I Love You Huffpo but What's Going On?

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I have been writing on environmental issues on the popular news blog Huffington Post going on five years now but I am not sure if I willย continue.

In an article today about yet another oil pipeline burst in the Northern Alberta tar sands, the editors of the Huffpo Canada section included a shiny happy โ€œslideshowโ€ at the end touting all the upsides of this massively destructiveย industry.ย 

It is blatant spin with factoids like: โ€œAlberta will reap $1.2 trillion from oil sandsโ€ (leaving out the next part about the fact that emissions will triple in the same number ofย years):

The photos for the slide show are all quite shiny and happy โ€“ definitely none in there likeย this:

What was the point of this? Some sense of balance in reporting that if you want to report on the horrible reality of yet another spill in the tar sands you have to include corporate and government pamphlets at the end of theย story?

I still love you Huffington Post, but a lot less than I did yesterday. You have been a huge voice and pulpit for many great causes but this stinks more than the bitumen flowing into the rivers of Northernย Alberta.ย 

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Kevin is a contributor and strategic adviser to DeSmog. He runs the digital marketing agency Spake Media House. Named a โ€œGreen Heroโ€ by Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the โ€œTop 50 Tweetersโ€ on climate change and environment issues, Kevin has appeared in major news media outlets around the world for his work on digital campaigning. Kevin has been involved in the public policy arena in both the United States and Canada for more than a decade. For five years he was the managing editor of DeSmogBlog.com. In this role, Kevinโ€™s research into the โ€œclimate denial industryโ€ and the right-wing think tank networks was featured in news media articles around the world. He is most well known for his ground-breaking research into David and Charles Kochโ€™s massive financial investments in the Republican and tea partyย networks. Kevin is the first person to be designated a โ€œCertified Expertโ€ on theย political and community organizing platformย NationBuilder. Prior to DeSmog, Kevin worked in various political and government roles. He was Senior Advisor to the Minister of State for Multiculturalism and a Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Asia Pacific, Foreign Affairs for the Government of Canada. Kevin also worked in various roles in the British Columbia provincial government in the Office of the Premier and the Ministry of Health. In 2008 Kevin co-founded a groundbreaking new online election tool called Vote for Environment which was later nominated for a World Summit Award in recognition of the worldโ€™s best e-Content and innovative ICTย applications. Kevin moved to Washington, DC in 2010 where he worked for two years as the Director of Online Strategy for Greenpeace USA and has since returned to his hometown of Vancouver, Canada.

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