Black history has once again become a contentious issue in the South, with revisionist politicians passing legislation that limits how race can be taught, or even discussed, in schools. In the Banner’s package on Diane Nash, video and news reports work together to provide a straightforward account of historical facts and their ramifications today. There is nothing that could possibly be called partisan about either piece.
That’s by design. Hoping to avoid partisan rancor, Mr. Cavendish and Ms. Kalodimos have positioned the new Banner as a strictly-news publication, without editorials, op-eds, or candidate endorsements. “All the money that we have, we’re putting into news reporting,” Mr. Cavendish said. “Because we want so much in terms of news.”
Even so, avoiding partisan accusations will be a challenge in this Republican-supermajority state. Donald Trump spent his presidency calling journalists the enemy of the people, and hostility toward the press is a hallmark of the MAGA movement. A label like nonpartisan is unlikely to change that attitude.
But Nashville — progressive, vibrant, growing — may be the best place to break through hyperpartisan fury. If old school public-service journalism can make it anywhere, it can make it here. In that sense, the new Banner is not in competition with other equally necessary news organizations in the city. It’s another much needed element in a journalistic network working to repair the atomized landscape of local news.
There is still, of course, the constant question of money. Even with the financial support of institutions like the MacArthur Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Institute for Nonprofit News and the American Journalism Project, among others, nonprofit newsrooms survive only when they have the financial support of their readers and listeners. And in this era of proliferating websites and podcasts and videos and newsletters, not even to mention the unceasing social media updates from journalists and “citizen journalists,” engaging an audience long enough to count on its loyalty, much less its dollars, may be the greatest challenge of all.