You’re right about being mislead about the nature of the spill. The media has been agressively misreporting that since the beginning. If you recognize that their template for the story has been “biggest disaster ever, that would really be easy to fix if the mean, incompetent capitalists just wanted to”, then you’ll note that almost every piece of reporting they’re doing is in service of that mantra.
The Costner machine’s a good example. They never explained that they hadn’t been built yet, that the prototype was on the other side of the country, that just sticking a hose in the gulf and just flipping a switch isn’t the answer, etc. So they ignored all the details, pretended it was an instant solution, then complained because it wasn’t in use yet. Now that two of them are running and more being built, and the Gulf hasn’t instantly gotten better, they’ve moved onto the next “magic solution”. Meanwhile, the Costner machines are apparently proving to be a useful adjunct to the effort.
Some of the other examples were the dead sea turtles that turned out to have nothing to do with the spill, the stories about all the gulf’s bird life dying at the point where they had five oiled pelicans, the tar balls that turned out to be from some other source, etc. It’s all great theatre, it holds the attention of the audience, and it fits their template. It just doesn’t provide a true picture of the nature of the spill and the efforts.
Since this thing started, I’ve either watched or read most of the news conferences. When you see the source material, then see the reporting the next day, you wonder if the reporter watched the same thing you did.
Spill size estimates are another good example. Since the first day BP has said the figures were guestimates and shouldn’t be relied on, yet they’ve been reported as gospil. Then, when there was finally the opportunity to get some scientific estimate, the top of the range has been reported, but not the bottom. It’s just been horribly hyped, Katrina style, and the moment the next crisis comes along this’ll be dropped and you’ll see little reporting on what the actual truth turns out to be.
So, A-Whale fit their “simple solution” mantra, and when it doesn’t prove to be and doesn’t clean the Gulf in 7 days, they’ll move on to the next one. The CG, and BP, in the meantime will figure out what it does do well, whether it can be integrated into the effort, and if so, how. If they get it working, count on the first reports to include lots of sniffing about “how long it took”.