Helene’s aftermath has hit our communities hard. As a community journalism co-op, that means the Blade is struggling too. We need your help to make sure we can continue informing the people of our city
Above: Graphic by Matilda Bliss
For over a decade the Asheville Blade has created in-depth, hard-hitting journalism. But we are, like so many locals, struggling to stay afloat in the aftermath of Helene.
While all the reporters in our journalism co-op were fortunately unharmed, we’ve had to deal with the challenges of reporting from a disaster zone while enduring it as individuals and community members.
Sadly, as plenty in our communities who support our journalism lost housing or jobs, it’s hit us pretty hard too. While the past few years have been challenging, this is the most difficult yet.
While it’s been a hard year we care about the people of our area and love what we do.
Despite the trials of this year we still did solid work. In 2024, the Blade exposed Tourists’ team co-owner Mike DeWine for his bigotry, Mayor Esther Manheimer for her attacks on free speech and city council candidate Tod Leaven for his real estate industry dark money. We covered local government allowing hate speech while shutting out anti-genocide locals, sounded the alarm about right-wing businesses’ push to impose their own private government on downtown and told the tale of locals’ tenacious fight against it.
We brought you stories of city hall giving cops drones and the city manager a massive raise while paying firefighters poorly. We debunked “mob attack” myths created by far-right Zionists, and we reported on Asheville government shutting down a whole swath of downtown to cater to a fascist oligarch.
We reported on the Helene disaster, including providing key information to locals, delving into the shattered water system and telling the truth about how elites are worsening the crises.
All year long, we kept you updated on the covid pandemic that continues to hit our town. Through hell and high water (literally), the Blade has reported on what matters most.
We need your help to keep doing it. And to do it more.
So, how can you help? We’ve set up a fundraiser to aid our recovery and, if all goes well, even expand our coverage. If you have the resources, please consider supporting that and sharing it. Anything helps.
We also need subscriptions, now more than ever. So if you can spare a little cash per month ($15 gets you our thanks, a bumper sticker and a lovely “Gentry Tears” mug), especially if you live outside the area and want to support local journalism, sign up here. You can also make a one-time donation here, and $20 there also gets you a “Gentry Tears” mug.
Blade subscriber rewards including a thank you letter, bumper sticker and ‘Gentry Tears’ mug
While we, like so many here, face an uncertain future. We remain more determined than ever to do so, thankful for the support of our communities and the wider solidarity in the fight ahead.
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The Asheville Blade is entirely funded by our readers. If you like what we do, donate directly to us on Patreon or make a one-time gift to support our work. Questions? Comments? Email us.