The front page from a 1974 issue of The Nashville Banner

The Nashville Banner was a daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee which ceased publication in 1998. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. It was long a voice of conservative viewpoints in contrast to its liberal morning counterpart, The Tennessean, although these views were greatly moderated in the paper's twilight years. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined Progressivism is a term that refers to a broad school of international social and political philosophies. The Tennessean is the principal daily Newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, with a circulation area covering 39 counties in In Politics and Religion, a moderate is an individual who holds an intermediate position between two viewpoints neither to be extreme or radical by those applying

The first edition of the Nashville Banner was published on April 10, 1876. It was begun as a voice for the railroads and other interests in comparison with other area papers of the time which tended to take the viewpoint of workers and unions. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming It was long controlled by Nashville's influential Stahlman family.

The Banner was an evening paper, which at one time published as many as five editions (first, second, market final, sports final, and sunset final), although these were later consolidated into three editions, and eventually, two. For many years it was in a superior financial condition to its competitors, and in fact, when the rival Tennessean went bankrupt and almost had to cease publication, the Banner assisted in its purchase by the Evans family, who saved it. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against The Tennessean and the Banner entered into what was one of the first joint operating agreements in the U. The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Richard Nixon, that authorized the formation S. in 1937. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Under this agreement, which became a common model for many other cities over the next half-century, the papers maintained editorial independence and remained separate as news-gathering organizations. Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication However, they were printed on the same presses, distributed by a common agent, and had a consolidated classified advertising department. Classified advertising is a form of Advertising which is particularly common in Newspapers, online and other Periodicals, e They were fierce competitors in the realm of news and ideas, but no longer business competitors in the truest sense. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to

This arrangement stood both papers in good stead for many years. However, the Banner began to suffer in the post-World War II era from the slow loss of readership that became common to most U. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including S. evening papers, which was largely attributed to the rise of television. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic In the early 1970s the Stahlmans sold the Banner to the Gannett Co. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Gannett Company Inc ( is a publicly-traded media Holding company based in the United States. Gannett published it for several years, but in 1979 announced that it was selling the Banner back to local owners and assuming publication of the Tennessean. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar)

Although it took almost twenty years, this was the death knell for the Banner. It was now clearly inferior in resources to its morning counterpart, and its circulation continued to shrink. In the 1980s Gannett insisted on renegotiation of the joint operating agreement to its benefit, and the Banner had little choice but to comply. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Another reason for the weakness of the Banner was its lack of a Sunday edition comparable to the Tennessean's, which it had given up in the formation of the joint operating agreement. It had since always published on a six-day schedule, and as weekday papers, especially evening weekday papers, continued to decline, it did not have this profit center to draw upon. The Banner switched its Saturday edition for a while to a single, morning edition in direct competition with the Tennesseean, then announced that it was terminating its Saturday edition entirely.

During this time, the Banner began to take far more moderate positions on issues on its editorial pages, although it generally remained more conservative than the Tennessean in most areas. It was in the contradictory situation of probably becoming more-respected by people, especially those in the journalism community, at the same time that it was becoming less-read. Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating formally employed by publications and broadcasters for the benefit of a particular Community of people The end occurred when the Gannett Co. made the publishers of the Banner a large offer to terminate the joint operating agreement. The offer was more than any profit that could have probably been made by the continued publication of the Banner, so it ceased to exist, with a small portion of its staff and a few of its most popular features being absorbed by the Tennessean. Interestingly, this was not considered by the Justice Department to be an antitrust violation, but when Gannett attempted to do the same thing with its Honolulu Advertiser and the evening paper in that joint operating agreement, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, only a few months later, it was prosecuted as such, the merger was forestalled, and both papers still operate. For animal rights group see Justice Department (JD The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ) is a Cabinet department The Honolulu Advertiser is the largest daily Newspaper in the American state of Hawai{{okina}}i. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, based in Honolulu, Hawai{{okina}}i, is the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawai{{okina}}i (the largest

Among the Banner's last big stories was the closing of Opryland USA in late 1997. Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and typically called simply Opryland) was a theme park located in Nashville Tennessee. The Banner's final edition was published on Friday, February 20, 1998. Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) The announcement to close was made public the previous Monday, February 16. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols

The archives of the Nashville Banner were donated to the Nashville Public Library. The collection features the entire archive, a vending machine with the final edition still displayed in the window, the many awards the paper won over the years, various trinkets from the paper's offices, and a bronze statue of a paperboy selling the Banner which was originally placed on the plaza in front of the Tennessean/Banner offices. The archive is located at the downtown Nashville Public Library on Church Street and is open to the public.

Circulation history

A bit of gallows humor occasionally heard in the Banner newsroom, as a new obit came in, was: "There goes another reader. " Figures from the newspaper's quarterly circulation audits illustrate how true the jibe became through the course of the 1990s, with readership dropping even as Nashville grew dramatically in population.

Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations reports on Nashville Banner, March 1997 and June 1998.

Notable contributors

• Ralph McGill (sports editor)
• Roy Neel (lobbyist)
• Fred Russell (sports editor)
• Christine Sadler (journalist)
• Buster Olney (ESPN. For the football player of the same name see Ralph McGill (football player. Roy M Neel is a United States Democratic Party operative and lobbyist who served as a top assistant to Vice President Al Gore and President Bill Clinton Fred Russell ( August 27, 1906 &ndash January 26, 2003) is one of the most decorated and influential Sportswriters in American Christine Sadler (1902&ndash1983 born in Silver Point Putnam County Tennessee, was an American Author, journalist, and Magazine Robert Stanbury "Buster" Olney III (born 17 February 1964 in Washington D com senior writer)
• Elizabeth Pagano (Business writer)
• Cree Lawson (Technology writer)

External links

• February 2008 reminiscences on the 10th anniversary of the Banner's closing, including personal essays from a former "Betty Banner" society reporter and a second-generation Banner journalist