City, county call for public access proposals

Tonight, Asheville City Council will consider issuing a call for proposals, partnering with Buncombe County, for an outside group to provide “community media development” following the collapse of the WNC Community Media Center. However, the proposal does not specify that a public access television channel to replace the defunct URTV must be part of the deal, and the funding the governments would provide expires after three years.

City committee decides not to renew URTV contract, will look for new public access provider

On recommendations from staff, Asheville City Council’s Finance Committee decided earlier today not to renew its contract with URTV, and to put out a request for another entity to take over its public access role.

Administrative Services Director Lauren Bradley presents city staff’s recommendations on URTV. Photo by Jerry Nelson.

Whose TV?

There’s trouble at URTV. Who—and what—is responsible for that trouble? The answers depend on who you ask. Before the crowd: URTV Executive Director Pat Garlinghouse addressing a 2007 meeting of URTV producers. Photo by Jonathan Welch Launched in 2005, Asheville’s public-access channel is “a televised forum for legal, noncommercial speech; a place where you can […]

Buncombe County Commission

“I understand that we live in a diverse community today. But why do we need to allow diversity that is foreign to us?” — Pastor Jerry Young, Trinity Baptist Church At 4 p.m., the fear in the room was already so thick you could almost taste it. But many of those attending the Buncombe County […]