Q&A with Fred McCormick, editor of The Valley Echo

MAN ON THE STREET: Fred McCormick launched The Valley Echo in February 2020 to continue the passionate local coverage of the Swannanoa Valley that he built over the course of six years as a reporter for the Black Mountain News. Photo by Kendra Diaz

The story of Fred McCormick’s path to journalism is so distinct that it warrants an article of its own.

A native of Florida, McCormick first visited Western North Carolina when coming to see his mother in Marion. She then began remodeling a house in Black Mountain and invited him and his wife to move in. “We just fell in love with the area,” McCormick says. “The first time I ever came to Black Mountain, I was, like, ‘I need to live here,’ because I had never seen anything like this.”

Though he’d written for a startup magazine in Tampa, McCormick primarily worked in children’s mental health care. But when his family moved to Cashiers and he became a stay-at-home dad, that flexibility allowed him to get part-time work at the Crossroads Chronicle newspaper.

A few years later, the family returned to Black Mountain, and in 2014 the Black Mountain News hired McCormick as a full-time reporter. From then until he left the Gannett Co.-owned paper in late 2019, McCormick estimates he wrote around one million words about the Swannanoa Valley. In February 2020, he launched The Valley Echo, a hyperlocal news website providing independent coverage. Xpress spoke with McCormick about the challenges and rewards of running a one-man publication and what gave him the optimism to embark on such an endeavor.

This interview has been condensed for length and edited for clarity.

How were you able to stand out while interviewing for the Black Mountain News position, since you were fairly new to journalism?

I basically begged for that job. Jennifer Fitzgerald was the editor and I told her, “I’m sure you’re going to find people who are more qualified. There’s probably people who are better at aspects of this job than me, just because I don’t have a whole lot of experience. But you’re not going to find someone who’s going to work harder. I will dedicate myself to this completely.” And then she hired me. I was shocked and probably a little overwhelmed. But I wanted to honor my word that I would try my hardest, and I’ve been hanging on for dear life ever since.

Why did you ultimately decide to leave the Black Mountain News?

With these large corporations that own newspapers, I started to understand that as things are changing, it appeared likely that a community this size probably wasn’t going to get all of the [financial] support because it didn’t work for the company that owned the paper. By the time I left, I was the only news employee there. Editor, sports, politics, crime, business — you name it. So my thought was, because I did see the writing on the wall with what the future looked like, I wanted to create my own thing and try to keep news local.

What gave you the confidence to start The Valley Echo?

There’s a great amount of accountability doing what I do in a town with only 8,500 people. If I write an article, I’m going to see one of the people I interviewed at Ingles later that week — and I think that has helped me in a lot of ways. It’s helped me make sure that I’m being objective when I go into situations and think about how it’s going to impact the community as a whole.

What that broad range of topics I covered at the Black Mountain News ended up doing was put me in touch with so many people in the community. Still to this day, people stop me and say, “I loved this story” or “Thank you for doing this story.” Knowing that and engaging with the community in that way, it helped me understand people were paying attention to what I was doing. And that’s what made me confident that if I continued to do the best that I could, the community was going to support it.

Were you concerned about being an exclusively online news organization?

I played a role in establishing a Black Mountain News social media presence because I knew it was important. I knew that a lot of people here consumed news online. I would have loved to have been able to have my own newspaper, just for the glory of it all. But the truth is that market is shrinking, and I wanted to start a business on a platform that’s being consumed by more people every day. I think more people are likely to turn to the internet for news for the first time than they are to turn to a newspaper for the first time.

What has been your experience running The Valley Echo independently of a media conglomerate, like Gannett or Tribune Publishing Company?  

I’ve been fortunate up to this point where the majority of the businesses are approaching me about advertising. It’s a great position to be in, but I’m always very honest with people and I tell them the goal is for this to be free for readers. I don’t want there to be any obstacles for people to access the information about the community. That’s very important, and I make sure to tell local business owners that. My feeling is the more that everyone knows about what’s going on in their community, the better the community. And so far, everyone has been receptive to that.

What other goals do you have for the site?

I want this to be in the community after I’m gone. It’s been less than two years since I started this, so I still look at it as the pretty early stages. But ultimately, the goal is for the community to have some sort of buy-in to this … to build this thing slowly in a sustainable way, and to allow the community to have a voice in The Valley Echo in its future.

For more information, visit avl.mx/atw

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Edwin Arnaudin
Edwin Arnaudin is a staff writer for Mountain Xpress. He also reviews films for ashevillemovies.com and is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) and North Carolina Film Critics Association (NCFCA). Follow me @EdwinArnaudin

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

One thought on “Q&A with Fred McCormick, editor of The Valley Echo

  1. Carter Blaisdell

    A balanced, respectful reporting of all perspectives on an issue has been missing in newspapers owned by a national conglomerate. Black Mountain News and the Asheville Citizen Times lost my confidence in them when they refused to publish my Letter to the Editor after the 2020 national election. I was a subscriber to Black Mountain News from 1991 to 2021, but explained over the phone why I was cancelling. Her reaction was like, “Oh, another cancellation.”

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.