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The Alt-Weekly Crisis Hits Nashville. And Democracy The Alt-Weekly Crisis Hits Nashville. And Democracy.
(about 7 hours later)
NASHVILLE — No one was shocked last week when SouthComm Inc., a Nashville-based media company, announced it was selling The Nashville Scene, its flagship alternative newsweekly. SouthComm had already sold or was in the process of selling its newspapers in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Tampa and Washington. And alt-weeklies around the country have been declining for years.NASHVILLE — No one was shocked last week when SouthComm Inc., a Nashville-based media company, announced it was selling The Nashville Scene, its flagship alternative newsweekly. SouthComm had already sold or was in the process of selling its newspapers in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Tampa and Washington. And alt-weeklies around the country have been declining for years.
Gone are The Baltimore City Paper, The Philadelphia City Paper, The Boston Phoenix. Last year, here in Tennessee, The Knoxville Mercury shut down. Also last year, Atlanta’s Creative Loafing laid off all but one person on the entire editorial staff. Even The Village Voice, the alt-weekly that invented alt-weeklies, now survives only online.Gone are The Baltimore City Paper, The Philadelphia City Paper, The Boston Phoenix. Last year, here in Tennessee, The Knoxville Mercury shut down. Also last year, Atlanta’s Creative Loafing laid off all but one person on the entire editorial staff. Even The Village Voice, the alt-weekly that invented alt-weeklies, now survives only online.
Seeing The Scene on the auction block might not be surprising, but it’s still heartbreaking. In a shortsighted effort to make the paper more appealing to buyers, SouthComm laid off some passionate, immensely talented journalists and seriously overburdened those who remained. Some of them are people I know because I once wrote for The Scene, and I have spent more than 20 years watching the difference this newspaper has made to my city.Seeing The Scene on the auction block might not be surprising, but it’s still heartbreaking. In a shortsighted effort to make the paper more appealing to buyers, SouthComm laid off some passionate, immensely talented journalists and seriously overburdened those who remained. Some of them are people I know because I once wrote for The Scene, and I have spent more than 20 years watching the difference this newspaper has made to my city.
In 1996, the summer my second child was born, I sent an envelope full of essays to The Nashville Scene. I was not a journalist — I was an English teacher on maternity leave — but the managing editor offered me a weekly column anyway. In time, I moved on to writing book reviews and then to editing them. In 2009, The Scene’s owners killed the book page in a round of cost cutting, but within months I was back, in a way: I had gone on to edit a new nonprofit website designed to compensate for dwindling book coverage in newspapers. The site, an initiative of Humanities Tennessee, offers local literary news to state media outlets at no charge in exchange for byline credit and a link online. The first paper to sign up for our content was The Nashville Scene. It is still our partner today.In 1996, the summer my second child was born, I sent an envelope full of essays to The Nashville Scene. I was not a journalist — I was an English teacher on maternity leave — but the managing editor offered me a weekly column anyway. In time, I moved on to writing book reviews and then to editing them. In 2009, The Scene’s owners killed the book page in a round of cost cutting, but within months I was back, in a way: I had gone on to edit a new nonprofit website designed to compensate for dwindling book coverage in newspapers. The site, an initiative of Humanities Tennessee, offers local literary news to state media outlets at no charge in exchange for byline credit and a link online. The first paper to sign up for our content was The Nashville Scene. It is still our partner today.
In its early days, The Scene, like other alt-weeklies of the time, played the role of gadfly. Its job was to entertain, to shock, to peek into the quirky corners of the community and celebrate the oddball geniuses living here. It was a place where young journalists (and not-so-young English teachers) could learn their trade. Nonfiction writers as diverse as Katherine Boo, David Carr, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Joe Klein and Susan Orlean got their start at alt-weeklies.In its early days, The Scene, like other alt-weeklies of the time, played the role of gadfly. Its job was to entertain, to shock, to peek into the quirky corners of the community and celebrate the oddball geniuses living here. It was a place where young journalists (and not-so-young English teachers) could learn their trade. Nonfiction writers as diverse as Katherine Boo, David Carr, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Joe Klein and Susan Orlean got their start at alt-weeklies.
When classified ads — the bread and butter of the newspaper business — migrated online, newspapers big and small suffered. In towns like Nashville, midsize cities too small to sustain more than one daily paper, alt-weeklies morphed from journalism’s irreverent younger siblings into necessary institutions. They covered news the shrinking dailies no longer touched, and they served as urgent competitors in areas where the dailies still invested resources, such as politics.When classified ads — the bread and butter of the newspaper business — migrated online, newspapers big and small suffered. In towns like Nashville, midsize cities too small to sustain more than one daily paper, alt-weeklies morphed from journalism’s irreverent younger siblings into necessary institutions. They covered news the shrinking dailies no longer touched, and they served as urgent competitors in areas where the dailies still invested resources, such as politics.
In 1998, Nashville’s Gannett-owned morning daily, The Tennessean, bought the evening daily, the 122-year-old Nashville Banner, and then promptly shut it down. But reporters for The Scene were still right there, still holding politicians accountable and covering local arts in the kind of depth the daily never even aspired to.In 1998, Nashville’s Gannett-owned morning daily, The Tennessean, bought the evening daily, the 122-year-old Nashville Banner, and then promptly shut it down. But reporters for The Scene were still right there, still holding politicians accountable and covering local arts in the kind of depth the daily never even aspired to.
“A lot of the work that alt-weeklies do now fills in the gaps” created by understaffed dailies, said the former Scene editor Steve Cavendish. “It’s investigative work. It’s cultural work. There’s nobody else writing culture in this city. There’s nobody else writing food in this city. There’s nobody else writing arts in this city. The only place you see that coverage, really, is in The Scene.”“A lot of the work that alt-weeklies do now fills in the gaps” created by understaffed dailies, said the former Scene editor Steve Cavendish. “It’s investigative work. It’s cultural work. There’s nobody else writing culture in this city. There’s nobody else writing food in this city. There’s nobody else writing arts in this city. The only place you see that coverage, really, is in The Scene.”
In 2017, The Scene published in-depth cover stories on Those Darlins singer Jessi Zazu, who died in September at age 28 of cervical cancer; Cyrus Wilson, an inmate convicted of murder on the basis of testimony that has since been recanted; Nashville’s prospects for landing a Major League Soccer franchise (spoiler alert: We got it); a rape and sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the former Fox News commentator Scottie Nell Hughes; refugees living in Nashville; and a brilliant explanation for Nashville’s seemingly inexplicable invasion of drunk bridesmaids. Plus 46 others. And that’s not counting the reporting and analysis to be found in the rest of the paper, or on The Scene’s several blogs.In 2017, The Scene published in-depth cover stories on Those Darlins singer Jessi Zazu, who died in September at age 28 of cervical cancer; Cyrus Wilson, an inmate convicted of murder on the basis of testimony that has since been recanted; Nashville’s prospects for landing a Major League Soccer franchise (spoiler alert: We got it); a rape and sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the former Fox News commentator Scottie Nell Hughes; refugees living in Nashville; and a brilliant explanation for Nashville’s seemingly inexplicable invasion of drunk bridesmaids. Plus 46 others. And that’s not counting the reporting and analysis to be found in the rest of the paper, or on The Scene’s several blogs.
Equally important is what alt-weeklies bring to political reporting. The history of Southern politics is a history of cronyism, and the situation is hardly better now — and hardly unique to the South. Too often, public servants answer to special interests like the N.R.A. and the Koch brothers out of fear of facing well-funded primary challengers they have little chance of beating. In statehouses and city halls across the country, the only thing standing between an oligarchy and a true republic is often a local newspaper reporter working on an ancient laptop to shore up the bulwark of truth.Equally important is what alt-weeklies bring to political reporting. The history of Southern politics is a history of cronyism, and the situation is hardly better now — and hardly unique to the South. Too often, public servants answer to special interests like the N.R.A. and the Koch brothers out of fear of facing well-funded primary challengers they have little chance of beating. In statehouses and city halls across the country, the only thing standing between an oligarchy and a true republic is often a local newspaper reporter working on an ancient laptop to shore up the bulwark of truth.
Bill Haslam, Tennessee’s Republican governor, is serving his final year in office. In a speech last week to the Tennessee Press Association, he acknowledged the risks of insufficiently funded news organizations: “This is going to be a really important political year. This is a real governor’s race. We have a Senate race that’s really important, not just for the state but the country, and a number of congressional seats in play. My fear is that all of these won’t be covered in the detail they traditionally have.”Bill Haslam, Tennessee’s Republican governor, is serving his final year in office. In a speech last week to the Tennessee Press Association, he acknowledged the risks of insufficiently funded news organizations: “This is going to be a really important political year. This is a real governor’s race. We have a Senate race that’s really important, not just for the state but the country, and a number of congressional seats in play. My fear is that all of these won’t be covered in the detail they traditionally have.”
As more and more national advertising moves to internet giants like Google and Facebook, daily newspapers will continue to contract. Last week, eight months after taking home a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, the daily Charleston Gazette-Mail filed for bankruptcy. Employees at East Bay Times, a Pulitzer Prize-winning daily in Northern California, are taking buyouts and facing layoffs.As more and more national advertising moves to internet giants like Google and Facebook, daily newspapers will continue to contract. Last week, eight months after taking home a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, the daily Charleston Gazette-Mail filed for bankruptcy. Employees at East Bay Times, a Pulitzer Prize-winning daily in Northern California, are taking buyouts and facing layoffs.
In this climate, the importance of vibrant community alt-weeklies will continue to grow. While The Scene faces economic challenges, it is still a profitable newspaper. But it desperately needs a buyer willing to invest in its future — and, when necessary, to look beyond the quarterly bottom line to what the newspaper brings to this community.In this climate, the importance of vibrant community alt-weeklies will continue to grow. While The Scene faces economic challenges, it is still a profitable newspaper. But it desperately needs a buyer willing to invest in its future — and, when necessary, to look beyond the quarterly bottom line to what the newspaper brings to this community.
“The financial pressures on these papers are going to require a different kind of owner,” Mr. Cavendish said in an interview. “There needs to be a new level of civic ownership that doesn’t require a pound of flesh to be taken out every quarter, or every year.”“The financial pressures on these papers are going to require a different kind of owner,” Mr. Cavendish said in an interview. “There needs to be a new level of civic ownership that doesn’t require a pound of flesh to be taken out every quarter, or every year.”
The owners of a local newspaper need to understand that they have not invested in an engine for quarter-over-quarter shareholder profit. They have entered into a crucial compact with their fellow citizens. They have invested in the city itself.The owners of a local newspaper need to understand that they have not invested in an engine for quarter-over-quarter shareholder profit. They have entered into a crucial compact with their fellow citizens. They have invested in the city itself.
In sanctioning modest profits and sometimes fitful growth, the new owners of The Scene will earn the privilege of uncovering conflicts of interest that public servants would prefer to keep hidden, demanding access to public records the public doesn’t yet know are theirs, helping people who are enduring injustice, and championing people who are quietly making a difference.In sanctioning modest profits and sometimes fitful growth, the new owners of The Scene will earn the privilege of uncovering conflicts of interest that public servants would prefer to keep hidden, demanding access to public records the public doesn’t yet know are theirs, helping people who are enduring injustice, and championing people who are quietly making a difference.
Owning a local newspaper is not the way to wealth. It’s the way to something far more important than wealth. In this age of “alternative truth,” the real news, for all its deadline-driven mistakes, is our best hope for surviving the now-daily challenges to American democracy.Owning a local newspaper is not the way to wealth. It’s the way to something far more important than wealth. In this age of “alternative truth,” the real news, for all its deadline-driven mistakes, is our best hope for surviving the now-daily challenges to American democracy.
The Nashville Scene is for sale. Someone who cares about the fate of this city — and this country — should buy it.The Nashville Scene is for sale. Someone who cares about the fate of this city — and this country — should buy it.