Image: Cameron Sexton as he is reelected as Speaker of the House on the 1st day of the 114th General Assembly. Image Credit: Speaker Cameron Sexton / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
According to the Tennessee Press Corps, the organization has never dictated to the House or Senate Speakers who should or should not be allowed on the floor or in press conferences.
In a text received from a source that requests to remain anonymous, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton personally described how he purposely keeps out other Conservative organizations like the Tennessee Star and Tennessee Stands.
On Tuesday, January 14th, the Tennessee Press Corps contacted The Tennessee Conservative to officially tell us they had voted unanimously to REJECT our membership to the organization which would have granted our Capitol reporter Adelia Kirchner full access to the General Assembly just like the Democrat-staffed, left-leaning, corporate news publications.
This comes as no surprise to any of us here at The Tennessee Conservative given that the Press Corps is populated by reporters from those same news publications.
Prior to the rejection notice, in an email to Tennessee Conservative founder Brandon Lewis, Kimberlee Kruesi explained how the application process works and voices some concerns about the publication:
“I am happy to share with you how our process works. First some background, the Tennessee Capitol Press Corps is a very loose organization. Membership is based on who pays rent for space inside Cordell Hull’s press room, but at times, we vote to allow others because space is limited inside the room. As chair, I help facilitate these votes (over email), but I do not and have not ever told the House or Senate speakers who should or should not be allowed on the floor or in press avails.
The key thing we ask our members to do is abide by our membership rules, I have attached them in this email so you can look over it. Admittedly, I do have some concerns about your organization’s previous statements regarding candidates and policy positions. If you would like to shed more details about how you and TCN would abide by our membership rules, please do so I can share with the press corps.
Membership is determined by a vote via email. I will send out your request today to our members but it is a busy time, and I usually like to give folks a few days to make a decision, so I think the earliest we can get you an answer is Wednesday.”
(Note: Kruesi’s email address has an AP News domain. Not that we need to be told, but official surveys also verify that AP News leans left.)
Lewis responded:
“I have read the rules. In reading the third paragraph, I cannot say I feel a lot of Press Corps reporting does not seek to promote specific legislative outcomes – or avoids seeking to influence campaigns. It all seems to promote it from the left (even though Democrats are the minority in TN.)
We serve the most under-served audience in the state for the TN Press Corps – Conservative Primary Voters. The only difference is this: We come out and say it, instead of hiding behind faux neutrality.
All we do is report from angles we feel Conservatives care about, just as most journalists report from the left. We determine this by surveying our subscribers, observing polling data, etc. I know these views are in conflict with what most left-leaning press corps members believe.
You live in a state that votes almost 2X in a Conservative direction. If you want to leave us out, you can. But, I think it simply reinforces the narrative that there is significant liberal media bias in TN. It’s why trust for media outlets is at an all-time low.
Send the application. If we get rejected, we’ll take the next steps.
This should be an interesting test for “freedom of speech.”
My intention is to sue for access along with the TN Holler if rejected. In reading the TN Constitution, I think we can win. And I think most of the public sentiment will be with us as well.
Unlike so many, I do not care if people share different views from my own. If we don’t have that, we do not have “Freedom of the Press” we simply have a good-ole-boys club of legacy media insiders – not unlike the legislature itself.
The media is changing. I think it is time for the TN Press Corps to adapt with it.”
An email response from Kimberlee Kruesi received yesterday (1.14.25) simply stated, “The press corps unanimously voted against your membership.”
The Tennessee Conservative (TTC) is fully aware that many reporters from left-leaning news publications are granted full access to the General Assembly by GOP leadership, regardless of their membership in the Press Corps. However, specifically due to Speaker Sexton’s bias against Conservative organizations, we have been stonewalled.
TTC was never seeking membership in the Press Corps, until the General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Administration pushed off responsibility for legislature access permissions to them. More info HERE.
Since TTC is determined to have a reporter in Nashville with access beyond what is just afforded to the general public, Lewis submitted the application to the Press Corps for our reporter and requested expedited processing.
Without hesitation, GOP leadership at the General Assembly grant full access to Christian-hating democrats like Phil Williams and left-leaning, corporate news publications (who FIGHT against Conservative legislation), yet when presented with an opportunity to have a REAL CONSERVATIVE reporter at the capitol, they speak through their underlings, who in turn shift responsibility to an outside left-leaning group.
So many of you personally DONATED to send a TTC News correspondent to Nashville and Adelia will do her best to bring you on-site Conservative news reporting from the Capitol despite the limited access that GOP leadership has slapped us with in an attempt to keep YOU, the GOP primary voter in the dark.
