Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, said it’s “pathetic” that advocates of Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice voucher program are not being given a voice through local news outlets across the Volunteer State.
On Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, host Michael Patrick Leahy played four clips from local stations WSMV, FOX 17, WKRN, and News Channel 5 surrounding the topic of school vouchers.
The narrative from each outlet on the voucher program highlighted voices on the opposition side, specifically from teachers and educators who are against the program.
News Channel 5 and WSMV, for example, both highlighted an educator-led protest against vouchers outside of the state capitol, however, as noted by Cunningham, did not offer an “alternative view” on the voucher program.
“Democrat talking points after Democrat talking points. That’s all it is,” Cunningham said during Tuesday’s episode. “The local news media is far left.”
“The real tragedy of these local news stations is these reporters know exactly who the management is and even if most of them lean left anyway, most of them lean far left, but even those who are center or center right know that when they report, they are going to be watched by management that is far left. It’s just pathetic. It really is. It’s Democrat talking points. It’s far left talking points,” Cunningham added.
Cunningham went on to note how the so-called local stations, which as Leahy pointed out are owned by “big left wing corporations,” do not give school choice advocates such as Corey DeAngelis the same opportunities to outline the positive side of the voucher program.
“They talk about the talking points and they never let people who are good, articulate, solid spokesmen for the vouchers and for the concept – Corey DeAngelis, those kinds of folks – they never get anywhere near the kind of voice that that the Democrats and the teachers have,” Cunningham said.
“It’s pathetic that there is nowhere else that they can go,” Cunningham added, noting how The Tennessee Star is the only conservative outlet in the entire state that gives a voice to those ignored by the local stations.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
