Westview (newspaper)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Westview is an independent weekly newspaper published in the Nashville, Tennessee suburb of Bellevue.
The Westview was founded by the late former news reporter and photographer, Doug Underwood in 1978 and is currently published his widow, Evelyn Underwood-Miles, and edited by his younger daughter, Paula Underwood Winters. Underwood desired to give his area a weekly newspaper similar to those often found in rural communities, with articles about social events, happenings at area schools and churches, and other items of local interest which would not normally warrant much, if any, coverage in a major metropolitan area newspaper such as The Tennessean or a similar paper. In order to focus the paper on a relatively defined area, its circulation is limited to an area from about 10 miles east of Bellevue in West Nashville to about 20 miles west of it in White Bluff.
In an effort to expand its circulation and advertising in White Bluff and Fairview, in 2005 the Westview began circulation of special editions for those areas entitled the White Bluff Gazette and the Fairview Gazette repsectively. These editions retain almost all of the same editorial content as the Westview but feature specialized front pages and put the articles perteinent to the featured communities in the front section rather than later in the paper as they appear in the main Westview.
Current features in the Westview as of 2006 include the comic strip "Yuda Mann", columns by local politicians, features about local schools and homeschool enrichment activities, a weekly column by former VFW National Commander John Furgess, and the syndicated financial column of radio talk show host Dave Ramsey.
For the major part of its existence, the Westview has been a "free", advertiser-supported publication but was also a paid-circulation newspaper for a period, during which time it was in a tabloid format. The parent company also includes a self-publishing, print-on-demand operation which has published a considerable number of books by area authors,on topics of local history, autobiography, fiction, self help and religious devotion.
