J.J. Stambaugh here. Its great to see that folks are beginning to land here. This is now our official FB page, but we will going live on Twitter today as well. In the coming hours and days we will be posting videos and announcements on this page, and once our Web site is up we will link to it. Ill be back this afternoon with more announcements. In the meantime, here is a copy of the press release we are sending out across Knoxville: November 14, 2014 NEW ALTERNATIVE PAPER TO LAUNCH IN JANUARY The Hard Knox Independent, formed in wake of Metro Pulse closure, will feature columnists Frank Cagle, Scott McNutt, Chuck Cavalaris, and others One month ago, Knoxvilles most distinctive voice was silenced by its owner, leaving tens of thousands of readers in shock and scores of businesses without an advertising vehicle to reach their customers. The decision to shut down Metro Pulse has triggered a public outcry far beyond what is normally seen when newspapers close including a downtown rally and numerous protests through social media. One group of angry Metro Pulse fans have even gone so far as to post a YouTube video in which they ceremonially burned a copy of the News Sentinels replacement, Knoxville Go. In a time when print newspapers are supposedly teetering on the edge of extinction in the face of public indifference, such a reaction is virtually unprecedented. Even more improbably, that public rage has led to a truly grassroots effort to ensure that Knoxville will not go long without an alternative voice. Born from a series of small meetings at an Old City bar attended by local journalists, photographers, IT specialists, and entrepreneurs, the Metro Phoenix Project has snowballed quickly from little more than a hope to a very real newspaper: The Hard Knox Independent. The voice that was Metro Pulse might be gone, but The Hard Knox Independent is ready to fill the void, according to Editor J.J. Stambaugh. We cant mirror Metro Pulse exactly for legal reasons even if we wanted to, which we dont, Stambaugh said. But we can aim to be every bit as good and maybe even better in a few small ways. Stambaugh, whose reporting career began in 1990 at the old Knoxville Journal, said that Hard Knox Independent readers seeking some of their favorite writers and features from Metro Pulse wont be disappointed. We are bringing back some of Metro Pulses most popular columnists, including Frank Cagle and Scott McNutt, as well as introducing some new ones such as Chuck Cavalaris, who will cover UT sports from his own unique angle, he said. We have also assembled a pool of reporters that includes several who wrote for Metro Pulse alongside award-winning journalists who have written for nearly every newspaper in the region as well as from more distant places like Atlanta and Florida. In short, this team is more than capable of providing our readers with the kind of in-depth, analytical reporting that alternative newspapers excel at. While comparisons to Metro Pulse are inevitable, there will be more than a few differences between the publications, according to Stambaugh. We aim to be a bit more centrist than our predecessor and far less partisan, a stance reflected in our pledge to never endorse political candidates, he said. We also plan to introduce something that Metro Pulse never really had -- a dynamic Web presence that will in many ways be a separate product with its own stories and videos. In short, we want to attract some readers who lie outside of MPs traditional target audience while remaining instantly recognizable as the alternative voice of Knoxville. Publisher Crystal Huskey said that while the new paper wont shy away from holding those in power responsible for their actions it also wont forget that it has a responsibility to promote the many, many things about Knox County that make it such a great place to live. The goal of Hard Knox Independent is to create an alternative weekly voice that reflects the spirit of the community we serve, Huskey said. We want to build a sense of community and highlight the stories of people who make our town great. We also strive to tell the stories that are often overlooked. Huskeys company, Huskey Media, publishes the magazines Clinton Life and Secret City Life. Huskey previously served as editor of a number of community magazines in the Knoxville area and worked as the editor for a daily online newspaper owned by AOL in the Atlanta area prior to that. Personally, I want to create an authentic voice within the publication that reflects the community and becomes an integral part of their lives, she said. I want people to talk about our stories over dinner or coffee. I want us to be a conversation starter; to bring stories to the table that are not talked about or written about anywhere else. I want to highlight the underdog, the hard worker, the successful entrepreneur, the girl who won the barrel racing world championship, the man that bakes the bread at a locally owned restaurant. To Huskey, the ultimate goal is to create a paper that readers actually look forward to. When people open up the Hard Knox Independent, I want them to be immersed in the world of Knoxville, she said. I want it to feel like opening up another volume of their favorite book series. The Hard Knox Independent will begin publishing its first material in the next few days when the initial version of its Web site is launched along with a social media campaign. This site will not be the finished product but is designed rather to give readers a glimpse into the inner workings of a newspaper as it is finally brought online. The site will allow the staff to introduce themselves, interact with readers, tease coming attractions and begin publishing content (columns, videos, etc.) in the weeks leading up to the launch of the full-scale Web and print products. This gives us time to do the reporting and editing for our first stories and also gives our sales representatives a few weeks to sell ads, Stambaugh said. The group also plans on launching a Kickstarter campaign in the coming days to raise money for operating expenses, according to Huskey. Both Stambaugh and Huskey stressed that the newspaper is to be an employee-owned company in order to shield it from many of the pressures that have been destroying newspapers over the past few decades. Nationally known consultants are helping in the companys formation with the aim of ensuring that the paper remain local and not beholden to outside investors or the need to make a profit other than covering the companys expenses. The papers low overhead and the fact that it is staffed largely by freelance writers and unpaid (at least at this early stage) volunteers will enable it to hit the ground running and then grow organically, Huskey said. I believe this is the first time in recent American history that public outrage has triggered a successful grass-roots campaign to replace a newspaper of any kind, Stambaugh said. This effort would not be possible without the dedication of those people who have decided to donate their time and skills or else work in exchange for a future share in what we hope will become a new kind of newspaper company. The Metro Pulses readers included a large proportion of Knoxvilles most talented, creative and civic-minded professionals -- professionals who are quite happy to do everything in their power to bring a strong alternative news outlet to Knoxville. Each one of us believes that a communitys political, social and economic health depends in large part on the quality of its media. As is the case in most every market in the United States, our local news outlets have suffered massive layoffs, cutbacks and now even closures. If the Fourth Estate cannot do its job, then our entire society will pay the price. I like to think The Hard Knox Independent is an example of what can happen when a community draws a line in the sand and pushes back. The Hard Knox Independents name is both an homage to the history of the alternative press in Knoxville and a statement of its core value. It was chosen by the papers staff after soliciting the public for ideas and conducting an online poll. After determining there was no clear winner of the poll, the staff analyzed the results to find the most popular word trends and ended up picking a name that, ironically, has its roots in one of the first (and certainly most influential) alternative publications in Knoxvilles past: The Hard Knoxville Review. The Review, which was published in the early 1980s by celebrated local bard R.B. Morris and artist Eric Sublett, was instrumental in the formation of the citys then-embryonic arts scene. In another twist, Morris was Stambaughs creative writing teacher while he attended Laurel High School in the early 90s and was therefore instrumental in the latters eventual decision to become a journalist and, many years later, to help found The Hard Knox Independent. For more information, visit Hard Knox Independent on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @hardknoxindie. For more information you may also email Crystal Huskey at crystal@huskeymedia or call (865) 209-0313. You may also call J.J. Stambaugh at (865) 253-0767.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 17:55:08 +0000
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