Oct 30, 2026 · @Jeremy LaDuke
Let's Be Blount is a locally owned, independent publication covering Blount County, Tennessee: its events, its businesses, and the news its people need. These guidelines explain how we decide what to publish and how we hold ourselves to it.
They apply to everything that carries our name: articles, event listings, business features, podcast episodes, newsletters, and social posts. They are written for our readers first, and for everyone who writes, edits, or contributes to Let's Be Blount second.
We publish what we can confirm, not what we've heard. Before a fact goes out, we check it against a primary source: the person involved, the organization, the public record, or our own eye. If we can't confirm it, we say so plainly or leave it out.
We name our sources whenever we can. We grant anonymity only when a source could face real harm for speaking, and only when an editor knows who they are. Rumor and speculation don't get published just because they're already circulating on social media.
When a story is still developing, we tell you what we know, what we don't, and when we expect to know more.
Let's Be Blount is owned and operated in Blount County. We are not affiliated with any government agency, economic development or tourism organization, membership group, or outside media company. No outside organization reviews our stories before they run or decides what we cover.
Advertisers and sponsors buy space and reach. They do not buy coverage, favorable or otherwise, and they cannot kill a story. If a business advertises with us and we have news about it, good or bad, we report it the same way we would for anyone else.
Our loyalty is to the people who read us. When the interests of a reader and the interests of an advertiser, a sponsor, or a friend of the publication collide, the reader wins.
We feature businesses because they're worth knowing about, not because they paid us. Editorial features are chosen by our team based on what's new, what's interesting, and what readers keep asking about.
Paid content is always labeled. When a business pays for a feature, a listing, a podcast segment, or a post, it carries a clear "Sponsored" or "Paid" label that readers can't miss. We don't dress up advertising as reporting.
Anyone we write about critically gets a chance to respond before we publish. We make a real effort to reach them, give them reasonable time, and include their answer or note that they declined. We don't run ambush pieces.
News and opinion are kept apart and labeled. A reporter's job is to tell you what happened; a columnist's job is to tell you what they think. When a piece is opinion, commentary, or a personal recommendation, we say so at the top.
We cover the whole county, not just the parts that are easy to reach or photograph well. Maryville, Alcoa, Townsend, Friendsville, Louisville, Rockford, and every unincorporated community in between all count as home.
The people in our stories are the same people we see at the grocery store. We cover them with the care we'd want for our own families: no gratuitous detail in stories about tragedy, no piling on, and no turning someone's worst day into clicks.
We don't name minors as suspects or victims in crime stories. In everyday coverage such as sports, school events, and youth programs, we use names the way the school or family has already shared them. We don't publish private information like home addresses, medical details, or finances unless it is clearly in the public interest.
Public figures and public money get visibility and public scrutiny when warranted.
We will get things wrong sometimes, and when we do, we fix it fast and in the open. A factual error is corrected in the story itself, with a note at the bottom saying what changed and when. A significant error gets a correction posted everywhere the original appeared, including social media and the newsletter.
We don't quietly delete mistakes or pretend a story never ran. If we've misrepresented someone, we apologize to them directly, not just in print.
A person reads every correction request we receive, and we respond to each one.
Our team discloses conflicts of interest. Everyone who contributes to Let's Be Blount also lives and works in this community, so personal and business relationships with the people we cover are inevitable. When a writer has one, they disclose it in the story or hand the assignment to someone else.
Community submissions are welcome, and they are checked. We publish events, announcements, and photos sent in by readers and organizations after verifying the basics: who, what, when, and where. Submissions are edited for clarity and length, and we say when something was submitted rather than reported.
Tools, including AI, may help us research, organize, and edit, but a person checks every fact and signs off on every piece.
These guidelines are a promise, and a promise is only as good as the people who can call you on it. If you think we've broken one, tell us. If you have a tip, a correction, a story idea, or a business we should know about, tell us that too.
You may reach the owner/editor, Jeremy LaDuke, through the contact form at letsbeblount.com/contact.
