If Americans are to gain insight and resolve from the BP oil spill that continues to lay waste to the Gulf, it will come only with the transparency promised by the White House and BP, the guarantees of the First Amendment and an active, alert press. Unfortunately, for nearly three months, we’ve seen little transparency and increasing efforts to keep the media at bay.

We’ve seen suspiciously revised BP estimates as to how much oil has or has not spewed into the Gulf; restrictions by the Federal Aviation Administration limiting air traffic over the spill (effectively masking visual evidence of how widespread the problem is); even the chasing away of photographers seeking information on how badly crude is devastating our coastal wildlife.

Nor have we in Texas been spared efforts by BP and the government to control the news media. On July 2, a photographer working for ProPublica, a respected group dedicated to investigative journalism, was detained after shooting pictures of the trouble-ridden BP refinery in Texas City, site of a 2005 explosion that left 15 dead.

ProPublica says Lance Rosenfield was detained by a BP security officer, local police “and a man who identified himself as an agent of the Department of Homeland Security.” He was released after police reviewed his pictures and got his date of birth and Social Security number. Even though Rosenfield had been shooting from a public roadway, police wrongly asserted they had a right to examine the pictures out of concern for “homeland security.” Outrageous.

Another report concerns an American Birding Association activist filming BP’s command center in Houma, La. — and again doing so from public land — only to be warned away by a policeman. Later, this officer — possibly working off-duty for BP — joined others in stopping and interrogating the activist.

Strong-arm shenanigans such as these have no place in America. The American Civil Liberties Union smartly sent letters to sheriffs in coastal parishes in Louisiana, reminding them of the rights of a free press. Sounds like they should have done so in Texas, too.

This week, the U.S. Coast Guard lifted its June 30 policy prohibiting anyone, including the press, from getting within 65 feet of a response vessel or boom. But the solution — “special credentials” to enter “safety zones” — still smacks of government overreach and collusion with an oil giant that has clearly sought to control coverage from the start. It seems both BP and our government have enough justifiable work to do. They should let the press do its job, which is informing the public of how taxpayer dollars are being spent, who’s at fault, the risks and just how effective crisis management and relief efforts truly are.