Press Action ::: WSJ Expunges Range Resources PR Exec's Comment on 'Gasland'

Saturday, February 26, 2011

WSJ Expunges Range Resources PR Exec's Comment on 'Gasland'

By Press Action

Gasland Director Josh Fox is bewildered by a quote from a Range Resources Corp. public relations official in a Wall Street Journal article by Ben Casselman, dated Feb. 26, 2011, that suddenly disappeared.

“Why would the quote be published, go on line, and then something happens and they censor it and suppress it,” Gasland director Josh Fox wrote in a statement posted on the documentary’s Facebook fan page. “Not only is the quote deleted but then in its place Tom Price a Vice-President from Chesapeake gets to defend the industry?”

The quote was refreshing. It wasn’t the usual drivel we’ve been getting bombarded with since the gas industry began its all-out campaign to discredit Gasland, a documentary that’s been nominated for an Academy Award.

In the origial version of the article, Casselman, who has covered the energy industry at the Journal for several years, quoted Range Resources-Appalachia Director of Public Affairs Matt Pitzarella as saying: “We have to stop blaming documentaries and take a look in the mirror.”

With this quote, Pitzarella was explaining how the natural gas industry needs to do a better public relations job explaining how it believes its drilling efforts in the Marcellus Shale and other shale gas regions across North America are safe and environmentally sound. But what made the quote unique was the fact that Pitzarella did not blame Gasland or Josh Fox for shining a light on the industry’s practices in the Marcellus, the Barnett Shale in Texas and gas producing basins in Colorado.

Press Action contacted Casselman on Feb. 26 to find out if he knew why the Range Resources spokesman’s quote was removed from his article. In an e-mail response, Casselman wrote: “As a matter of policy, the Journal doesn’t discuss its editorial decisions, so I can’t get into details. But stories are edited all the time between editions, for all sorts of reasons (space, clarity, etc.). So it’s not unusual for the early versions of a story to look different from the final version.”

Dallas-based Range Resources appears to run its drilling operations—as well as its PR shop—a little differently than other well-known shale gas producers. Last summer, in an attempt to placate drilling opponents in Pennsylvania, the company’s Appalachian unit voluntarily decided to disclose the chemical additives it uses in its hydraulic fracturing jobs in the Marcellus Shale. The information is sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection as part of the company’s well completion reports and is available on Range’s website.

Other companies have refused to disclose the chemicals they use, arguing that it is proprietary information that might give other producers a competitive advantage if divulged.

Range Resources Chairman and CEO John Pinkerton said in a statement last summer that the disclosure initiative is the start of a series of announcements that aim to educate residents about natural gas production.

“We are very pleased with the response we have received to our initiative and our commitment to achieving the proper balance of pursuing the enormous opportunity that the Marcellus Shale provides and implementing a standard of care for the environment and the communities where we live and work,” Pinkerton said. “We’re hopeful that our voluntary effort will help to dispel misconceptions about the process and allow Range and others to deliver on the potential of this extraordinary resource base.”

Here’s the statement from Josh Fox on Gasland’s Facebook fan page:

Something bizarre just happened at the Wall St. Journal. At 6pm I was reading a home page story on WSJ.com called Oscar’s Attention Irks Gas Industry” by Ben Casselman which contained perhaps the most honest and revealing quote from the gas industry that I have read to date about their obsession with attacking my film GASLAND. The quote reads “We have to stop blaming documentaries and take a look in the mirror,” said Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for gas producer Range Resources Corp. …

Just thirty minutes later the quote mysteriously disappears, edited out and in its place is a far more typical spin controlled statement from Tom Price of Chesapeake energy saying, “We need to be able to respond objectively and accurately.” Sounds like a robot at a PR agency, more than a person.

What the hell happened? Why did this key quote disappear from the article? Why did the WSJ censor its own piece? Does the Gas industry get to edit the Wall St. Journal?

Was this comment too honest? Is it a crack in their facade? Who pulled the quote? Who made that call saying that this moment of honesty was simply too embarrassing or too true for the industry to admit?

For the first time a Gas Industry spokesman told the truth, that they should look in the mirror instead of attacking our film. You can find the original quote by googling “mirror, Wall St. Journal and Range Resources” but if you read the article now, the quote has vanished.

What is going on here?

Why would the quote be published, go on line, and then something happens and they censor it and suppress it. Not only is the quote deleted but then in its place Tom Price a Vice-President from Chesapeake gets to defend the industry?

Does the Wall St. Journal care to comment? Does WSJ have any independence or integrity? Or does the Gas Industry get to just write it for them.

Is this evidence of what we have long suspected, considerable industry pressure on the mainstream media?

Anyone?

Josh Fox
Director, GASLAND

The article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704692904576166572520368788.html
The original quote:
“We have to stop blaming documentaries and take a look in the mirror,” said Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for gas producer Range Resources Corp. …”