Just The Facts
Two approaches to the same story, the resignation of the chief executive of British Petroleum.
Associated Press first paragraph:
LONDON – BP PLC’s chief executive, John Browne, resigned Tuesday only hours after a judge cleared the way for a newspaper to publish details of his private life.
BBC first paragraph:
The chief executive of oil giant BP, Lord Browne of Madingley, has resigned from his post with immediate effect.
Not hard to tell which is American and which is British, but the problem is the bit that the Associated Press doesn’t mention. The AP implies that the shocking revelations coming out in a newspaper are the reason for the resignation, rather than this from the BBC article:
The outgoing boss said that he had initially lied to the court about the circumstances in which he had met Mr Chevalier, because of “embarrassment and shock” at the revelations.
High Court judge, Lord Justice Eady said that he was not allowed to make allowances for the “white lie” told by Lord Browne.
Lying under oath in court is a bit more important to the story than the scandal mongering of the Mail. AP readers are going to think he resigned because he was gay and about to be outed in the press. Lord Browne’s sexual orientation is not the issue, it was perjury.
