U.S. media union to monitor restrictions on spill coverage

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A major U.S. union representing broadcast journalists said on Thursday it would monitor reports of censorship and restrictions on access for reporting on the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) said it had launched a website to gather published accounts about journalists being hindered from gathering information about the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

"We are concerned about continuing reports that journalists are being denied access to sources and public places necessary for them to fully cover this important story," AFTRA national president Roberta Reardon said in a statement.

"The causes and effects of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon (oil rig) must be uncovered and analyzed, and our only hope of getting to the truth is through investigative journalism by professionals with unfettered and unfiltered access to the sources," she added.

AFTRA's statement came 10 weeks into efforts to clean-up and contain BP Plc's ruptured deep-sea oil well, which continues to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill is causing an environmental and economic disaster along the Gulf Coast, damaging fishing, tourism and wildlife.

The statement follows complaints in late May that photographers, TV crews and other journalists had on occasion been blocked access to flyovers of the polluted Gulf waters, staging areas for clean-up efforts and oil-covered beaches, by local and federal officials under pressure from BP.

In late May, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the U.S. government response, issued a directive to BP and local officials ensuring media access. It was echoed by BP.

But there have been scattered reports since about reporters being barred from affected areas or having to fight with security guards.

AFTRA encouraged journalists to share their experiences on its new website www.aftra.com/access4media.htm, and said it was also talking to news media on the ground "to make sure that government and corporations are being transparent."

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Sandra Maler)