Page 102 - Cityview_Jan_Feb_2014

30 years

A New Beginning (2001)

The irst two covers of the newly
reinvented Cityview featured the

statue of the rower from One
Center Square in downtown

Knoxville and Nathan Sparks’s

young son Ethan with a friend
in the cockpit of an old biplane

during the Young Eagles Day at
the Island Home Airport in South

Knoxville. The editorially driven

covers put a new face on a brand
new beginning for the publication.

I
n late 2000, Cityview’s “Trying to learn how to be part of look forward to, instead of one more
current publisher Nathan the media and to be a publisher was rag out there full of stories about ter-

Sparks purchased Cityview
a whirlwind—it could sometimes be rible things,” says Sparks. But it was

Publishing from Betty Lue Sharp. quite overwhelming,” says Sparks.
also at that point that “I realized that
Sharp had been struggling to keep the The next issue began the process of I truly had no idea what I was doing,”

company afloat since she had bought transforming Cityview from an adverto- he says.
it less than a year before, and she rial magazine featuring all-paid content Sparks began to look for a mentor,

agreed to stay on as marketing director to a true editorial magazine driven by someone who could teach him about
if Sparks would buy the business and the publisher and editors. The Spring how to be a responsible, positive mem-

help her to make it profitable. Sparks, issue’s nameplate read simply Knoxville ber of Knoxville’s media community.

who was currently juggling ventures Cityview. Sparks says he had begun
He found that mentor in Johnny Pirkle,
in mortgages, banking, and mergers to form the vision of a magazine “that a longtime friend of his—and the owner

and acquisitions, agreed. “I thought it would emphasize all that was good in of two FM radio stations, WoKI 100.3
would be a nice side venture,” he says. the community.” Though he had had no and WTNZ 94.3. He called Pirkle and

His plan was to get the company back real idea of how the magazine would asked if he could help to get Cityview

in shape—and then sell it to someone run when he bought it, two issues were on the right track. “[Pirkle] began to
who would run it in the long term.
enough to give him an idea of where he help me understand how to properly

But things didn’t work out quite as wanted the publication to go—and that conduct an interview, how to research
planned. In early 2001, Sparks pub- he wanted to remain a part of the maga- before an interview, and so much

lished his first issue with the tagline zine for more than just a few months.
more,” says Sparks.

“The Business and Community Con- “I had always heard that in order to The first issue that the two worked
nection.” This January/February issue be successful in the media, you had to on together was July/August 2001,

ran for just 28 pages, mostly profiling cover what was negative—and I just featuring local Survivor winner Tina
businesses and with a spotlight on the didn’t believe that. I wanted people to Wesson [see page 102].

new gibbs Center on Tazewell Pike.
have something they could enjoy and

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cityviewmag.com january february 2014