I read the news today, oh boy...and it pretty much came from the wire serves
I'm thinking that 'The Tennessean' might wanna change their name to 'Wire Serviceean'. In todays front section of the paper, excepting the always spine-tingling editorials, there were TWO, repeat, TWO stories written by Tennessean reporters. And, one of the stories actually belonged in the Living Section. The South End Grounds blog weighs in on the news significance of this breaking IPOD story featured on the front page of the today's 'news'paper.
When the Banner (erstwhile daily evening paper of years gone by) was around, its editorial policy drove me crazy, but it featured some of the best writers in town, including Bruce Dobie, late of the Scene, and Buster Olney, sports writer for ESPN.COM and previously for the NY Times, and many other names you would probably recognize. The competition from the Banner kept the Tennessean on its news-toes. Some brilliant investigative reporting in the Tennessean, including the amazing Jerry Thompson Ku-Klux Klan undercover series, came about, I believe, because the Banner always made the Tennessean a better paper (just like the 1994 Republican revolution congress made Clinton a better more focused President - at least until M. Lewinsky blew in).
The purchase of the Tennessean by the Gannett newspaper chain was the beginning of the downfall. Vanilla focus-group inspired stories began popping up on the front page. The strong, thorough investigative stores largely disappeared.
The current Tennessean is not void of talent. Larry Daughtery, love him or hate him, knows the state legislative process inside and out. Gail Kerr knows Nashville inside and out and writes with her heart and brain. The Tennessean sports section is loaded with insight, and there is some good music industry and music coverage.
Other than those examples, we might as well be reading USA Today, the McNews paper of record.
Finally, I have some cross words about the daily Crossword puzzle and comics. Would it be too much to ask for the Tennessean to add the NY Times daily puzzle or another puzzle of equal difficulty in addition to the daily United Feature puzzle? When the Banner evaporated, I thought the Tennessean would pick up most, if not all, of the Banner's comics. Other morning papers, in cities where the afternoon daily died, now have two to three pages of comics because they picked up what the afternoon papers previously carried. The current Tennessean comic selection is mostly mediocre, imo, and could use some modernizing.
I wish the City Paper was more competitive. It appears to be slowly dying (based on the shrinkage of pages and features), but they do cover local news well. Apparently, the Tennessean doesn't consider the City Paper much of a threat, or there would have been some kind of improvement since the CP arrived....
When the Banner (erstwhile daily evening paper of years gone by) was around, its editorial policy drove me crazy, but it featured some of the best writers in town, including Bruce Dobie, late of the Scene, and Buster Olney, sports writer for ESPN.COM and previously for the NY Times, and many other names you would probably recognize. The competition from the Banner kept the Tennessean on its news-toes. Some brilliant investigative reporting in the Tennessean, including the amazing Jerry Thompson Ku-Klux Klan undercover series, came about, I believe, because the Banner always made the Tennessean a better paper (just like the 1994 Republican revolution congress made Clinton a better more focused President - at least until M. Lewinsky blew in).
The purchase of the Tennessean by the Gannett newspaper chain was the beginning of the downfall. Vanilla focus-group inspired stories began popping up on the front page. The strong, thorough investigative stores largely disappeared.
The current Tennessean is not void of talent. Larry Daughtery, love him or hate him, knows the state legislative process inside and out. Gail Kerr knows Nashville inside and out and writes with her heart and brain. The Tennessean sports section is loaded with insight, and there is some good music industry and music coverage.
Other than those examples, we might as well be reading USA Today, the McNews paper of record.
Finally, I have some cross words about the daily Crossword puzzle and comics. Would it be too much to ask for the Tennessean to add the NY Times daily puzzle or another puzzle of equal difficulty in addition to the daily United Feature puzzle? When the Banner evaporated, I thought the Tennessean would pick up most, if not all, of the Banner's comics. Other morning papers, in cities where the afternoon daily died, now have two to three pages of comics because they picked up what the afternoon papers previously carried. The current Tennessean comic selection is mostly mediocre, imo, and could use some modernizing.
I wish the City Paper was more competitive. It appears to be slowly dying (based on the shrinkage of pages and features), but they do cover local news well. Apparently, the Tennessean doesn't consider the City Paper much of a threat, or there would have been some kind of improvement since the CP arrived....
