I have been an ardent admirer of the Mountain Xpress since I moved to Asheville in 1993. I've submitted letters and opinion pieces, which you've graciously published. I read it religiously, as I know many folks do, from end to end: First the letters (OK, I might glance down to check out who the author is first and then read, but still, I read them); the Opinion piece; City Council matters; local-issues pieces; advertising; movies; club scene; classifieds. And all the while I'm noting, as well, the ads and often patronizing those businesses.
I've always admired the Xpress because of its commitment, from my perspective, to presenting balanced, newsworthy, important, open-minded journalism. If there's a bent, it's towards open, expanded, dare I say "progressive" ideas — and progressive is good, considering its opposite (closed, fundamentalist, prescribed, backwards).
Imagine my absolute horror — and I am not exaggerating — when I saw in a recent edition a full-page ad for the widely accepted as highly erroneous and utterly propagandized 2016: Obama’s America. A full page ad … in the Xpress … our hometown magazine! I'm appalled! I'm sick! I'm so utterly disgusted and disappointed that I think I will take some time to determine whether or not I'll still read your paper religiously, whether I'll consider it worthy of my time, whether I'll patronize its advertisers (which I've done countless times), whether or not I can bear to be part of what I see as an ultimate sellout — the progressive media selling out to the fundamentalist, propagandized rightist extremists.
I've seen it happening around our fair city, selling its soul to the highest bidder. But the Xpress? I'm so ashamed, and sad, and disappointed — and did I say disgusted?
Maybe it's time to reconsider what we value and read and spend our hard-earned dollars advertising in.
— Virginia Bower
Asheville
Xpress Publisher Jeff Fobes responds:
Please don’t pillory Xpress for being a community media outlet that promotes an active citizenry whether the citizens are progressive or conservative. In the interest of community dialogue, Xpress promotes a spectrum of points of view, not what some of us at Xpress agree with.
Second, during election seasons, Xpress’ policy is to run paid political ads from all points of view. The rates are the same for all candidates and parties. We don’t refuse certain ads because someone at Xpress disagrees with the message. We may at some point have to draw a line at ads that flagrantly violate some code of ethics, but we haven’t yet reached that point. But remember there’s a key difference between news content (where we do check facts) and ads (which are the for the most part the advertisers’ responsibility).
Asheville and WNC are vibrant, and full of diversity. What Xpress tries to do is protect that diversity and the region’s grass-roots activism. A key way we do that is to encourage thoughtful dialogue among the various and often contentious points of view.
I hope this helps restore your faith in Xpress.
— Jeff Fobes
Publisher, Mountain Xpress
Asheville
I read her crazy letter and decided she is THE drama queen of the year … lady get some help!
I have been covered by the Xpress back when I ran for office, have dealt with them in the course of my business, and helped them distribute their publication from time to time and I feel that this readers assessment of the Xpress based on an ad is not only ridiculous but insulting. Look the Xpress is definitely not a conservative publication and it leans liberal on most things, that said, I am a conservative and they have ALWAYS been fair to me dispite their not agreeing with my views on many things which makes them a rare publication for their attempts to try and represent the readership. Just because a publication may be progressive or liberal doesn’t mean they have to ignore or refuse the ad money for a paying customer they don’t agree with, it makes them a publication worthy of respect. The Xpress regularly prints editorials from people on both sides of the spectrum which makes them far better stewards of our news than some others out there. It should speak volumes that this letter was printed in their own paper. For this and many reasons I stand behind the Xpress accepting ad money for a movie advertisement so that they can afford to continue to serve our community. Keep it up, and you have countless fans Xpress!