Bill Freeman
One of the exhibits on display at the Frist Art Museum right now is We Shall Overcome, a display of photographs taken by The Tennessean and the Nashville Banner during the 1950s and 1960s, one of the most tumultuous times in our country’s history. At the time, the two papers were seen as competitors. One leaned in one political direction, and one leaned another. One came out in the morning. One came out in the afternoon. One of my favorite stories about our two-newspaper town is the story of the clock that stood in front of the building at 1100 Broadway, where the two papers shared space. The clock had two faces. When Daylight Saving Time was new, The Tennessean joined the rest of the country in jumping ahead in time on its side of the clock. The Nashville Banner, however, was not so willing to get on board with the newfangled program and famously refused to adjust its side of the clock in accordance with Daylight Saving. Nashville would see the clock quite literally telling two different times. It famously became a quirky example of Nashville’s competing newspaper industry.
As humorous as that story is and how it highlights the differences between Nashville’s former newspaper rivals, I think the exhibit at the Frist right now is much more in line with the thinking behind the decision my business partner Jimmy Webb and I made to enter the world of newspaper publishing. These images — some graphic and disturbing, some uplifting and inspiring — are the collective result of these two papers, which were rivals in nearly every sense of the word, capturing the news of our city. They both did this phenomenally well, and over the passage of time these images told the story of Nashville’s troubled and triumphant journey during the civil rights movement.
We have always had the utmost respect for newspaper publishing, and the responsibility and honor that newspapers have in collecting the news and informing the public. Press is one of the pillars of American freedom, and an entirely new generation is growing to see the power of the press: shining a light on government activities, showing how our schools are succeeding or struggling, explaining how our taxes are being used for good or for ill — all of these are within the grasp of a good community newspaper. It is to the newspaper that we all turn to see what happened. Even in our changing world, a physical, hold-it-in-your-hand print newspaper still has a valid place. It isn’t a smartphone. It isn’t a daily email blast. It is a newspaper.
Nashville once was a two-newspaper town. The presence of two newspapers brought competition, but it also brought balance and more complete news coverage. The Scene has always been a newspaper that shined the light on Nashville’s happenings better than any other. It has always been a paper that was happy to report from the sidelines and surprise Nashville with its in-depth coverage. It became known as the paper that was willing to stick its nose into business that might get it socked, all for the sake of reporting the news to Nashvillians who deserved to know the whole story. That is what appealed to us when Jimmy and I were first approached about the prospect of entering the newspaper publishing business. We had the ability to bring resources to the table that would allow the Scene to tell even more compelling stories to Nashville — stories that Nashville is unlikely to find anywhere else.
We feel it is very important for a city’s news to be told by people who live and work here, who have roots in this community. While The Tennessean is working to find a successful model of print and digital applications for local and statewide coverage, more and more often it chooses to fill its broadsheets with news written outside our community. That is both a blessing and a curse for a true community newspaper. More than half the news you read in The Tennessean these days comes from other Gannett newspapers, either across the state or across the country. It can indeed bring a national perspective to the news coverage The Tennessean provides. Jimmy and I, however, are proud to join the team at the Scene — our local newspaper that provides a distinctively Nashville perspective. We promise to do our part to ensure that Nashville has all the local coverage that only a local paper can provide. It is our privilege to do so, and we take the responsibility seriously.
Bill Freeman
Owner, Nashville Scene
