Reporters clash with Coast Guard, BP security - Yahoo! News
"...Even more recently, reporter Bigad Shaban of CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans accompanied U.S. David Vitter (R-La.) on a tour of spill-affected areas Monday. They stopped off at the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Buras, La., but Shaban and his cameraman were denied entry. Coast Guard officials told the men that their presence would "hurt" the wildlife being treated there. Vitter attempted to intervene, but according to Shaban's account of the incident on Shaban's Twitter feed, Coast Guard officials asked to speak to Vitter "in private." According to Shaban, Vitter commented, "I'm no wildlife expert, but that's BS."
When contacted by Yahoo! News for comment on these incidents, BP spokesman Mark Proegler told us that "there have been restrictions placed on photography in the wildlife area because we've been told that it could do harm" to the animals. When we asked about the incident involving Talon Security in Grand Isle, Proegler said: "We are not trying to prevent media access in any area, but we've heard about some incidents and we've gone back and shared our stance on this with Talon." Proegler also said that "we can't force our contractors to work with media if they choose not to."
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