Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Ohio radio station focuses on fracking during live call-in show tonight at 8 EST; will be online

The public radio station serving southeastern Ohio, WOUB-FM of Athens, is broadcasting a live call-in show tonight devoted to the issue of hydraulic fracturing for natural-gas production. The show, part of the station's "Fracking Frenzy" series, will air and go online at 8 p.m. EST.

WOUB reaches most of Appalachian Ohio and bordering areas of West Virginia and Kentucky, where natural-gas exploration and drilling has boomed in recent years.

The call-in show will include a panel of regional experts on the issue, including the executive director of the Ohio Petroleum Council and professors from Ohio University and Marietta College.

The scheduled host of the show, Terry Smith, is editor of The Athens News, the twice-weekly newspaper in Athens. The News has provided extensive coverage of gas leasing in the region, including an article Monday reporting that numerous leases in southeastern Ohio were being offered for sale at an industry exposition last week in Texas. The newspaper's opinion section also has been a dominant forum for debate over the divisive issue.

WOUB is the public broadcasting center at Ohio University, where the author of this post works. The author is not involved in the program.

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