Gulf Oil Spill Footage

The AP's David Bauder writes about news coverage of the underwater images (provided by BP) from the Gulf oil spill, and mentions CNN's attempts at snaring their own footage.

"...CNN was trying with little success to get its own pictures of the spill, said Nancy Lane, senior vice president of editorial for CNN U.S.

Undersea rovers rented by the news organization were prevented by the U.S. Coast Guard from getting close enough for a good view, she said. CNN was able to get close enough to see damage done to coral reefs by the oil, she said.

"Somebody needed to be the eyes and ears somewhat independent of the story to make a judgment about what is really going on there," Lane said. "We kept pressing for access and we keep pressing for access."

...

"While BP made one camera view of the leak widely available to the public, more extensive views have been limited to congressional offices, prompting CNN to take cameras to these offices to record the images off their computers, she said."