Alaska gasline project. Why, then, the inconsistency between the opinions of most Alaskans and the editorial opinions of Alaska's most widely circulated newspaper?

A probable explanation that can no longer be ignored are the contractual and financial linkages between the Anchorage Daily News, the Voice of the Times, VECO and Big Oil.

The Anchorage Daily News is Alaska's largest and most widely read newspaper. The Voice of the Times is an editorial entity which pays for space within the editorial pages of the Anchorage Daily News. This arrangement allows the VOT to exercise complete editorial control over its content, though it is physically a part of the ADN.

Such an arrangement is unusual. But a further agreement between the ADN and VOT makes their relationship extraordinary.

By agreement, it is the general policy of the ADN to not print any letter to the editor or op-ed piece that directly or indirectly references information or opinions by the Voice of the Times. This policy undermines the ADN's First Amendment responsibilities; further, by subverting these responsibilities to a financial interest, the ADN has cast doubt on its journalistic integrity and called into question its commitment to the truth.

For months, the Alaska Gasline Port Authority has asked the VOT to include the following disclosure statement along with any opinion it publishes relating to oil and gas development:

The Voice of the Times is owned by the same person or persons who own VECO, a large service contractor whose main source of revenue is derived from negotiated contracts with British Petroleum, ConocoPhillips and Exxon.

The reason for the request is the consideration that, though it may be legal for the owners of VECO to seek to affect legislation and public policy formulation in Alaska in favor of Big Oil using substantial campaign contributions and intense lobbying efforts, it is decidedly unethical for the owners of VECO to seek to mold public opinion using editorials and commentary in the Voice of the Times in the absence of full disclosure.

The VOT/VECO connection is an Alaska issue and one that directly impacts Alaskans. You would think such a connection would be available for public comment in Alaska's most widely circulated newspaper. However, because of requirements in its agreement with the VOT, the ADN perpetuates a situation whereby it is nearly impossible for such comment to occur.

The First Amendment guarantees citizens and the press a right to free expression, but it also binds them to act as responsible agents when exercising that right. By entering into an agreement with the VOT/VECO whereby VECO's owners are allowed to use the ADN as a vehicle for broadcasting its self-serving, pro-Big Oil views, yet are essentially held immune from response or criticism because neither they nor the ADN will publish refutations of VOT/VECO opinions, the Anchorage Daily News has not only subverted the First Amendment rights of Alaskans, it has abdicated its civic responsibility to &#8220tell the truth.”

The VOT's refusal to include disclosure statements regarding the financial interests of its Big Oil-aligned owners is disturbing.

The ADN's apparent complicity in this unethical behavior is even more disturbing.

The Anchorage Daily News should rethink its policy regarding the Voice of the Times or risk losing the confidence of the people of Alaska.

Jomo Stewart is the communications director of the Alaska Gasline Port Authority. Contact him at 907-474-2011.