Possible changes of BP CEO.

USA Today

British Petroleum has been a dominating breaking news (Hanson 213) in the last three months because of the blowout at its Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, July 25, 2010, it’s still on the front pages, but this time with the news that the chief executive Tony Hayward might not be a part of British Petroleum’s future. I have read about this news in five different sources: online versions of The New York Times, USA Today, NPR and BBC and Russian online news NewsRu. Newspapers are nowadays easily accessible online, proving that they are not a dying medium and have the future (Hanson 211-212).

Although the news about Hayward was the same, every source portrayed it in its own way. The first sentences announced the news and gave the sense of how the story would be slanted. The New York Times wrote that Hayward “…agreed to step down and be replaced…”. BBC and USA Today, which used BBC as their source, wrote that “…Tony Hayward, widely criticized… is negotiating his departure…”. NPR made a point that “The company won’t deny the rumors outright, but has instead issued a general statement of support…”. NewsRu, basing their facts on BBC wrote that “…Tony Hayward will announce his resignation from the post in the next 24 hours…”. The first and biggest difference in all five articles is that while one source claims it’s a definite decision, the other says it’s still not sure.

Every source gave a small background history about Hayward’s job as chief executive in BP, but only The New York Times mentioned large international operations Hayward was responsible for. The New York Times, BBC and NPR had much longer articles than USA Today and NewsRu, therefore the story was more detailed and involved more people giving their opinion or talking about the oil spill problem and Hayward.

The New York Times

BP Managing Director Robert Dudley, who took over operations in the Gulf of Mexico last month, was mentioned as Hayward’s successor. Although in every article he is mentioned as being an American, only USA Today and BBC accentuated this fact and made a point of it being in his advantage. NPR expressed the news in the way that it’s not known who or when will replace Hayward, but it will most likely be Dudley. Moreover, USA Today, BBC and NPR reminded about Hayward mentioning that he “wanted his life back” and his visit to yacht race, which remained in public opinion as negative facts about him. Only NPR, on the other hand, made a point that “unfortunately Hayward became a sacrificial lamb in a politically charged world”.

USA Today, which referred to BBC, Wall Street Journal and UK Guardian, and NewsRu, which also used BBC as their source, had similar stories, which were focused on providing just the major points for the news. The New York Times, however, mentioned also investors, shares and that there are already some good things happening in BP. NPR added few interviews of the people who live around the Gulf asking what they think about Hayward’s resignation news. Although it was the same news story, every source made its own inclinations, stayed brief or added more information. NPR article seemed to be the most objective; it was looking at the story from different points of view.

Works cited:

Hanson, Ralph. Mass Communication. Living in a Media World. Washington DC: CQ Press. Third edition. Print.

The New York Times

USA Today

BBC

NPR

NewsRu