FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE (Tuesday, May 23) — Today The Tennessee Star announced its online news site has had ONE MILLION visits since its launch February 6.
“The Tennessee Star is the only consistently conservative media outlet in the state of Tennessee. This is a conservative state, and Tennesseans have wanted a fact-based news site with a conservative perspective for many years. That’s what we offer, and that’s why we’ve seen such tremendous traffic,” said Managing Editor Christina Botteri.
“People are smart and they want to be informed and not preached at or dictated to, and I believe that is a big part of why we are growing at such a substantial rate – especially compared to other area news outlets,” she said.
Judson Phillips, a long-time conservative activist and Tea Party Nation founder agreed. “I am not shocked at the excellent performance of The Tennessee Star. While the Gannett-owned papers read like newsletters for the Tennessee Democrat Party, The Star goes after important stories that the liberal media will not touch,” Phillips said.
While the raw viewership of The Tennessee Star is remarkable, media experts also recognize the impact and influence the upstart news outlet is already having at Legislative Plaza.
“Attracting one million visits in such a short period of time is impressive, to say the least, but it shows how hungry Tennesseans are for credible reporting that is not saturated with the liberal bias of the other media,” State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) said.
“As more and more turn away from the ‘fakenews’ outlets, The Tennessee Star gives us an option that has been needed for a long time,” Beavers concluded.
“One million visits in just three and a half months from a cold start is an amazing tribute to the product produced by The Tennessee Star team, and a clear demonstration of the impact that new media can have, particularly when the traditional media outlets stick to the outdated formulas and biases that have led to their decline,” said political and media strategist Steve Gill, a regular contributor to The Star.
“Frankly, while the number of visitors is astounding, the political impact of the The Tennessee Star in such a short time period has been even more impressive and will increase over time,” Gill added.
The Tennessee Star website went live on Monday, February 6. By the end of that short month, the site was visited over 175,000 times, with each visitor reading about three articles.
“Almost immediately, we knew we had to upgrade our servers to handle the all the traffic,” Botteri recalled.
Through March, visitors returned time and again to stay current with all the news breaking about Governor Haslam’s unpopular gas tax hike, and readership soared to over 285,000 within that 31-day period.
“In April, we launched our original ‘Constitution Series,’ which will culminate in a fantastic event September 23, The Tennessee Star Constitution Bee for Tennessee secondary school students,” Botteri said. “Reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.”
JC Bowman, Executive Director of the Professional Educators of Tennessee and regular contributor writes, “Smart and innovative, The Tennessee Star is quickly becoming a real powerhouse nationally, as well as being a remarkable medium for building statewide connections. The Star is reshaping how Tennesseans obtain their news and information.”
The month of April saw another uptick in readership, with a whopping 370,000 visits in that 30-day span.
In addition to breaking legislative news and insightful commentary about politics and policy in Tennessee, The Star also covers illegal immigration and refugee resettlement issues in a way not seen at all in other, mainstream news outlets in Tennessee.
“Our subject matter experts are among the best in the nation, and have an ‘unblinking eye’ on these critical matters,” Botteri said. “These stories are sometimes outrageous and often heartbreaking. But we believe people have a right to know how local, state, and national decisions are being made, and how those decisions might effect the health and safety of citizens and residents in our area.”
Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party said, ” The Tennessee Star has become a must read for me. Tennesseans are truly blessed to have this high quality journalism available every single day. And conservatives in Tennessee have found a news outlet that treats them with respect.”
The Franklin-based publication has gained attention at the national level as well.
“I follow The Tennessee Star closely,” George Rasley, editor of ConservativeHQ.com, a leading national online conservative publication, said.
“The Tennessee Star has broken national news on how liberal Tennessee politicians and their allies in the establishment media have defied common sense to enforce political correctness on the citizens of the Volunteer State. The Tennessee Star is the voice of the people of Tennessee,” Rasley added.
The Tennessee Star’s news is delivered in a number of ways. The flagship website is the main hub of activity, with stories then posted on Facebook and Twitter.
Each weekday morning, a short summary of the day’s breaking news is emailed as The Tennessee Star Daily; and Sunday afternoons, The Tennessee Star Weekend Review recaps the week’s biggest headlines.
“Occasionally, I will discuss with our newsletter readers some insights to some of The Star’s business – ‘shop talk,’ if you will,” Botteri shared.
“Our open and engagement rates for the Tennessee Star Daily are literally off-the-charts,” she continued. “We regularly perform at 250% – 350% above the industry standard.”
“This will sound familiar to our regular newsletter readers – but we are incredibly thankful for the amazing support we have received. Their readership means the world to us, and we are committed to earning their trust every, single day,” Botteri said.
“Our goal is to be the go-to, trusted platform for news, analysis and opinion in Tennessee.”
The site is a for-profit enterprise, and has attracted a significant number of local advertisers since its launch.
“We have made a profit during our first quarter of operation, which is quite remarkable for a new media start-up,” Botteri said. “It just goes to show you that our advertisers recognize that The Tennessee Star fills an unmet need in the Tennessee marketplace: objective news written from a conservative perspective.”
To find out more, visit https://tennesseestar.com
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