More fallout from the Tennessean's publication of misinformation

CMs Michael Craddock and Jamie Hollin respond to a previous Tennessean op-ed written by CM Greg Adkins and MCC booster Tom Lee in which convention center critics were labeled and libeled by Tennessean editors as "hiding in anonymity":

Recently, an article entitled "Many debating convention center hide in anonymity," Jan. 14, written by council member Greg Adkins and Tom Lee, an attorney, derided the opponents of the convention center proposal as "Internet mud-peddlers … (who) have slandered the character of their opponents."

This piece presumes only the opponents of the convention center are hiding. This is a fatal flaw in our opinion.

We wonder where these fellow members of the bar have been when it comes to standing up for a professional colleague, Kevin Sharp. He is far from anonymous on this issue and has been very professional and civil.

Yet, he has suffered disgusting and personal attacks by the very proponents Adkins and Lee compare to Theodore Roosevelt ....

One claim the proponents have made repeatedly is that the General Fund is in no danger.

However, Goldman Sachs just informed the council that if the projections of HVS are off 25 percent between adoption of the proposal and 2017, then the debt service reserve fund will be depleted and it will require a General Fund contribution of $5.29 million in 2017 alone.

Kick in another $30.54 million over the following six years. Any surplus revenues collected would go to replenish the debt service reserve fund before any money went back into the General Fund. This danger is very real.

One thing to note is that today's opinion page response was the perfect chance for the Tennessean to be accountable and to note that their choice of a headline could have been the primary reason for the false information that MCC critics hide in anonymity. However, they failed to take responsibility for their part in the misunderstanding. As far as I know they've made no effort to publish a correction in hard copy. It is worth noting that the paper's editors also have endorsed the Music City Center, so they have a vested interest in spreading trollish aspersions about MCC opponents.