Pappert, Leahy Call Out ‘Coward’ Local Reporters for Ignoring Story on Covenant Manifesto Victory

Kaitlin Housler
Michael Patrick Leahy and Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Star, criticized local Nashville news outlets for a “total and complete media blackout” surrounding The Star’s recent legal victory securing access to records related to the 2023 Covenant School shooting.

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week declined to hear an appeal from Metro Nashville, the Covenant School and Covenant parents seeking to block the release of records related to the shooting. The decision left intact a Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling directing Davidson County Chancery Court to review the records and make them available, subject to limited redactions for actual school-security information.

During Wednesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Leahy asked Pappert how many news outlets had reported on the Supreme Court’s decision.

“Zero is the answer to the question,” Pappert said.

Pappert noted that The Star reported the decision on August 17, the day the case was effectively closed at the state Supreme Court level. He added that the Tennessee Firearms Association issued a press release and that two individuals posted about the decision on social media.

“And aside from that, it has been a total and complete media blackout, especially noteworthy, of course, for the local media in Nashville, Tennessee,” Pappert said.

Leahy specifically named NewsChannel 5, WSMV, WKRN and Fox 17, saying none had reported on the development despite extensive coverage of the case when he faced a potential contempt proceeding in 2024.

Leahy recalled that six or seven television cameras, including local and national outlets, were present at the earlier hearing after Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles ordered him to appear in court following The Star’s publication of material related to Covenant shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

Pappert then pointed to former WSMV reporter Stacey Cameron, who he said had previously contacted the judge after The Star published reporting based on Hale’s writings.

“One reporter specifically, a guy named Stacy Cameron, is the one who called the judge,” Pappert said. “And this is a local reporter, by the way.”

Pappert said Cameron had followed the case closely enough at the time to contact the judge about The Star’s reporting but has seemingly stopped covering the litigation.

“Called the judge and said, ‘Hey, I don’t think this guy Michael is supposed to have what he says he has. Why don’t you bring him in for contempt of court?’” Pappert said. “So I bring this up to point out that Mr. Cameron was following the case closely enough to make that phone call based on reporting that we wrote at TennesseeStar.com. But now, two years later, he, has stopped following the case entirely.”

“Stacy Cameron is a hypocritical coward,” Leahy said. “We won the case. And he is too cowardly to report that.”

With last week’s development in the case, The Star now awaits further proceedings in Davidson County Chancery Court. The Court of Appeals previously directed the trial court to review Hale’s writings and release records that were withheld solely because the investigation remained ongoing, while allowing redactions of genuine school-security information.

Leahy said The Star is seeking specific materials, including a document it believes may be Hale’s will and medical records.

Pappert said he expects the records sought in the original lawsuit ultimately will become public but warned that the process may not move quickly.

“I remain convinced that at the end of the day, everything…is going to be made public,” Pappert said. “I do still think that they’re not going to be in any rush.”

Pappert described the remaining process as “the chore that nobody wants to do,” comparing it to “the mountain of laundry sitting at the foot of the basement stairs.”

“I think that they’re going to treat it just like that,” he said.

Leahy responded that The Star would continue following the case closely.

“We’re gonna be all over it, aren’t we?” Leahy asked, to which Pappert replied, “Absolutely.”

Watch:

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.

 

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