All posts tagged "Metric Media"

When word circulated through Tennessee Tech University that media executive Kyle Barnett would serve as the school’s newest journalism instructor, administrators began receiving anonymous hate mail from purported former colleagues.

Barnett is “devoid of professional ethics,” one wrote late last year.

“Propaganda machines,” not journalism, is Barnett’s specialty, charged another. ...

The recently released job application for a Tennessee Tech University journalism lecturer has raised more questions about the new hire associated with conservative PAC-backed “pink slime” publications, according to documents obtained by Raw Story through a Tennessee Public Records Act request.

Kyle Barnett, publicly cited as a publisher and general manager associated with Metric Media — a network of more than 1,300 local “pay-for-play” media websites reportedly funded by conservative and specialist interest PACs to push political agendas, is scheduled to teach four journalism classes at Tennessee Tech starting Jan. 11.

Barnett did not list any employment with Metric Media on his application....

Tennessee Tech University is defending its hiring of a publisher who has managed and written for "pink slime" news websites bankrolled by conservative political action committees and accused of "pay-for-play" journalism.

Raw Story exclusively reported Thursday that Tennessee Tech had hired Kyle Barnett to teach journalism classes during the school's spring 2024 semester.

On Friday morning, Jonathan Frank, director of news and public relations for Tennessee Tech, sent a statement from Scott Christen, associate professor of communication studies and interim chair of the Department of Communication at Tennessee Tech, after not replying to Raw Story's multiple requests for comment on Wednesday and Thursday.
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Editor's note: This article has been updated to include a statement received Friday morning from Scott Christen, associate professor of communication studies and interim chair of the Department of Communication at Tennessee Tech.

A leader of a reported “pink slime” media publication has been hired to teach journalism at Tennessee Tech University, according to a Raw Story review of online records and sources familiar with the situation.

Kyle Barnett, who is publicly cited as a publisher and general manager associated with publications run by Metric Media — a network of more than 1,300 local “pay-for-play” media websites that is reportedly funded by conservative and specialist interest PACs to push political agendas — is slated to teach three undergraduate journalism classes at Tennessee Tech University for the upcoming Spring 2024 semester....