Barnett Shale on NPR

NPR

My favorite part: When Chesapeak Energy’s advertising Propaganda Campaign was referred to as putting lipstick on a pig

Here’s the text:

In the wake of Chesapeake’s infomercial comes Shale TV, a daily talk show about the Barnett Shale set to air this fall. The company has hired three award-winning Dallas broadcast journalists to produce the show.

Julie Wilson, Chesapeake vice president for corporate development, says she understands there’s skepticism about the objectivity of Shale TV, but she insists it’s no different than the rest of corporate media.

“Well, I think we pay those journalists — whether on Channel 8 or Channel 11 or the Star-Telegram — in terms of advertising support,” Wilson says. “We see this as pretty much instead of running the ads on the program, we’re just writing the check direct.”

Man, you gotta just admire the bald-faced truth as trotted out here, “Hey, we own the freakin’ media anyway – advertising or just plain payin’ the guys direct – what’s the difference?”

Open the dictionary, look up hubris….let’s see…

hubris – wanton insolence or arrogance resulting from excessive pride (see quote from Chesapeake mouthpiece in recent NPR story)

The comeback:

“With all the lipstick you put on it, it’s still a pig,” Roberts said. “It is still a media campaign for the company to get people to sign their leases.”