Zachary Roth reports that Newsweek, a subsidiary of Washington Post aka Kaplan Test Prep, is teaming up with the American Petroleum Institute to host an event on climate change.
Newsweek magazine is teaming up with an oil-industry lobbying group to host an event on climate-change and energy issues involving lawmakers, just as the Senate gets set to take up legislation on the subject.
The panel discussion, entitled “Climate and Energy Policy: Moving?,” will feature Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, and, as moderator, Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman, according to an email invitation sent by a Newsweek business staffer and obtained by TPMmuckraker.
Roth is working off the invite for the event, rather than any internal funding documents, so he doesn’t explain who is funding this shin-dig. But he does provide a list of those–aside from Gerard and Fineman–who have been involved in the schmoozy relationship between Newsweek and API:
- Newsweek International editor Rana Foroohar
- Newsweek International managing editor Tony Emerson
- Columnist Jonathan Alter
- Editor Evan Thomas
And Roth notes that one of APIs front groups has a big ad today in the WaPo:
And today, the Washington Post is running a full page ad from a group called Energy Citizens, attacking climate change legislation. Energy Citizens is essentially a front group for API — the two share a Washington address, and the astroturf rallies that API organized this summer were officially projects of Energy Citizens.
Roth asked Newsweek if they had thought to invite an environmentalist. Director of External Relations Mark Block feigned interest, then said they probably couldn’t do it because they had to give Congressmen time to bloviate.
Asked whether Newsweek planned to invite a representative from an environmental group to the upcoming event, to balance Gerard’s appearance, Block said the magazine “would definitely consider that opportunity,” if there were a high-profile environmentalist who might be appropriate. But he said that because members of Congress would likely also participate, time constraints might dictate against it.
Again, thus far we have no proof that this is another WaPo Pay2Play scheme. Rather, Newsweek pitches this as them trying to make news, with reporters invited and on-the-record treatment understood.
But it does point out how cozy Newsweek is with the climate denier industry.