the_dunk_tank

Copy-pasting my comment from the previous thread:

(link to Tweet)

At first, I assumed it was satire.

Then, I went to his Twitter profile and it didn't look like satire but I couldn't understand how an editor for (what I assumed to be) a local newspaper could make enough to blow $25K/year on delivery.

But looking through the replies, I found someone link to this article

Jason Steen, the owner of hyper-local, digital media operations critics say sensationalize arrests that are minor, violent, graphic, bizarre or just embarrassing, is preparing for his own public brush with criminal and civil legal matters.

Steen's former employees at Scoop: Clarksville claim he owes tens of thousands in wages, dating to November. He's facing at least four pending civil suits. His next court date is scheduled for March 31.  

and this one

Rising comedian Josh Black has set his sights on Scoop: Nashville, the local outlet most notorious for posting mugshots of recent and embarrassing arrests. Black also takes aim at the site’s founder, Jason Steen, for recent disparaging comments made about Black women activists — and in response, Steen posted a since-deleted tweet that he would "restart" the practice of publishing victims' names and addresses.

“For some reason, Scoop: Nashville likes to attack poor and working class people,” says Black in the opening of a new video, citing the mugshot-shaming that grew the website’s brand. He adds that the website especially targets Black people, people experiencing homelessness and those struggling with substance abuse. “He’s consciously assisting in the mass incarceration of Black people.”

Black also points to the shockingly high incarceration rate in North Nashville, saying, “Scoop: Nashville is handing out a hotline number … so you can get more of them locked up.” The comedian also mentions that Steen has a criminal record as well — a felony theft charge against Steen came up during his bid for circuit court clerk in Montgomery County.

The mugshot-posting has also been a source of profit — as Black notes, the site and others owned by Steen charged money for the removal of such posts. (The options no longer appear to be on Scoop sites, though Steen’s defense of the practice out of state remains online.) Steen is also pleased with the advertising he gets from bail bond companies.

and it all started to make sense...