Newly Minted Shale Shill Tracy Rowlett Now Broadcasting for Radio Free Chesapeake
by Steve Smith
If you’ve ever heard a story about a coup d’etat in some Third World country, one of the checkmarks on the to-do list after install a puppet government and secure the government buildings is, of course, to capture the radio station. Why? Because information is power. Control the flow of information, and you control the power.
So when I heard that Chesapeake, um, I mean Branded News hired Tracy Rowlett, it seemed pretty obvious what was happening. Radio Free Chesapeake is now on the air!
Funny thing is that Tracy is a wee bit sensitive about some of the criticism he’s been getting. “I am catching hell, but the unfortunate truth is most of what the bloggers are saying isn’t true.” Yeah, you know those bloggers.
In the same interview, Rowlett told Unfair Park’s Robert Wilonsky: “You and I both know the news business isn’t what it was when we started. The fact is, we’re not covering Shale issues.”
Well, Tracy, maybe you and Channel 11 haven’t. Funny, I thought you used to have some kind of pull there once. I’m sure Channel 11’s news choices didn’t have anything to do with the Chesapeake gas well right behind your East Fort Worth studios.
Just because your guys at 11 weren’t getting the job done, don’t paint your TV news colleagues with such a broad brush. Some of them have been covering gas drilling and safety issues. Brett Shipp from Channel 8 has won a Peabody Award for investigating Texas Railroad Commission malfeasance and recently delivered an excellent report on the Commission’s cozy relationship with the energy industry. Shipp’s Channel 8 colleague Chris Hawes has also logged lots of time covering Barnett Shale issues. Hell, even freaking Fox4 News had a great story recently about Jay Marcom, the Stephens County rancher who complained to the Texas Railroad Commission about a gas pipeline leak on his property in 2007. Even though the RRC said it couldn’t find any benzene on Marcom’s land, last month FOX4 collected a sample and found it had benzene levels 121,000 times higher that the state allows in groundwater.
You know what that is Tracy? That’s TV journalism at its best. If you’ve been too busy covering apartment fires and the latest trends in cosmetic surgery, you have no one to blame but yourself. You got your ass kicked by Fox News. That’s just shameful.
You want to cover a story that needs covering? How about how the week after more than 200 people showed up at City Hall complaining about the depredations visited upon them largely by your employer’s employer, the Task Force not only dismissed the public comments outright, they even openly mocked the man who was nearly asphyxiated by gas from a nearby drilling site and who wept openly when he described his experience. Nothing was ever reported about that. I would love to see how that was transcribed in the minutes, except the Task Force voted against keeping minutes of its meetings. Seems former Fort Worth mayor and current Chesapeake Barnett Shale consigliere Ken Barr didn’t deem that in Chesapeake’s, um, I mean, the public’s interest.
Some people want to make this about pro-gas drilling or anti-gas drilling. But that’s not it at all. This is about transparent government. Sure, a boring issue, but it’s only the foundation of American civilization. We are not supposed to be some banana republic where a couple of rich guys and fat-cat politcos sit around behind closed doors and decide how things are going to be. That’s not the American way, but that is the way things are done in a banana republic.
And that’s pretty much what we’ve become. Chesapeake has not only captured the radio station, they effectively have a puppet government at City Hall who will not stand in their way. Now its all about winning hearts and minds.
Tracy, you can kid yourself about Shale.TV being a bona fide source of news, but all it does is churn out spin, misinformation and propaganda.
Congratulations on capturing the radio station, Generalissimo. Radio Free Chesapeake is on the air.
Tags: Chesapeake Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Tracy Rowlett
9 Comments, Comments or Pings
Suzette
“This is about transparent government. We are not supposed to be some banana republic where a couple of rich guys and fat-cat politcos sit around behind closed doors and decide how things are going to be. And that’s pretty much what we’ve become. ”
Another great quote on West$Clear. Did you say 3rd world country somewhere in that post? IMO, we are becoming closer and closer to the behaviors of such. It would help if we, as a community and society would pay closer attention to what and who we vote for, with, and against —- oh yhea, and for what reasons. Oh yhea, and how well the public is informed on the facts.
Jul 12th, 2008
Suzette
I don’t organize quotes well, but thanks to Steve-O on the above quote. Forgot to put your name down or link.
Jul 12th, 2008
Chewy
I do think it’s important to note that Rowlett is taking less money to work for Shale.tv. It would be nice to know if he has any stock in companies that produce from the Barnett Shale.
Obviously this is questionable on the surface but I’ll wait and condemn the channel if at all until the actual product is on the air. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles this now that he’s not necessarily chasing an audience.
I personally don’t think it’ll be all that successful from an audience standpoint because this channel isn’t going to have mass reach and lets face it, day to day the Barnett Shale is not all that exciting.
A banana republic is not the American Way but neither is passing judgment before something happens. Not trying to defend Rowlett and Chesapeake at all but let’s be fair and judge something after it’s happened. Isn’t that the American Way?
Jul 13th, 2008
Steve-O
Chewy:
I appreciate your comments, but I don’t think see this as something that has just happened. This is another very chilling step in an aggressive public relations offensive. The model for Shale.TV is the NRA News site. Tell me what you think. Is this news?
Jul 13th, 2008
sirius_girl
Oh for the days when Chesapeake VP Tom Price was the mouthpiece for the company and A. McClendon.
at least his baffoonery was dead on the money and his language a clear representative of what the company thinks of FW citizens.
TP at Trinity Trees
“we’re not sure about global warming……….”
and check it out about what he thinks America is all about - how much of his sarcasm does he hide?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViNPXsBrclY
my all-time favorite was when a huge crowd applauded Wendi Davis’ call for honest representation of Chesapeake’s intentions - Price looked out at the crowd and gave us all two thumbs down. You had to be there to believe it.
Tommy Lee Jones is a pro, Tracey Rowlett’s a pro. They both know who butters there bread. We aren’t likely to hear much more from Jones and I imagine it’s not what we hear from Tracey, but what we won’t.
and that’s the pity.
Jul 13th, 2008
Chris H
“The model for Shale.TV is the NRA News site. Tell me what you think. Is this news?”
I liked it better when you were more Bi-Partisan. Made me feel like our city came first.
Jul 14th, 2008
Bernie
Chris, don’t get defensive about the NRA. I don’t think that example was used as anything more than an example to show a clear case of bias. There is just no way Shale.TV, owned by Chesapeake, will give an honest and complete portrayal of the other side of the story.
Would you go to the NRA’s site to find information supporting limits on gun ownership? No, you’re only going to get pro-gun information there (and I think that’s OK).
Just don’t start up a self-promoting news site and try to sell it to Joe Public as an unbiased news source. That’s a disingenuous argument, and it shows a real lack of respect to the people of this city, in my opinion.
If you want to promote the shale, great. Be honest about it. The detractors of drilling are certainly being honest about their stance on the issue. You don’t see FWCanDo, for example, trying to pass themselves off as the best source for pro-drilling information, do you?
Jul 14th, 2008
Chris H
Bernie,
I’m not defensive (at least I don’t think I am) about the NRA. Just seems like hot button issues like that (the NRA, Pro Life, et al…) generally degenerate and siderail the discussion. Which incidentally I appear to be causing right now. I’ve learned long ago that if you feel passionately about that and similar issues, no amount of arguing will change the other sides mind.
I come to this site so much because I like seeing the differing views on our city. I think of it as my political update, that happens to be a pleasant respite from political updates on a National level. I love this city and like to know what’s going on from multiple sources.
Jul 15th, 2008
Bernie
Agreed that it is a hot topic, and one that is likely to derail discussion at times. I just didn’t see the comment as one that was particularly blasting one side or the other.
Because I know you, and from your response, I thought maybe you took some offense to the NRA comparison. Sounds like that maybe wasn’t the case.
Anyway, thanks for reading and responding. Let’s do lunch again soon.
Jul 15th, 2008
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