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We believe you have a right to know who owns and funds the news you read. This page sets out our ownership and funding as transparently as we can.
Who we are
LocalBrief Asheville is an independent digital news publication serving Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina. It is part of the LocalBrief network of city-news sites and is operated by Pub.cat, an AI-assisted media company. [INSERT operating legal entity and jurisdiction once the company structure is finalised. Until then, this page states the trading name and network only, in line with our policy of publishing basic ownership information and adding full legal-entity detail when incorporation completes.]
Editorial independence
Our editorial decisions are made independently and in the public interest. No advertiser, sponsor or outside party controls or influences our news coverage. We maintain a strict separation between our newsroom and our commercial operations.
How we are funded
We use a diversified funding model designed to keep us sustainable and independent:
- Advertising: display advertising and clearly labeled sponsorships, kept entirely separate from editorial.
- Reader support: voluntary subscriptions or memberships, as these become available.
- Grants: if we ever accept a grant supporting local journalism, we will disclose it here, and it will come with no editorial conditions.
We do not accept funding from political parties or lobbying groups, or any funding that would compromise our independence or create a conflict of interest.
How we are produced
LocalBrief Asheville is produced using an AI-assisted newsroom with human editorial oversight. We are open about this; see our AI and Automation Policy.
Keeping this current
We will update this page to reflect any significant change in ownership or funding. Questions? Email asheville-hello@localbrief.news