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On behalf of a grateful publisher

by Brian Conley

From time to time during his tenure as publisher of Metro Pulse, Editor-in-chief Joe Sullivan would use his Insights column to cast some light upon the internal affairs of the paper. And now that the holiday season is upon us, I feel that some reflection on my part is in order.

When I came on board in May of 2003, I wrote a column outlining my reasons for wanting to be a part of Metro Pulse. First, I stated that I wanted to be a part of the paper because I loved Knoxville and wanted the paper to continue to be an effective agent for positive change in our community. Second, I said that Knoxville needed Metro Pulse because it was the city’s only credible alternative print news source, and I wanted to help ensure its stability and vitality for years to come.

One-and-a-half years later, I am happy to report great progress on both fronts. One recent example of how the paper is continuing to be an effective agent for progress in our community is the recent victory of the Knox County Wheel Tax increase at the polls on Nov. 2. To be certain, most of the credit belongs to County Mayor Ragsdale and the county commissioners who had the courage to fight for the Mayor’s budget, but I believe that a number of Metro Pulse editorials on the topic helped to frame the debate so that our readers could make an informed decision.

I want to stress that I take no personal credit for the quality of our editorial content, but am merely giving credit to what I believe is Knoxville’s finest editorial staff. And while the following assessments are admittedly only one man’s opinion, I am inclined this Thanksgiving to state how grateful I am for the following:

Joe Sullivan’s tenacity in unearthing local political and policy-oriented news, combined with his ability to comprehend and to communicate its relevance to our readers, has established him as Knoxville’s leading print journalist. And, with the recent addition of Frank Cagle’s Frank Talk column, Metro Pulse now has Knoxville’s most renowned, and best, political commentator, as well. Rounding out our news and political commentary team are Matt Edens, whose insightful contributions now grace our pages weekly, and editor, Barry Henderson, whose editorials have been thoroughly thought provoking—even when I disagree with them. Combined, I am convinced that this team stacks up favorably, not only with the largest of the big city alternative newsweeklies, but with many dailies, as well—including our own. Considering our humble resources, that is quite an achievement.

Speaking of resources, my other goal was to grow revenue at Metro Pulse in order to help ensure its survival. On that front, I have also been very pleased. Thanks to an outstanding sales staff, revenue has nearly doubled in the past 18 months, which has allowed us to expand all areas of the paper. In that short period of time, Metro Pulse has gone from averaging between 40 and 48 pages per week to averaging between 64 and 72 pages. This week, we are at 80 pages and the trend continues to be upward. Also, in 2004, we increased our weekly distribution from 30,000 to 35,000, and will be increasing it to 40,000 in 2005. Of course, special thanks go to our readers and to all of our advertisers who support us in our efforts to inform and entertain.

Regarding entertainment, one of our goals has been to beef up our arts and entertainment section. To that end, former Metro Pulse contributor, Paige Travis, was brought on board in June of 2003, and, under her skillful direction and coordination of our many talented contributing writers, Metro Pulse’s arts and entertainment coverage has truly flourished. Part and parcel of our renewed commitment to the local arts community has been our involvement with and our sponsorship of a seemingly endless series of arts, entertainment and cultural events, for which I am ever grateful to our entire staff, who have given so selflessly of themselves to promote both our paper and our community.

Perhaps most telling about the quality of Metro Pulse is that, despite all of the people I have mentioned thus far, I have yet to speak of staff writer, Mike Gibson, or of our associate editor, Jack Neely. During my tenure, I have come to think of Mike as our most versatile writer. Adept at both hard news and entertainment journalism, Mike is equally gifted at writing serious 5,000 word feature stories or 1,500 word satires. And Jack? Well, what else can one say about Jack?

In many ways, Jack Neely is Metro Pulse.

In that column I wrote 18 months ago, I stated that Knoxville was so very fortunate to have a writer of Jack’s immense talent who, by revealing to us our own rich, eclectic history, has done so much to positively shape our collective self-image. After working with him for the past year-and-a-half, I am even more in awe of him now. Simply put, Jack Neely is the best.

Of course, everything has not always been rosy since I became publisher. Trust me, there have been many mistakes and setbacks along the way; like the time when—as we were making the transition from an antiquated paste-up production system to a digital one—we printed the same story twice. Very embarrassing!

But the holidays are not a time to dwell on mistakes. They are a time to be thankful for all that is good in our lives. And on that note I am more encouraged than I have ever been about the future of Metro Pulse. Thanks to all of our extraordinarily hard working and talented staff members and contributors, to our incredibly supportive and greatly appreciated advertisers, and, of course, to our wonderfully loyal readers for making it so. Happy Holidays!

November 24, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 48 © 2004 Metro Pulse