Did Paper Spike Steve McNair Mistress Story?

There's a potential journalism dust-up happening down in Nashville where, according to our old buddy Clay Travis, The Tennessean newspaper may have killed a McNair follow-up story featuring anonymous quotes from McNair's other-other women.

Unfortunately, The Tennessean newspaper editors deny the claim, but Travis says some agitated reporters tell him a different version:

Nashville's Tennessean has identified several additional women who were also involved in sexual relationships with Steve McNair. They've done even more than that, there is currently an article quoting those women and how they're dealing with McNair's death. (The women are quoted anonymously because they fear revealing their identities. The Tennessean, to their credit, has a policy against using anonymous sources for stories. Even, evidently when there are multiple women telling the same story. As a result none of us have seen this article. Why? Because of a combination of reasons: a. the women are anonymous and b. the Tennessean bigwigs are convinced the city of Nashville can't handle the news.

Now, considering the Tennessean's wall-to-wall coverage wasn't exactly delicate at times, this seems a little strange. The "anonymous source" issue is a legit one (for some publications), but if McNair was as beloved in Nashville as it appears he was, the anonymity of the women is probably crucial for their own well-being. There's a legitimate reason to keep them anonymous. But given how public McNair's dalliances were, shifting gears on the sensitivity issue — as if the paper suddenly was stricken by a conscience after a week of hyper-coverage on Kazemi and McNair — is a little editorially bone-headed. Grave-dancing's a dirty business, y'all.

Nashville's Tennessean Sitting On McNair Mistress Story? [Clay Travs]