The announcement of a new BP chief- NYT and Boston Globe style

It appears Tony Hayward is being sidelined in favour of - wait for it- an American CEO. It's interesting to see how the two papers cover the story.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/07/26/bp_set_to_name_a_new_chief/?page=full

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/business/global/28oil.html?_r=1&hp

For once, the Globe article is on par in length as the Times. I thought I'd highlight the similarities and the differences between the two articles.

Differences

The Globe article is very much focused on Dudley – his background, his ability to lead and the fact that he's an American.

From the Globe: “It’s historic for them to pick an American,’’ said Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy expert at Rice University. “But it sends a message that merit and competency mean more than nationality.’’ is the closing line.

The Times on the other hand, dedicates the first couple of paragraphs to the financial impact of the disaster on BP.

As an aside, it looks like the Globe article was written earlier - the new CEO had not been officially confirmed by the board but only an anonymous source.

Similarties

Both articles include a dig at Tony Hayward's past performance. With the Globe including his quote “I’d like my life back’’ and the Times referring to his statement “sometimes you step off the pavement and get hit by a bus.”
The Globe includes a extra large photo of Hayward covering his face with one hand.

What's interesting are the other very similar lines which appear in both articles. Could this have come straight from a BP press statement or did they share the same news service?

Globe:

Dudley, 54, who grew up in Mississippi and spent summers fishing and swimming on the gulf, has been in charge of BP’s response to the spill for the past month.

Times:

Mr. Dudley, 54, grew up in Mississippi and has been in charge of BP’s response to the spill for the last month.

BP press statement:

The 54 year old was born in New York and grew up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He is married with two grown up children.

Bob Dudley (54) is a main board director of BP and currently runs the recently-established unit responsible for clean-up operations and compensation programmes in the Gulf of Mexico.

Globe:

The United States accounts for about one-third of the company’s oil and gas wells, refineries and other business interests and 40 percent of its shareholders.

Times:

BP has about a third of its business interests and 40 percent of its shareholders and employees in the United States.

BP press statement:
No comment on this topic

One wonders how much of the same information these two papers share. Would you like to bet whether the journalists have each other's email addresses saved in their contacts?