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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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By DAN MCGRAW
For the past few months, North Texans have been listening to Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones spew about the wonders of the Barnett Shale natural gas drilling. Come fall, we might be hearing about similar wonders from beloved North Texas newsman Tracy Rowlett. Or, we might be hearing about the darker sides of the huge drilling boom.
And if all goes as Chesapeake Energy hopes, Rowlett and a crew of highly respected journalists could be spreading the word on the shale nationwide in the next few years.
Chesapeake Energy is launching a "unique online video channel" called Shale.TV. According to the company’s announcement Thursday, Shale.TV will provide three hours of programming per evening, Monday through Friday. Rowlett, whose resignation from KTVT/Channel 11 was also announced Thursday, "will serve as anchor and managing editor of the program, which will include a live talk show featuring guests and industry experts discussing a variety of topics about the production of natural gas in the Barnett Shale," according to the release.
If Rowlett were not enough of a big name journalist joining the Chesapeake team, the drilling company also announced that two other award-winning investigative journalists with local ties will be involved. Olive Talley, a former Dallas Morning News reporter and former producer for NBC’s Dateline, has signed on. John Sparks, a former producer of local political and investigative stories for WFAA/Channel 8 and KTVT/Channel 11, has also been hired to produce the program for Chesapeake.
The news of Rowlett’s departure from CBS-11 shocked many, as the longtime local news anchor had said he would retire in July 2007 but then changed his mind and signed a two-year contract extension in November. Friday will be his last day at the station.
The major issue is clear: How can Rowlett and the other journalists working for a new channel funded by Chesapeake have any credibility? Rowlett answered that question to former DMN TV critic Ed Bark, who reports on local TV news at his unclebarky.com website.
"I guess the best way to put it is the proof will be in the pudding," Rowlett said. "If people will just give us an opportunity, they’ll see that what we’ll be doing is good, objective reporting. Chesapeake is just the sponsor, and there’s nothing truly different about having a sponsor in news programming. I really won’t be answering to Chesapeake. They’ve already said we’ll have full editorial control"
Talley told the Weekly the same thing. "How can we do a good job in covering an industry that is paid for by one of the major players in that industry is a valid question," she said. "The bottom line is that this channel is going to be really committed to have good information, thorough and accurate. Even though Chesapeake is funding it, we have been given assurances that they want all of the issues covered and explored."
Cynics would point out that Shale.TV will be produced by Branded News Worldwide, a subsidiary of the Oklahoma City-based advertising agency Ackerman McQueen - which has listed Chesapeake as a major client since 2000.
"This is not a corporate promotion or public relations initiative," Julie H. Wilson, vice-president of corporate development at Chesapeake, said in a statement. "We have heard repeatedly and consistently from residents, critics, supporters, lessors, city staff, and civic leaders about the lack of consumer-friendly educational information available to the public about issues and opportunities related to natural gas drilling, production, and pipelines, particularly as they relate to the urban environment."
That sounds nice. But the company said the same about the half-hour TV program, "Citizens of the Shale," which has been running as a paid infomercial on local TV stations for months. While the show does include a few Fort Worth residents who say they aren’t enamored with the trucks and noise and pollution potential of the Barnett Shale, their comments are glossed over quickly and pretty much ignored.
What’s not in question, at least, is the amazing amount of media money Chesapeake is throwing around these days. They’ve hired Tommy Lee Jones as spokesman, bought dozens of half-hours of local TV time, published a thick, glossy quarterly magazine, and paid to have their message splashed across billboards, newspapers (including the Weekly), and buses. If the company spent $10 million on media buys last year, as some have estimated, that figure’s bound to be a lot higher next year. (TV anchors and award-winning producers don’t come cheap, even in these tough times for journalists.)
Shale.TV will have local origins, but with gas shale deposits beginning to be exploited in many other regions, the program’s reach could eventually be nationwide.
Most surveys indicate that most North Texans support Barnett Shale drilling in some fashion. But Chesapeake’s strategy seems to be not so much about strangling the opposition as in smothering them in the nicest possible way.
Will Rowlett and the others be allowed to do good reporting on what is a fair lease payment for landowners? Can they give all sides of the allegations by many homeowners and ranchers that gas drilling is ruining their groundwater? What will the extended talk show guest say when Chesapeake lobbies hard for waivers to local drilling ordinance requirements?
Talley understands how her news media colleagues probably see it. "I’m prepared to be called a shill for the shale, but my track record as a journalist should speak otherwise," she said. "We just want people to watch us when we get on the air and give us a chance. We want to have anyone on the show who wants to talk and inform and debate."
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