Smoky Mountain News

Name

Smoky Mountain News

Legal name

Smoky Mountain News

Website

https://smokymountainnews.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local News Media

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local news coverage
• Community journalism
• Regional news media
• Digital news subscription
• Events calendar publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Waynesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Weekly digital subscription providing full access to all content, delivered by email. Powered by SimpleCirc subscription management platform.
2. Donations and Support: One-time, monthly, and annual donation options allowing readers to support independent local journalism. Donation tiers range from $7-$360 depending on frequency.
3. Newsletter (SMN Xtra): Updates from Smoky Mountain News throughout the week, delivered via email. Separate from full subscription content.
4. Sponsored Content: Partner content sections such as 'Ask Leah! The Ingles Dietitian' providing sponsored nutrition content from Ingles Markets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Smoky Mountain News is a weekly local news publication that produces and distributes original journalism covering Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties in Western North Carolina. The publication offers a digital-first news website, email newsletter, paid digital subscriptions, supporter donations, sponsored content, an events calendar, classifieds, and a back-issue archive built on the Newspack publishing platform.

Product overview

Smoky Mountain News is a single-platform digital news publication offering comprehensive local journalism for Western North Carolina. The publication operates primarily through its main website (smokymountainnews.com), which serves as the central hub for all content including News, Opinion, Arts & Entertainment, and Outdoors sections. The product portfolio includes the core news website supplemented by an email newsletter (SMN Xtra), paid digital subscriptions with supporter benefits, an events calendar powered by CitySpark, a classifieds marketplace, and archived back issues. The publication is built on the Newspack publishing platform and uses SimpleCirc for subscription management, representing a unified digital-first publishing operation without modular add-on products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smoky Mountain News Website The primary digital news publication for Western North Carolina, delivering original local journalism across News, Opinion, Arts & Entertainment, and Outdoors categories to residents of Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties.
• SMN Xtra Newsletter Free email newsletter providing mid-week updates and breaking news from the Smoky Mountain News newsroom to local readers and visitors.
• Digital Subscription Paid digital subscription providing subscribers with a weekly email copy of the print edition and annual impact reporting, managed through the SimpleCirc subscription platform.
• Events Calendar Community event calendar for Western North Carolina powered by the CitySpark platform, with options for community members to view, submit, and promote local events.
• Classifieds and Legal Ads Classifieds marketplace including general listings, legal ads (managed through Column.us), and real estate content (via Issuu) for local residents and businesses in Western North Carolina.
• Archives and Back Issues Historical archive of past articles and back issues of the publication, with digitized back issues available through the Issuu platform.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Mountaineer: Waynesville, NC-based community newspaper also serving Haywood County. Directly comparable as a legacy local news outlet covering the same core geography and competing for the same advertising and subscriber pool.
• Mountain Xpress: Asheville-based alt-weekly covering Western North Carolina with similar content verticals (news, arts, opinion, outdoors) and a digital-first, advertising-and-events-supported model. Closest comparable in editorial format and target audience.

Broad incumbents

• Asheville Citizen-Times: Gannett-owned regional daily in Asheville covering a broader WNC readership. A larger incumbent competing on overlapping local news coverage but with national-chain scale, parent-company resources, and a wider geographic remit than SMN.

Regional players

• The Transylvania Times: Brevard, NC-based community newspaper serving an adjacent mountain county in Western North Carolina. Directly comparable as an independent, locally-owned weekly paper serving a small mountain readership in the same media market.
• Blue Ridge Now: Gannett-owned daily serving Hendersonville and surrounding WNC counties. Comparable as an adjacent regional competitor for advertising and reader attention in the broader Western North Carolina news market.

Others

• Smokies Life: 29,000-member nonprofit formerly known as Great Smoky Mountains Association, producing content about the Great Smoky Mountains. A close content partner (co-publishes 'Word from the Smokies' column) and partial audience peer, though as a nonprofit rather than a news publication.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SmokyMtnNews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SmokyMountainNews
• Facebookfacebook.com/smnews
• Instagraminstagram.com/smokymountainnews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smoky-mountain-news

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smoky Mountain News