Former Banner Reporter Cancels Tennessean Subscription

By Kleinheider Posted on August 19, 2008 at 11:43 am

From desk of political consultant Bill Fletcher:

I canceled my subscription to The Tennessean today. It wasn’t that hard (since I’m a former Banner reporter) but the sad truth is I have been a subscriber to the Tennessean, continuously, since April of 1980.

I spoke to the customer service representative, who was in Fort Worth, and told her my tale of woe and she commiserated with me and said she would tell her boss and that she was sorry. Nice lady.

So, after all these years, why did I cancel my subscription? Well, I had a letter shoved under the door of my downtown apartment from Tressie Minor, who purports to be the Owner/Operator of a company called Colossal Incorporated, 101 Hickory Park Lane, Antioch, TN 37013. Now, Tressie writes, “Effective Wednesday August 20, 2008 all papers will be labeled with your suite number or business name and will be available at the security / concierge desk for you to retrieve.”

Oh lovely. Now, can you possibly imagine the sight at apartment buildings and condos in downtown Nashville. Early morning. All those people staggering down to the lobby in their jammies, shorts, t-shirts, soiled robes and flipflops to get their paper. Spilling coffee in the elevator. Bumping into people they’ve been avoiding. Oh the humanity.

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Tags: Bill Fletcher, The Tennessean  

Briley Broadsides Bloggers: He’s In Your Blogosphere Restricting All Your Access [VIDEO]

By Kleinheider Posted on May 20, 2008 at 2:15 pm

Representative Rob Briley criticizes the press and bloggers cautioning that if media doesn’t act responsibly they will be denied access to information.

Rep. Briley, of course, was the subject of quite a few barrels of ink and webspace after getting clipped for DUI after a hit and run. Following his arrest, Briley gave the name of a lobbyist as his next of kin. Later, it was reported by the Nashville Scene that Briley and the lobbyist were having an affair:

“The right to a free and open press though comes with a responsibility, and from my experience over the past year, that responsibility is not being lived up to,” Briley (D-Nashville) said from the main House podium.

“We used to talk about the politics of personal destruction. Well that’s no longer what’s going on. It’s the publishing of personal destruction, and we owe it to ourselves to do better than that. We owe it to the rest of our society to do better than that.”

….Briley said that government needs to be “as open as possible.”

“But the press needs to understand that if they’re not responsible with that information, that they’re not going to have access to it anymore,” Briley said.

In addition to the mainstream press, Briley criticized bloggers, remarking that “just because you say it, doesn’t make it true.”

SEE ALSO:
Katie Allison Granju
Stacey Campfield
Nashville Scene
The AP
Bill Hobbs
Jennifer Peebles (II)
Sean Braisted
Kay Brooks
Grantham Is Talking

IRRESPONSIBLE LINKS:
Rob Briley Clipped For DUI
Casada To Briley: “Resign”
More Reaction To The Arrest Of Rep. Rob Briley
Crime Spree?
The Rob Briley DUI Video
The Agony Of Da Feet — Against The Window
Lawyer Lobbyist
Representative Rob Briley In The Wind
Representative Rob Briley Found In Tunica Casino
Mary Littleton No Longer Listed As Trial Lawyer Association’s Lobbyist (UPDATED)
Briley Pleads Guilty To DUI, Diversion For The Rest
A Briley Diverted: The Day After
Mr. Briley’s Wild Ride
A Place Of Discovery: Rob Briley’s Absence Explained
Rob Briley From The Well On Getting Well On YouTube
BREAKING: State Rep. Rob Briley Will Not Run For Re-Election
Gone Briley Gone
Briley’s Ophelia Ford Moment

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Tags: Freedom, journalism, NashvillePost.com, NewsChannel5, Rob Briley, the Blogosphere, The CIty Paper, The First Amendment, The Nashville Scene, The Press, The Tennessean, WKRN. WSMV