Media Partners

The Asheville Citizen-Times was formed on July 1, 1991 as a result of the merger of the morning Asheville Citizen and the afternoon Asheville Times.  Founded in 1870 as a weekly, the Citizen became a daily newspaper in 1885. Writers Thomas Wolfe, O. Henry, both buried in Asheville, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, a common visitor of Asheville, frequently could be found in the newsroom in earlier days. In 1930 the Citizen came under common ownership with the Times, which was first established in 1896 as the Asheville Gazette. The latter paper merged with a short-lived rival, the Asheville Evening News, to form the Asheville Gazette-News and was renamed The Asheville Times by new owner Charles A. Webb. In 1986, $12 million was invested in offset printing presses and a new 44,000-square-foot production building in nearby Enka, with composed pages transmitted electronically from the downtown Asheville building located nine miles  away. In April 1997, the Citizen-Times became the first daily newspaper in Western North Carolina to launch a website; the site now receives tens of thousands of hits a day. Currently, the Citizen-Times has approximately 300 employees.

Western North Carolina Public Radio, Inc. (WNCPRI), is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1979 to provide public radio services to the far western portion of North Carolina. After an initial period of providing funding for the University of North Carolina at Asheville to help the University operate a noncommercial station, an agreement is reached which transfers the license for what is now WCQS to WNCPRI.  At this time the station is broadcasting with 110 watts of power from studios on the campus of UNCA. Western North Carolina Public Radio, Inc. operates WCQS-FM and its associated broadcast services as a community-based public radio network, committed to enhancing the quality of life in Western North Carolina by: Expanding listeners’ horizons through new perspectives and listening experiences; Promoting the free and independent interchange of ideas and information; Enriching and reflecting the cultural climate, heritage and traditions of our region and society through classical and other music, and the arts. WCQS offers programming from National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Radio International (PRI) as well as locally-hosted music and talk programs.