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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged natural gas

1. March 3, 2011 01:45 PM

   “Frack”-tious Reactions

   Skirmishes follow recent coverage of shale-gas drilling

   By Curtis Brainard

   The former head of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection is not happy with The New York Times’s Ian Urbina and his series about risks and regulations related to natural-gas drilling, a rapidly growing industry. After the series launched with a long article on the front page of Sunday’s newspaper, John Hanger—who left Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulatory agency in January, following...

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2. October 5, 2011 05:47 PM

   Wichita Eagle Eyes Regulatory Cracks Before a Failure

   By Ryan Chittum

   Here's a solid Wichita Eagle report that shows the holes in a regulatory system—ones that could have deadly consequences. What I particularly like about Dion Lefler's story is that it is anticipatory reporting on the regulatory system—before a failure reveals holes in oversight. That's the most important kind of regulation story. A year and a half ago, a federal judge...

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3. February 9, 2012 11:55 PM

   Audit Notes: Energy Economy, Insider Trading, Mortgage Settlement

   By Ryan Chittum

   Here's a good Wall Street Journal page-one story on how the energy boom is driving economic activity across the U.S. The lede anecdote is smart. Russell Gold visits a manufactured-housing builder in Idaho, far from the shale boom states, to show how the effects of all the drilling are rippling out into the broader economy. Where the company profiled was...

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4. October 23, 2012 11:00 AM

   Debunking the ‘war on coal,’ take two

   The AP gets it right the second time around

   By Curtis Brainard

   If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Such was The Associated Press’s approach this month to explaining the so-called ‘war on coal’ that conservative spin doctors have been peddling throughout the presidential campaign. An October 15 article by Donna Cassata failed miserably, recycling the narrative that environmental regulations under the Obama administration are the reason for recent turmoil...

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5. April 19, 2012 07:51 PM

   Excellent Reuters Probe Uncovers a CEO’s Billion-Dollar Loans

   By Ryan Chittum

   Reuters has a fantastic piece of enterprise reporting on natural gas giant Chesapeake Energy, reporting on serious conflicts of interest in investments by its founder and CEO Aubrey McClendon. Yesterday, the report helped send Chesapeake shares down 10 percent at one point. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette broke the news last month that McClendon was borrowing against his share of Chesapeake mineral-rights...

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6. May 2, 2012 05:35 PM

   Reuters uncovers Chesapeake CEO’s other day job

   Second probe in two weeks deals gas tycoon Aubrey McClendon another big headache

   By Ryan Chittum

   Reuters unloads another outstanding scoop on the sketchy doings of Chesapeake Energy Aubrey McClendon, reporting that the CEO ran a hedge fund inside Chesapeake from 2004 to 2008 that bet on natural gas. While Reuters notes up high that insider trading isn't illegal in commodities, McClendon's moonlighting as a fund manager was never disclosed to investors and perhaps not even...

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7. July 5, 2012 06:50 AM

   Reuters’s Chesapeake Energy drumbeat

   Internal emails show companies scheming to lower bids on drilling rights

   By Ryan Chittum

   Reuters continues to draw a bead on Chesapeake Energy and its CEO Aubrey McClendon, whose scalp it will be claiming shortly, reporting that the company schemed to collude with a competitor to keep from bidding up drilling leases on a big auction by the Michigan government and on private deals. Back in April, Reuters reported (with a big assist from...

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