Former OKC Newsman Joins Chesapeake
Dallas television news anchor Tracy Rowlett, former reporter for Oklahoma City radio and television stations, will join Chesapeake Energy Corp. as the host of a new Internet show, Shale.TV.
Rowlett, described as the most recognized news anchor in Dallas, is the second television news personality with Oklahoma ties to join a Chesapeake-sponsored entity in recent months. Tyler Suiters, anchor at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, is now among hosts for the Internet presentations at Clear Skies in Washington. A Chesapeake spokesman says Shale.TV is being created to call attention to one of the nation's largest natural gas fields, a rock formation called the Barnett Shale. The field has 13,000 wells operating in 19 counties.
Rowlett, who first appeared on local Dallas television news for Belo-owned WFAA-TV (Channel 8) in 1974, is now with CBS-11.
Rowlett said he hopes to quickly convince viewers that he and his colleagues aren't shills for Chesapeake and will keep their journalistic ethics. Rowlett went to Dallas after quitting an Oklahoma TV station in protest when the head of the state car dealers association successfully lobbied to kill a series of stories he had helped produce.
Although Shale.TV is an unusual concept, it's not without precedent, The Dallas Morning News reports. Web surfers need to look no further than the Chesapeake-funded Web site, CleanSkies.TV, which launched in February. The site, part of the nonprofit American Clean Skies Foundation, promotes natural gas as an environmentally friendly fuel. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported: Although sponsored by Chesapeake, Shale.TV is owned by Branded News, a subsidiary of Oklahoma City advertising agency Ackerman-McQueen. Branded News operates an Oklahoma tourism site and one for the National Rifle Association. President Kyle Millar, said the company practices "legitimate journalism" and that Shale.TV will be held to that standard.
Chesapeake also operates the AskChesapeake.com informational site and contributes to the Barnett Shale Energy Education Foundation, Dallas newspapers report.
Rowlett, described as the most recognized news anchor in Dallas, is the second television news personality with Oklahoma ties to join a Chesapeake-sponsored entity in recent months. Tyler Suiters, anchor at KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, is now among hosts for the Internet presentations at Clear Skies in Washington. A Chesapeake spokesman says Shale.TV is being created to call attention to one of the nation's largest natural gas fields, a rock formation called the Barnett Shale. The field has 13,000 wells operating in 19 counties.
Rowlett, who first appeared on local Dallas television news for Belo-owned WFAA-TV (Channel 8) in 1974, is now with CBS-11.
Rowlett said he hopes to quickly convince viewers that he and his colleagues aren't shills for Chesapeake and will keep their journalistic ethics. Rowlett went to Dallas after quitting an Oklahoma TV station in protest when the head of the state car dealers association successfully lobbied to kill a series of stories he had helped produce.
Although Shale.TV is an unusual concept, it's not without precedent, The Dallas Morning News reports. Web surfers need to look no further than the Chesapeake-funded Web site, CleanSkies.TV, which launched in February. The site, part of the nonprofit American Clean Skies Foundation, promotes natural gas as an environmentally friendly fuel. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported: Although sponsored by Chesapeake, Shale.TV is owned by Branded News, a subsidiary of Oklahoma City advertising agency Ackerman-McQueen. Branded News operates an Oklahoma tourism site and one for the National Rifle Association. President Kyle Millar, said the company practices "legitimate journalism" and that Shale.TV will be held to that standard.
Chesapeake also operates the AskChesapeake.com informational site and contributes to the Barnett Shale Energy Education Foundation, Dallas newspapers report.
Labels: Chesapeake Energy Corp., Shale.TV, Tracy Rowlett, Tyler Suiters
posted by Mike McCarville @ 11:06 AM
