Asheville Citizen-Times [1]
Asheville Citizen-Times
The Asheville Citizen-Times was founded as the Asheville Citizen in 1870 by Randolph Abbott Shotwell [2], who conceived the newspaper [3] as a voice for Conservative [4]-Democratic [5] politics. After the Western North Carolina Railroad [6] reached Asheville [7] in 1880, the circulation and influence of the Citizen grew with the town. It became a daily in 1885. Over the next several decades the newspaper, as the only morning daily west of Charlotte [8] and Winston-Salem [9], was a consistent advocate of economic progress in the Mountain region [10].
Over the years, the Citizen experienced a number of changes, becoming one of the first newspapers to have a linotype machine [11] in the state. It changed ownership many times until 1930, when then-owner Charles A. Webb formed the Asheville Citizen-Times Company with Don S. Elias, publisher of the afternoon Asheville Times. One Sunday edition of both papers was consolidated under the name Citizen-Times, although the editorial staffs remained separate and followed independent policies. The Citizen continued to support regional development, especially concerning the Great Smoky Mountains National Park [12] and the Blue Ridge Parkway [13]. In 1954 the Peace family of South Carolina acquired the company and in 1969 consolidated it with the Greenville News-Piedmont Company and Southeast Broadcasting Corporation to form Multimedia, Inc. In 1991 the Citizen and the Times merged into one newspaper, the Asheville Citizen-Times, and four years later Multimedia, Inc., was purchased by the giant communications corporation, the Gannett Company [14].
Foster A. Sendley, History of Buncombe County, North Carolina (2 vols., 1930).
The Asheville Citizen-Times official webpage: http://www.citizen-times.com/ [16] (accessed September 6, 2012).
Sandford, Jason. "Asheville Citizen-Times stops the presses." Mountain Xpress. January 4, 2009. http://www.mountainx.com/article/20943/Asheville-Citizen-Times-stops-the-presses [17] (accessed September 6, 2012).
Image Credits:
"Shotwell, Randolph A." N 53 15 1489 From North Carolina State Archives [18], Raleigh, NC, USA.
"Attractive glass-brick and concrete home of The Asheville Ctizen, The Asheville Times, the Sunday Citizen-Times, The Engraving Plant and Radio Station WWNC. One of the most modern newspaper plants in the Southeast." The E.S.C. Quarterly 9. No. 1-2. Winter-Spring 1951. p 23. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/e.s.c.-quarterly-1951-winter-spring-v.9-no.1-2/4239121 [15]
1 January 2006 | Bell, John L., Jr.