Phil Williams, the NewsChannel 5 reporter known for his criticism of the effort by Governor Bill Lee to expand school choice in Tennessee, claimed on Friday that meddling by rich progressives in state politics is unworthy of his reporting because Republicans have a majority in the General Assembly.
Williams failed to acknowledge the recent funding of Nashville and Memphis by Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities, a climate change initiative backed by former New York mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.
The reporter and columnist, who has been accused of being a far-left and partisan member of the Nashville press, claimed in a post to the social media platform X that a Republican critic who was “willing to engage in honest conversation” recently questioned Williams about his reporting.
According to Williams, the Republican critiqued Williams for because he does “not dog progressive millionaires and billionaires who are trying to influence public policy.”
“While there are examples elsewhere in the country, my focus is on Tennessee politics – and he admitted there are no progressive millionaires and billionaires trying to influence the Tennessee legislature,” Williams claimed.
The television reporter then claimed that he is additionally motivated by the majorities enjoyed by Republicans in the General Assembly, writing, “Republicans have a supermajority in Tennessee, which means that they justifiably get more of my attention.”
Absent from Williams’ post was any reference of the recent, twin announcements from Nashville and Memphis, which confirmed participation in Bloomberg American Sustainable Cities in March.
The Bloomberg project will involve $200 million in federal funds combined with “multi-year, in-depth, customized policy and technical assistance” provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Special focus will be afforded within the program for “communities of color,” while the project will also focus on “affordable energy-efficient housing, increasing access to clean energy,” and “investing in electric vehicles and infrastructure.”
In addition to Nashville and Memphis, the Bloomberg-backed effort is approved in Chattanooga.
Bloomberg is currently estimated by Forbes to be worth more than $106 billion and is reported to be the 13th richest man in the world today.
Williams and his journalistic integrity recently faced scrutiny following his decision to publish secretly-recorded audio of a meeting held by school choice advocates. Williams was accused of withholding comments made by one of the article’s subjects.
Additionally, it seems that no person who was actively engaged in the meeting knew it was being recorded, meaning Williams’ source for the clandestine audio apparently committed a felony offense within Tennessee.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Phil Williams” by NewsChannel5.
Phil Williams is a dishonest hack and not a journalist at all!
News Channel 5 with Phil Williams is basically Nashville’s MSNBC. Phil won’t dare rock the boat as he’s afraid he’ll lose favor with the Nashville Progressive Elites and his buddies in the mayor’s office. I never watch 5 and never will.
Time for Phil Williams to retire.
Although it won’t matter bc there are no real journalists in Tennessee other than Michael Patrick Leahy & Tennessee Star. Forget the Tennessean or any local TV Stations. They just carry the banner for the Democrat/ Communist Party. They are given talking points from NYT & WAPO. There are no researchers or interviewers.
Ask Phil Williams:
1) Do you support the invasion at the border?
2) Do you support making Fed Holidays for
Transvestites? Why?
3) Do you think it should be a crime for Psychologists or
Physicians or any teacher to influence children under
18 to change their God Given sex at birth; or to put
innocent children on dangerous & sterilizing sex
changing drugs? Do you think it’s OK for children to
have their breasts or penises removed before age
18)?
4) should these so calked professionals be
prosecuted & lose their professional licenses, do jail.
time for child abuse; should these child abusers be
ordered to pay for the physical & mental & emotional
damage that they do to these innocent & confused
children?
5) Do you think it’s fair to property owners, to build c
cheap, multilevel living structures to provide
“affordable housing” subsidized by federal dollars
which taxpayers pay for. Not fair in the midst of
established, safe suburban neighborhoods that used
be zoned to prevent that?
The suburbs in Nashville are no longer beautiful
or safe.
6) Why don’t you, Phil ask our Mayor & Councilman t
these questions as well ?
We The Taxpayers would like to know their answers.
Just another phony propagandist.
Such luminary progressives like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini, to name a few, surrounded themselves with the self-proclaimed elites of society.
Real news/journalism died during Vietnam.
Phil Williams and the Democrats are in full panic mode over school choice because it is the one issue Republicans win across the political spectrum. Polling shows even a majority of Black voters support school choice. Hence the media’s frantic effort to discredit the initiative and its supporters.
If the “care” channel wants to display empathy, why not have Phil take a deep dive into the conditions and results inner city schools produce for minority children? What would an honest investigation do for the school choice initiative?
Phil Williams is nothing but a degenerate Marxist propagandist.