Our response to the mayors

For nearly 125 years, The Daily Times has been Blount County’s hometown newspaper. Its mission is to provide our readers with accurate, fair reports about the events and issues of the day. We also have a responsibility to provide an open forum for all readers to share their opinions about these issues. Community leaders often put The Daily Times in a list of institutions that helps give Blount County its unique identity, such as Maryville College and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Upholding this tradition is a serious responsibility which we do not take lightly. Our reporters are entrusted to cover the news without fear or favor but with sensitivity and fairness. Our editors must weigh all these issues and many more in deciding where to place our local stories in the newspaper in terms of importance and reader interests. We sometimes make mistakes in both fact-finding and judgments, for which we are justifiably called into account. Our policy is to correct errors called to our attention as quickly as possible. When we are criticized for our judgment calls on certain stories or issues we have written about, we wrestle in the clear light of hindsight and try to learn from our mistakes.

One thing we don’t worry about is maintaining a political agenda. We don’t have one. Period. We don’t seek to hurt any person, company, or government official. We seek only to report the truth as we know it today. There has been no change in this mission in the more than 15 years that we have been part of The Daily Times.

The three mayors of our community co-signed a letter to the editor this week taking The Daily Times to task for its reporting on certain stories. We respect these political leaders and value their opinions. We did not hesitate to share their comments with you.

In light of the serious nature of their criticism, we feel compelled to respond.

The mayors cited three recent articles or issues to support their argument that the newspaper is not fair and balanced.

1. Pat Summitt’s divorce. This was a court filing involving one of the most well-known people not only in Blount County but around the world. We felt that such a life-changing situation was the most important and compelling story of the day, so it was headlined across the top of the page. There is no disgrace in getting a divorce and there was no intent to discredit Pat Summitt. Many readers felt it was overplayed, and we had serious discussions about that decision in the days following.

2. Judge Dale Young. These stories were investigated after people came to us saying they believed they had received unusual treatment in their court cases before Judge Young. We based these stories on court documents where available and on interviews with these subjects and their lawyers. We were unable to obtain comments from Judge Young and we understand he is not allowed to comment on matters under litigation. Perhaps Judge Young will be able to comment on these cases after their adjudication, and we will welcome them. The mayors’ letter charges that “The Daily Times has yet to print the other facts we know exist relative to this matter.” To the contrary, we have not knowingly withheld any facts and we will report future developments as they occur.

3. Readers’ feedback about Ruby Tuesday. Many Blount Countians remember when the first Ruby Tuesday opened on the Cumberland Avenue “Strip” in Knoxville more than 30 years ago. We have followed its evolution into a multi-national corporation with thousands of shareholders. In view of its current problems, we thought our readers might be able to provide some informative perspective on a restaurant they’ve patronized for many years and on a company that has made such an economic impact on our community.

We feel most of the readers who responded were trying to be helpful. Some even expressed gratitude about being asked. Each one had his or her name attached; we published no anonymous comments. In hindsight, we agree that this exercise was not well thought out and appeared balanced against Ruby Tuesday. That was not our intention and we apologize to the employees of Ruby Tuesday and other readers who may have been offended.

The truth is that we make hundreds of editorial decisions each week — some are minor while others are more significant. Such editorial decisions are generally not made by one individual but by the collective wisdom and understanding of several reporters and editors. We would be the first to note that not all our decisions are correct. However, we can say with certainty that those decisions are never made with political intentions or “to get” anyone or any company. We merely seek to cover the news and information relating to Blount County so that readers can draw their own conclusions and make intelligent decisions about the issues facing them. Doing these things makes us a positive force in the community to which we aspire every day.

Publisher F. Max Crotser
Editor Dean Stone
Executive Editor Larry Aldridge
Managing Editor Frank “Buzz” Trexler