Musings On The Media

At Netroots Nation, there were many calls for media reform. We discussed how the corporate conglomerates that own major media outlets are more concerned with promoting sensationalism or maintaining a false picture of "balance" than with actually reporting truthful news. It got me thinking about our media outlets in Nashville, and how much we lack.

Our main newspaper, the Tennessean, is total fluff that barely displays any real "local" news. Their editorials are generally truthful and thoughtful, but they feel the need to "balance" it with the most ugly and hateful of conservative syndicated columnists. Other than that, the main news stories are just reprints from the AP and Reuters that I could easily read online. I do still read the Tennessean for the sports and the comics, but I could get those online as well.

I generally like the City Paper. I don't think it's "conservative" so much as it is pro-business. I disagree with Clint Brewer sometimes but I think his heart is in the right place. And Rex Noseworthy is always a good read. The problem with the City Paper is that a) it only runs a few times a week and b) its focus is probably too narrow to bring news like this to the masses. I personally appreciate this narrow focus, but the City Paper is still too small to serve as an effective local mass-media outlet.

And then there's the Nashville Scene.

There's no doubt that the Scene has produced some of the most hard-hitting, in-depth local stories you'll find anywhere. I remember reading Elizabeth Ulrich's series about sex abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention a few months ago, and being moved and outraged. It was a quality work of journalism, one that you certainly wouldn't see in the Tennessean.

But lately, the Scene is starting to read like a parody of itself. You know how the Tennessee Guerilla Women now sound like a right-wing parody of "femi-nazis"? That's what I feel like the Scene sounds like sometimes. Yes, Jeff Woods and Matt Pulle, we get the point--Waller Lansden is the face of pure and unrelenting evil, and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce contaminates anything it comes into contact with. I'm glad they're calling attention to these groups' potential influence on our political system, but it's becoming quite obsessive. And while I'm sure it would be better for their consciences if we got rid of the Predators and turned the Sommet Center into one massive homeless shelter, I'm not sure it would necessarily be better for the city as a whole.

So I really don't know what the answer is. We've got three print media outlets that all bring something to the table, but all of whom have serious flaws.