Metro Pulse as it existed was shuttered on Wednesday when the parent company E.W. Scripps laid off the entire 20 plus staff. The parent company announced that it is combining portions of the Metro Pulse into Scripps Knoxville.Com brand.
The venomous reaction to the lay offs was surprising. Had E.W. Scripps not purchased the paper several years ago, the paper would have died. There appeared to be no appreciation for the loyalty and employment for the years Scripps kept the paper operational.
No one outside the upper brass of Scripps will ever know exactly what caused the final decision and the ultimate timing of October 15, 2014. Some speculation was that the political agenda was too far from the make up of the community. Another speculation was a recent cover story “Top 10 reasons to leave Knoxville” may have been to negative toward Knoxville for the liking of the Scripps brass.
Of course there was an immediate dust up between State Senator Stacey Campfield and now Former Metro Pulse employee Cari Gervin. The Metro Pulse staff had written alot about Campfield during his tenure as a State Representative and State Senator. Gervin went to Twitter following the August 7 election result of Campfield’s loss saying that “we” did it. It was never revealed if the “we” was her and the paper, or if she was referring to she and her friends.
MP was a liberal rag, but the entertainment section was fantastic and useful for keeping up with the local art and entertainment scene.
PS
Campfield was the most worthless politician in the history of this great state. Good riddance.
Actually, MP was profitable when Scripps bought it (and afterwards as well). Scripps didn’t ride in on a white horse and save a damsel in distress.