Thursday, June 02, 2005

Another Newspaper for Watauga County

Apparently they screwed up, the guys who bought out Ken Ketchie's Mountain Times three years ago. They goofed in not asking for more than just a three-year "no compete" clause, 'cause those three years are now up and Ken Ketchie got bored. We'll confess to more than a little boredom ourselves, a weariness over the indisputable fact that our two formerly distinct newspapers (the lively one that Ken Ketchie created back in the 1970s and the ancient one with ancient ways) have pretty much mind-melded into one echo chamber. Identical articles, in fact. Made the time ripe now for some actual competition in the local news biz. And Ken Ketchie has decided to pick that fruit.

Ketchie's new Mountain News is just a couple of issues old, doesn't have much of a staff as yet, but does have a new headquarters and a wide-open market for alternatives. We'll look forward to the day the Mtn News moves off entertainment and its touristy orientation and starts reporting some actual news. Might end up being good for the other (echo chamber) papers. A little competition is supposed to sharpen the mind, we hear.

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