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Update: Big Oil sponsors dinners and awards receptions for journalists [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-01-05

One of the biggest and most censored stories of the past few years is the increasingly cozy relationship between the oil industry and journalists and journalist organizations in California.

In 2023 and 2024, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in California and the West, sponsored several dinners and awards receptions for journalists. This article will review those efforts by the oil industry to curry favor with journalists, as well as examples of collaboration between Big Media and Big Oil in previous years.

In one of the clearest examples of the collaboration between Big Oil and the media, the Western States Petroleum Association, the largest and most powerful oil industry lobbying group in California and the West, sponsored a “media dinner” on February 28, 2023, in Sacramento as part of #BizFedSactoDays.

The flyer for the event stated, “Journalists who play an outsize role in shaping narratives about state politics and holding lawmakers accountable will join business leaders to pull back the curtain on how they select and tell stories about California policies, policy and power.”

Featured speakers at the program included Colleen Nelson of the Sacramento Bee, Laurel Rosenhall of the Los Angeles Times, Kaitlyn Schallhorn of the Orange County Register and Dan Walters of Cal Matters.

In a tweet, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and former Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create “marine protected areas” in Southern California, gushed:

“One of our favorite times of year is #BizFedSactoDays- when @BizFed helps amplify the presence and power of business in California. And we're honored to host the Media Dinner and featured media speakers! @DanCALmatters @LaurelRosenhall@ColleenMNelson @K_Schallhorn”

The Western States Petroleum Association sponsored the media dinner again this year on June 3, 2024 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the WSPA headquarters in Sacramento.

On X, formerly Twitter, @BizFed proudly proclaimed: “Journalists and business advocates. We have more in common than you might think. It all boils down to people and their stories. What a privilege to host guest journalists @conanNBCLA @davelesher @Elex_Michaelson, and @EytanWallace at our BizFed Media Dinner in Sacramento.”

WSPA, the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento, describes itself as “non-profit trade association that represents companies that account for the bulk of petroleum exploration, production, refining, transportation and marketing in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.”

WSPA teams up with Sacramento Press Club on awards reception

The Sacramento Press Club has also teamed up with WSPA. On March 16, 2023, the Sacramento Press Club announced in a tweet that WSPA was the new “Lede Sponsor” of the Club's Journalism Awards Reception that was held on March 29: “Thank you to our new Lede Sponsor @officialWSPA! WSPA is dedicated to guaranteeing that every American has access to reliable energy options through socially, economically and environmentally responsible policies and regulations. Learn more more at http://wspa.org”

In response to this tweet, investigative journalist Aaron Cantu tweeted back on March 20, “As the recipient of @SacPressClub ’s environmental award last year, it’s concerning to see fossil fuel industry talking points passed off uncritically here. WSPA becoming lede sponsor happened in the context of a global PR turn as the climate crisis worsens.”

Unfortunately, Cantu is the only journalist other than me with the integrity to contest the sponsorship of the Sacramento Press Club’s Journalism Awards Reception by WSPA.

In 2024 the Western States Petroleum Association was again one of the “lede sponsors” of the Sacramento Press Club’s Annual Journalism Awards Reception on April 11. Sammy Roth of the Los Angeles Times won the “impact in journalism” award, while Doni Chamberlin of A News Cafe won the “courage in journalism” award. You can see the list of award winners here: sacpressclub.org/…

And this time, no other journalist than this one had the courage and integrity to criticize the sponsorship of a journalism awards reception by WSPA at a time of increasing collaboration between the media and the oil and gas industry. The date and location for this year’s awards reception hasn’t been announced yet: sacpressclub.org/... WSPA sponsors beat dinner for Society of Environmental Journalists

In addition to sponsoring journalism events in California, WSPA has expanded its campaign to influence journalists nationally. WSPA and the controversial waste management firm Veolia North America sponsored events at 2023’s Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) conference in Boise, Idaho, according to a report from DeSmog: scq.io/...

“The agenda for the conference, which is being hosted in Boise, Idaho, shows that the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and the waste management company Veolia North America are sponsoring two of the “beat dinners” hosted on Friday, April 21 — the third day of the event,” the article by Sam Bright reported.

Fortunately, WSPA and Veolia’s sponsorships of the SEJ conference spurred condemnation by at least one group, Fossil Free Media.

“There’s no excuse for these sorts of conflicts of interest,” Jamie Henn of the campaign and communications group Fossil Free Media told Bright. “By letting the fossil fuel industry sponsor events, groups like SEJ lend credibility to bad actors” that are attempting to “influence coverage and maintain their social license by pretending to be well-meaning supporters of the free press.”

For years, I have covered the capture of media outlets, journalists, politicians, regulators and environmental NGOs by the fossil fuel industry in California and the West.

‘Readers for Sale: The Media's Role in Climate Delay’

In 2023, it was good to see somebody else beside this journalist step up to the plate on a national and global level on exposing the increasing collaboration between Big Oil and media corporations.

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