Saturday, December 27, 2008

'Where was The Tennessean?' I'll answer tomorrow

After yesterday's press conference unveiling an exciting new coalition of the willing in Nashville, Dr. Charles McGowan -- one of the movers behind the effort -- asked "where was The Tennessean?"

A lot of people have asked that question over the years -- be they conservatives, liberal or of no ideology at all.

The Tennessean -- primarily in its newsroom -- has operated as an institution to be served first, not to serve. And its interest in any cause that rises from the people is quite limited. It sees the world from its ivory tower and has little interest to mix with the people below, no matter how much good they are doing or innocent of wrongdoing.

So the absence of The Tennessean yesterday at the press conference about the Music City Charity Inaugural Ball was to be expected, and I told Dr. McGowan so.

How and why The Tennessean got that way will be among the matters I'll cover in my series of posts, "The Rise and the Fall of The Tennessean".

Look for the first entry tomorrow.

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