written by Malachi Mena
During the month of July, The Asheville Blade celebrated their tenth anniversary. They shared with us the story of the spark that lit the fuse, resulting in the creation of the decade old local news co-op.
On Asheville FM’s , Sweet Tea, KP Whaley intervieweds David Forbes, founder of The Asheville Blade. She explained the issues faced with her past position as a writer for Mountain Xpress 10 years ago. With concerns regarding working conditions to management to overall ethics, Forbes as well as multiple other writers attempted to unionize.
In December 2013, Forbes was working on a story exposing slumlords in Buncombe County. She said the specific case in which she was focusing on was extensively documented, with the Board of realtors along with Buncombe County records showing proof of poor housing conditions. As soon as the story was complete and ready for publishing, the story was pulled by the editor, in concerns of it reflecting too poorly on landlords. Forbes was pressured to rewrite her piece to ultimately favor landlords but firmly refused. She didn’t feel she could let this case go unexposed, so she created a blog where she could post this expose, resulting in the creation of The Asheville Blade.
Forbes settled on the name, finding interest in the term “Blade” and its history. Not only was the name used for militant abolition and pro labor publications in the aftermath of the civil war, but was also used in the first publications of groundbreaking queer media in the 60’s & 70’s. Additionally, Forbes goes on to say that “a blade sends a message, you know? Since day one … we’ve been here to fight.”
The team behind The Asheville Blade recognizes that their work seemingly comes with retaliation but this doesn’t prevent them from reporting on the things they value. Rather, this retaliation motivates and sparks greater motivation for those at The Asheville Blade and the future of their co-op. In their article “The Blade Turns 10,” the coop says “We come through all this more dedicated than ever to the path ahead,” as they make a toast to the next 10 years.
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