Background

Exxon Valdez aground on Bligh Reef, spilling oil

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

happened March 24th of 1989 in Prince William Sound. It happened when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, ran aground on Bligh Reef. In the end, the ship had spilled about 11 million US gallons of crude oil. Not only was it the second largest oil spill to date, due to Prince William Sound’s harsh environment and inaccessibility, the spill had tremendous effects on all life surrounding the region.

        The Exxon Valdez oil spill is a major catastrophic event and one of the big instigators of discussion on the U.S.’s dependency on oil. As one of the sparks of discussion, how the discussion started can aid us in understanding the conversation we have now, along with the reasons why some hold onto the ground they stand on.

        Due to the remote nature of the location of the incident, much of our information was given to us by news organizations. The way we received the information, and opinions/analysis around it shared, depended on the news organization. To understand the flow of information for this incident better, I looked at how New York Times covered the oil spill within the first 2 months. I wanted to understand how the mix of their reporting changed from objective information to more analysis and opinion. I also wanted to compare that to how articles looking back upon the incident reflects these fresh, primary sources of information and opinion.

Click on the newspaper below to learn more about the incident.

Front page of the newpaper on March 25th, 1989