AshevilleWatchdog

Asheville Watchdog is a free, local, not-for-profit, nonpartisan news organization. It was founded in 2020 as a public service by veteran professional journalists and media executives living in and around Asheville, North Carolina. Our operations are supported entirely by contributions from the community.

We believe that high-quality, independent local journalism is essential for a successful democracy.

Our mission is to inform and engage the citizens of Asheville and surrounding communities by providing fair, factual and reliable in-depth news stories about local government, institutions, issues, and people. 

We started Asheville Watchdog because local news is in crisis. More than 3,500 newspapers have closed since 2005, almost 40 percent of the total, and they continue to close at a rate of more than two each week. This means there are fewer reporters to keep watch over state and local government, to dig deep into the issues, and to hold the powerful accountable.