Wed
Apr 26 2017
04:01 pm
Shocker at the Shopper
By: R. Neal

We are told by a reliable source that Betty Bean has resigned from the Shopper effective Friday. Then there's this internal email from the KNS McPaper regarding her replacement...

Brian Hornback will start writing a political column for the Shopper. His first column will be for the May 10 editions. He will email his columns to news@shoppernewsnow.com by the end of the day on Thursdays. Here is his website if you want to check it out.
(link...)

What was McElroy thinking? Hope they haven't laid off all their copy editors. And if they are all in Nashville, they will need a translator.

Topics:
WhitesCreek's picture

There goes one of the last

Submitted by WhitesCreek on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 4:10pm.

There goes one of the last shreds of credibility the Shopper had.

B Harmon's picture

Sandra and Betty!

Submitted by B Harmon on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 4:19pm.

So what is left, Victor Ashe and now Hornback.

Goodbye Shopper News.

What is Betty going to do now? Betty, are you there?

Andy Axel's picture

The Truth Squat

Submitted by Andy Axel on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 4:49pm.

could somehow survive a tactical nuclear strike, apparently.

But you already know how cockroaches are wired.

Knoxgal's picture

Bad move KNS

Submitted by Knoxgal on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 4:52pm.

I know people who continue to take the print edition just to get the shopper. In some areas the Shopper comes as an inset to the Wednesday edition. I hope they're prepared for a further decline in circulation.

I doubt these decisions were made at the local level.

jbr's picture

The Mercury is probably

Submitted by jbr on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 4:56pm.

The Mercury is probably having some interesting planning meetings.

Bbeanster's picture

Thelma and Louise gonna ride

Submitted by Bbeanster on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 5:14pm.

Thelma and Louise gonna ride again!

Tamara Shepherd's picture

*

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 7:28pm.
(in reply to Bbeanster)


Thelma and Louise gonna ride again!

I'm vastly relieved to hear it, Betty. Do tell us what you can, when you can.

Rachel's picture

I was reading the Shopper

Submitted by Rachel on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 6:38pm.

I was reading the Shopper News today and missing Sandra.

Anybody who replaces Betty with Hornback is just stupid. His writing is just ungrammatical Greg Johnson.

R. Neal's picture

Hornback "the Mega Bullhorn

Submitted by R. Neal on Wed, 2017/04/26 - 7:40pm.

Hornback "the Mega Bullhorn of Truth" is gloating on twitter...

...kinda reminds me of the reality tv show Survivor. Outwit, Outplay, Outlast CC. @brianhornback @knoxviews

...if the liberals are attacking, using mean words it means @Shockand_awe is on right track 8/9/2017 is 13 years CC @knoxviews

Edit: oohh, "mean words." Sounds like Brian needs a "safe space."

danandrews's picture

BRILLIANT MOVE! EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED!

Submitted by danandrews on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 1:18am.

REALLY? Let's look at the numbers! Sandra Clark, Betty Bean, and their army of reporters...vs. One Man, one Blog. A newspaper that has been around since the 60's verse a modern day cyber digital one man army!

Another thing, I would not be surprised if the great minds at KNS are preparing to pull some technical moves so that the new Shopper will be able to get legal notices as a paper of weekly circulation...
As far as the

"Thelma and Louise gonna ride again!" That is exactly why they are bringing in Team Hornback (I really hope WBIR adds him to their Sunday Show!)
Yes Betty and Sandra are "Thelma and Louise." However, Hornback is the modern day "Fast and the Furious!" Trail blazing the political landscape with the most modern social media. Sandra and Betty are old school. A pair of great reporters who do great work, yet are still living in the 90s.

So basically what we got is the "Fast and the Furious" verse "Driving Miss Daisy."

https://www.similarweb.com/website/brianhornback.com?competitors=shoppernewsnow.com

Andy Axel's picture

a modern day cyber digital

Submitted by Andy Axel on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 1:45pm.
(in reply to danandrews)

a modern day cyber digital one man army!

One-handed army, more like.

Factchecker's picture

This is why I don't reward

Submitted by Factchecker on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 7:55am.

This is why I don't reward KNS or its corporate overlords with my subscription dollars that are supposed to support local media.

It looks like I'll also be quitting my NYT subscription since they hired a deplorable climate denier as an opinion writer.

In addition to a subscription to Slate Plus, I did also start an introductory subscription to The Economist. We'll see if they can offer a followup that is affordable.

Spend money on the kind of world you want. McElroy's products don't qualify.

mjw's picture

Supporting independent media

Submitted by mjw on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 11:59am.
(in reply to Factchecker)

I support the Mercury in my bid to support local media since I could not bring myself to subscribe to the Sentinel. And I subscribe to the Washington Post which has been doing amazing work lately. (Did you know that Amazon Prime members get a six month free subscription to the Post and half price after that?) I also support Slate Plus, the Atlantic and Talking Points Memo. My goal is to start paying for as many of the sites I read as I can afford, adding one every couple of months to spread out the pain. I think New York Magazine will be next.

Factchecker's picture

Great comments! Thanks. I

Submitted by Factchecker on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 10:25pm.
(in reply to mjw)

Great comments! Thanks. I did not know our Amz Prime will get us the WaPo deal. Sweet. TPM is one I might add too.

Rachel's picture

I read TPM every day, along

Submitted by Rachel on Fri, 2017/04/28 - 2:28am.
(in reply to Factchecker)

I read TPM every day, along with Kevin Drum on Mother Jones. Serious, intelligent progressive coverage of important news.

Bbeanster's picture

So this means Hornback will

Submitted by Bbeanster on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 8:25am.

So this means Hornback will no longer ridicule Jack's stature by writing his name in six-point type?

B Harmon's picture

??

Submitted by B Harmon on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 8:29am.

Brian posts regularly on his blog whenever he gets some juicy gossip, so will he be scooping his own columns by blogging? Or will he be writing thoughtful and well researched musings on local politics?

I hope you were not taking a sip of coffee while reading that last question.

danandrews's picture

as long as...

Submitted by danandrews on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 1:08pm.
(in reply to B Harmon)

Hey, as long as Brian Hornback's articles are not as boring as your SPJ skits or as lame as the joke above, I think he will do just fine.

On a side note, I really do hope Sandra and Betty join forces with the Mercury. It is much easier to build on a product than it is to create a new product from scratch.

Plus, having the social media depth and computer technology of Mercury would allow old-school journalism in a digital world. Sandra would bring instant ADDITIONAL credibility along with a slew of advertisers. She could also make a strong move to go after the legal notices.

Also, I firmly believe that this would kind of reinvigorate both Sandra and Mercury...

Option B...Sandra and Betty go work for the Focus AND that would be one heck of an awesome reality show! They might not get a paper out, but damn, that would really grab everyones attention and would be probably in about a week the most read newspaper in Tennessee. I mean that! Reality is nobody would know what would be on the front cover.

B Harmon's picture

Ouch!

Submitted by B Harmon on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 1:12pm.
(in reply to danandrews)

I will let Mark know that you are not a fan of the work of the committee that spends months writing those skits. You are the only person that I have ever heard complain about them, everyone loves it.

I didn't realize you are a fan of the truth squat.

danandrews's picture

Hell yeah, I am a fan

Submitted by danandrews on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 1:30pm.

The guy goes to commission meetings, Republican meetings, spent 20k on a lawsuit that got tossed. He does it because he cares about the community. People hate him because he has been around so long that he cannot be manipulated like these young reporters fresh out of college. He is not a star struck reporter. To be honest, right now, he is the best pick that KNS could have got. This is a brilliant move on Jack McElroy's part.

Tamara Shepherd's picture

*

Submitted by Tamara Shepherd on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 4:37pm.

I hesitate to add this comment, as this thread really needs to close with Andy's post immediately above, but...

I thought you might like to know Jake Mabe says on his FB page that he has also resigned from the Shopper, citing a health issue. He offers that these changes are coming mostly from Gannett in Nashville, not from KNS locally.

Bbeanster's picture

The layoffs were Gannett.

Submitted by Bbeanster on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 5:01pm.

The layoffs were Gannett. Hiring Hornback is on Jack McElroy.

Rachel's picture

Since they're short on copy

Submitted by Rachel on Fri, 2017/04/28 - 2:27am.
(in reply to Bbeanster)

Since they're short on copy editors, I hope they publish Hornback unedited.

Bbeanster's picture

That could be massively

Submitted by Bbeanster on Fri, 2017/04/28 - 8:21am.
(in reply to Rachel)

That could be massively entertaining.
:-)

R. Neal's picture

I seriously doubt that anyone

Submitted by R. Neal on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 6:38pm.

I seriously doubt that anyone in Nashville has heard of Hornback.

Andy Axel's picture

Hadn't heard much of Stacey X either of a time

Submitted by Andy Axel on Fri, 2017/04/28 - 12:02pm.
(in reply to R. Neal)

but contrary to CW, there is such a thing as bad publicity.

danandrews's picture

kns readership up 15% since Shopper got "Jacked Up!"

Submitted by danandrews on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 9:47pm.

Source:
https://www.quantcast.com/knoxnews.com?qcLocale=en_US

Well haters are going to hate, but guess what? "Operation Jacked Up" is kicking butt! Up a whopping 15% in one day, heavily chatted about on political blogs, and breathing new life into a struggling newspaper...this is exactly as I predicted last night what the Shopper needed!

Hornback, who is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists is bringing exactly what this team needs.

Factchecker's picture

And you could have used another comma in there

Submitted by Factchecker on Thu, 2017/04/27 - 10:29pm.
(in reply to danandrews)

Hornback, who is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists is bringing exactly what this team needs.

Illiteracy?

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