Another year, another Phil Williams/Tennessean team-up on a political scandal. Last year, it was NewsChannel 5’s Williams and The Tennessean’s Joey Garrison who led the coverage that in part led to Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s resignation. This year, Williams’ reporting, with key contributions from The Tennessean’s Natalie Allison and Joel Ebert, preceded House Speaker Glen Casada’s downfall. Williams’ first story dropped on the final day of the legislative session in May; it included a number of revelations, notably that Casada’s chief of staff Cade Cothren sent racist text messages. The stories kept coming. A few days later, Allison and Ebert revealed that Casada himself had sent creepy messages about women to his top aide. It took a few weeks, but Republicans ultimately called for him to step aside, and he did. STEPHEN ELLIOTT
Best Investigative Efforts
Phil Williams/Natalie Allison/Joel Ebert
