Shale.TV adds another CBS11 newsman
09/20/08 09:51 AM
By ED BARK
The newsroom ranks at CBS11 got another trimming Friday with reporter Mark Johnson's decision to leave after six years at the station.
Johnson's last day was Friday and his new home will be the still-under-construction Shale.TV website, headed by former CBS11 colleagues Tracy Rowlett and John Sparks, and ex-network producer and Dallas Morning News reporter Olive Talley. He'll be a "senior correspondent and fill-in host," according to a member sent to CBS11 staffers by news director Scott Diener.
Sponsored in full by the Chesapeake Energy Corporation, the site is being billed as an objective vehicle to discuss production of natural gas in the Barnett Shale and other natural gas shales throughout the country. Skepticism abounds as Shale.TV ramps up for a tentative October launch.
Diener noted that Johnson had covered stories ranging from Hurricane Rita to the space shuttle Columbia disaster to the 2004 presidential election.
"We will miss Mark's excellent story telling, creative live work, political contacts and knowledge, keen interest in environmental reporting and ability to flawlessly jump on the anchor desk with just a moment's notice," Diener said.
It's unknown whether Johnson's spot will be filled or left vacant. CBS11 now is down to 11 full-time street reporters. The rest of its news team is comprised of either full- or part-time news, weather and sports anchors.