Knoxville News Sentinel

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In 1886 publisher John Trevis Hearn founded The Sentinel as an evening newspaper. Hearn is prominent in Knoxville history for changing the way paperboys were paid. Instead of a weekly salary, Hearn sold the papers to boys who resold them to the public for their own profit. A competing newspaper, the Knoxville News, was established in 1921 by Robert P. Scripps and Roy W. Howard. The News did not align itself with any political party, and soon gained a reputation as an active voice against corruption and fiscal irresponsibility. The News criticized the state's law against teaching evolution and helped establish the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was instrumental in modernizing the state constitution, abolishing the justice of the peace system, obtaining statewide compulsory voting registration, and fighting segregation in schools and public facilities.