In addition to over a dozen weekly news and talk shows produced here at AshevilleFM, we also bring you Democracy Now at 10AM on weekdays. Let us know about the news you want to hear, and send your press releases to news@ashevillefm.org
News Team Short Bios
Patricia Furnish, News Director: Furnish is the director of news programming at Asheville FM. She has a MFA in Documentary Filmmaking from Wake Forest, a Ph.D. in Native American History from the University of Oklahoma, and a MA in Spanish from UNC-Charlotte. Her 2017 documentary A Legacy in Ashes discusses the coal ash spill in the Dan River on February 2nd 2014 as well as looking at the effects on the nearby town of Eden, North Carolina, which was then attempting to rebrand itself as an ecological tourist paradise. Furnish taught for twelve years at Blue Ridge College, worked at WFDD-FM at Wake Forest, and now works as a ESOL specialist at Asheville’s Literacy Together.
KP Whaley, Station General Manager: Whaley has been involved in public and community broadcasting for more than a decade, and joined Asheville FM in 2017 after nearly four years as a senior talk producer at Wisconsin Public Radio. He started his radio career as a volunteer and then News and Public Affairs Director at WORT Community Radio in Madison, Wisconsin in 2005. Between those two positions, he has also worked in community television, community food cooperatives, and as the manager of MAIN-FM for a year. He has also worked in the private sector in a variety of supervisory, management, and project management roles.
Mark West, General Assignment Reporter: West has been involved in journalism and journalism education for forty years. West received a MA in Radio, Television and Film, and a Ph.D. in Journalism, from UNC-Chapel Hill; his dissertation on press coverage of the Vietnam War earned two international awards. West has served as a communication consultant for a number of firms in the United States and the European Union, and taught journalism and radio in the UNC system for thirty years. He has published five books, including a textbook on journalistic writing which was published by St. Martin’s Press, and has served as a general manager at WPVM-FM.
Dick Needleman, Health Reporter: Dick grew up in the Boston area and traveled to progressive Ann Arbor Michigan where he obtained his undergraduate degree. He always wanted to help others so he picked up and moved to the biggest city in Vermont to obtain his medical degree. Fixing broken bones became his calling so he moved south to Washington DC to complete his orthopedic training. After practicing in the area for 3 years, his wanderlust continued to Milwaukee to specialize in Foot & Ankle surgery. By then, he was tired of education, and joined the job market, first practicing in Maine and later in the Detroit area. He decided to go back to school and get a masters degree in public health and 2 years ago moved to the best place in the whole wide world – Asheville. Being a health reporter at Asheville FM was his dream opportunity to use his public health and medical knowledge to reach out to many people on the airwaves and the website in order to help others.