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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  A mid-state professor says a technology arms-race may develop between news organizations and the government following last week’s revelation that the U.S. Department of Justice secretly accessed the phone records of 20 reporters.

Dr. Larry Burriss is an attorney specializing in media law and teaches journalism at Middle Tennessee State University. He says the New Yorker Magazine has already developed what it’s calling a “hack-proof” system to protect its sources.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP/WMOT)  --  Bonnaroo released a  new economic impact study Monday indicating the annual music festival contributes more than $50 million dollars to Middle Tennessee’s economy each year.

Greyhill Associates of New York conducted the study, which says festival goers directly spend about $36 million annually, while also generating indirect expenditures amounting to $15 million.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP/WMOT) — Metro Nashville held a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday morning for its new Music City Center convention facility.

The official opening actually came on the second day festivities marking the center’s completion.

Officials say about 15,000 visitors turned out Sunday to tour the new facility, enjoy live music, and try out an indoor zip line.

ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (AP) — An Australian who was hiking the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee has died.

Authorities said 71-year-old George Walls Grant from Collie, Western Australia, fell ill while hitchhiking to a market on Monday.

The Johnson City Press (http://bit.ly/16BMTKp ) reported motorist James Self noticed Grant was having a medical problem and took him to a rescue squad station. An ambulance took Grant to a hospital emergency room, where he was pronounced dead.