The Nashville Banner published its last print issue in 1998 after more than a century of local news. Owned until the 1970s by the well-connected conservative Stahlman family, the Banner hit mailboxes on weekday afternoons and complemented The Tennessean’s more liberal editorial voice, recalling an era rich in local news marked by competition between outlets.Â
Today the Banner publishes anew as a nonpartisan online outlet anchored by a stable of established Nashville journalists. Former Scene editor-in-chief Steve Cavendish and legendary Nashville TV anchor Demetria Kalodimos lead the Banner’s nine-person news team. The Scene has enjoyed a fruitful prelaunch partnership with the Banner, frequently syndicating work from Cavendish, Connor Daryani and Stephen Elliott.
“We did some work on the website, we launched a morning newsletter with our best stories and original reporting that aggregates other sources for readers to get a sense of the news of the day, and we’re producing on a daily basis now," Cavendish tells the Scene. "You’ll see stories from us every day and more volume in the coming weeks and months. It’ll take us a bit of time to get ramped up, but you'll see a lot more work this week and in the future."
From shrinking traditional newsrooms to the rise of nonprofit news, here’s a look at Nashville’s news ecosystem
Proudly paywall-free, nonprofit and nonpartisan, the revamped Banner touts its launch as “a direct response to the decline of public service journalism in Tennessee.” Reporting will focus on local issues — Metro, Politics, Criminal Justice and Courts each gets its own website breakout tabs, accompanied by a video section. Kalodimos has already produced several video segments for the Banner, including an interview series during last summer’s local elections. The team includes Scene alumni Stephen Elliott (former editor-in-chief of our sister publication the Nashville Post), Steve Haruch (former Scene culture editor), Steven Hale (former Scene reporter) and Daryani (former Scene editorial intern), as well as former executive producer at WPLN’s This Is Nashville Andrea Tudhope, longtime Nashville sportswriter David Boclair (also formerly of the Post) and photographer Martin Cherry. Fundraiser Paige Hendrickson joins the Banner after holding a similar role at WPLN. The Banner website also lists open positions for an enterprise reporter and a statehouse reporter.Â
The media beat typically involves reporting on shuttering outlets and waves of layoffs as newsrooms battle corporate takeovers and economic viability. With its launch, the Banner is a rare exception betting on civic support rather than a strict for-profit model. Listed donors include the Frist and Ingram families. Tax documents for the Banner's umbrella organization Nashville Public Media Inc. show an uptick in fundraising as this year's launch approached. A small board of directors includes former Scene owner and editor Bruce Dobie (now heading the Power Poll), retired Vanderbilt administrator Beth Fortune, health care executive Tené Franklin and New York Times editor Michael Whitley.
