PR Pros Weigh in on Chevron's '60 Minutes' Offensive†

Oil Giant Hired Former CNN Reporter to Rebut Report on $27 Billion Lawsuit

Advertising Age, May 11, 2009 — Like any smart company facing the threat of having to pay out the most costly environmental lawsuit in history — $27 billion — and contending with a "60 Minutes" report on the case that won't aid its argument in any way, Chevron has gone on a public-relations offensive. But the twist in its strategy is that it enlisted a former CNN reporter to rebut the news magazine's report by creating a near identical report that lays out the oil giant's side of the story.

When Chevron Hires Ex-Reporter to Investigate Pollution, Chevron Looks Good

New York Times, May 11, 2009 — What did Chevron do when it learned that “60 Minutes” was preparing a potentially damaging report about oil company contamination of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador? It hired a former journalist to produce a mirror image of the report, from the corporation’s point of view.