I did it. I'm to blame.
by Brian Conley
In the interest of full disclosure, I want to inform our readers that this week's cover story was my idea. During the mayoral election, I was intrigued by how events were unfolding and wanted to examine the issue of power and influence in our community. But when I first suggested the topic at our weekly editorial meeting, it was received—shall we say—coolly. I did not understand this reaction.
To me, tackling such an issue is precisely what Metro Pulse should be doing - and I argued as much. Still, there was reticence to pursue the topic. "I don't know," said one of our staff writers. "It's just a topic that I have no interest in." "Really?" I asked. "Why not? Let's be bold. Let's find out whether there's any truth to this myth that 12 white men run Knoxville." Almost in unison, our editorial staff shrugged.
At first, I thought that their indifference to the topic was born of their innate suspicion of all things establishment. Metro Pulse is, after all, an alternative newspaper and debunking myths about authority (particularly ones we've created) could be seen as . . . counterproductive. Then, as paranoia gripped me, I began to suspect that they were suspicious of my motives. Many had not agreed with the paper's recent mayoral and city council endorsements and conceivably felt that their boss (who is, by definition, a tool of the establishment) now wanted to further pollute the minds of our readers by informing them that Knoxville's perceived decision-making oligarchy does not exist. But that was not the case.
"Decidedly, it does exist," I told everyone. "I know a lot of these people, and I've seen how they wield their power. I'm just not convinced that they control everything."
"Really? You know some of them?" said one of our editors, eyeing me ever more incredulously.
"Yes," I admitted. "I do know some of them and, believe it or not, some of them aren't bad people."
They sighed in tandem and, if ever so slightly, moved away from me. I could see it in their eyes. Their boss was either a covert operative of this oligarchy or worse, incredibly naïve. Either way, they were having none of it. In a last ditch attempt to salvage my idea, I turned to our political sage, Joe Sullivan.
"Come on, Joe, you know that there's more to this issue than 12 white guys sitting around smoking cigars at the club while they divvy up the fortunes of this city between them."
Joe's brow furrowed. "Of course," he said. "That's not the point."
"Then what is?" I asked, exasperated.
Joe's answer was as penetrating as it was succinct. "The point is that it's going to be a difficult story to do justice."
If this was intended to dissuade me, it had the opposite effect. There was hope for my idea yet.
"It doesn't have to win the Pulitzer," I told Joe and the others. "We can do it tongue in cheek. Let's just name who we think are the most powerful Knoxvillians and put it out there. It'll be fodder for the water cooler."
"We'll be opening ourselves to criticism from all sides," Joe said sagaciously.
Since purchasing the paper in May, I have been accused by some of exercising Draconian rule over Metro Pulse's editorial content. But, as I believe our editorial staff would confirm, this has not been the case. While it is true that I have attempted to beef up our arts and entertainment section, any suggestion that I dictate how and what our writers write is simply unfounded. In fact, I would argue that I have attempted to open the paper to a wider cross section of opinions and interests.
"I don't care," I said. "If I'm going to be criticized for the editorial content of Metro Pulse, by God, I'm at least going to have something to do with it. I want to do this story."
Realizing how foolhardy my determination could be, the others acquiesced.
"Good," I said. "It's settled then. So who's going to write it?"
Silence.
Truthfully, I must admit that I did not lend full credence to Joe's clairvoyance into how difficult this story would be until I was in the midst of writing it. But he was right. It was, in all respects, a bitch. And not just because this was the first piece of serious writing longer than 800 words I'd done in over a decade. This topic was damned hard to do justice. I found that, while the tone of the story did not have to be too serious, neither did it lend itself to pure levity, so what I ended up writing was an amalgamation. And that's difficult to pull off. Then it dawned on me just how right Joe had been when he foretold that we would be opening ourselves to criticism "from all sides."
In the last six months I've been called everything from a Nazi to a socialist - and everything in between. Now I was intent on giving my critics something that they would have every right to adjudge. I was exercising my own power and influence upon the editorial content of Metro Pulse, and not very subtly at that. I was writing the cover story. This was my baby. There would be no one to blame for it but me. Ouch!
October 30, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 44
© 2003 Metro Pulse
| 
