Former Gleason resident Frank Gibson, who was the founding executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the journalist who spearheaded the idea of creating a statewide open-government coalition in Tennessee, has died.
He passed away yesterday morning in Florida.
Mr. Gibson began his career in Gleason calling in football scores to the Memphis paper and later became a reporter as a longtime Tennessean reporter and editor. He spent decades advocating for public access to records and government transparency.
Gibson founded T-COG in 2003 after organizing journalists, attorneys and citizens to push back against growing secrecy in government.
He later became public policy director for the Tennessee Press Association. Gibson was inducted in 2018 into the Tennessee Journalism Hall of Fame, honoring his four decades as a reporter and editor at The Tennessean. Gibson and Governor Ned McWherter were good friends both growing up in Weakley County.
Gleason Mayor Charles Anderson said “Frank Gibson never forgot his roots in helping make important legislation to keep government open to the public.” He went on to say “Frank came back to Gleason as often as he could especially for high school reunions. “
