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.

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Bode: Clean Skies TV Launches Today

Former Corporation Commissioner Denise Bode, who now heads the Clean Skies Foundation in Washington, announced on the group's website that its new Internet-based television-style news show will debut today, Earth Day.

Bode, who resigned a year ago to become CEO of the foundation, is now based in Washington. The foundation was formed by Chesapeake Energy and its chairman, Aubrey McClendon, who also serves as chairman of the foundation. Bode and broadcaster Ron Black now host "Energy Matters," a series of brief reports, on radio station KTOK in Oklahoma City, and other stations.

One of those involved in the pioneering Internet news show is former KOCO-TV news anchor Tyler Suiters, who announced a week ago he had resigned to join Clean Skies TV in Washington. Suiters made his on-air debut this afternoon with a field report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge during primary anchor Susan McGinnis's segment.

Bode writes that the site will air energy news updates every hour and provide programming throughout the day at http://www.cleanskies.tv/. (This morning's programming included a panel discussion about the presidential candidates and their positions on energy with panelists from The Associated Press, The Hill and Reuters.)

Bode's announcement, and and more about the new programming, can be found at http://www.cleanskies.org/.

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