The Highlander

What The Highlander does

The Highlander is a privately held community newspaper serving the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau of Western North Carolina, covering Highlands, Cashiers, Glenville, and surrounding areas across Macon and Jackson Counties. Founded in 2002 and operating with 11–50 employees, the publication delivers hyper-local news, regional updates, sports, opinion, obituaries, classifieds, and legal notices through a combination of print and digital channels. Its headquarters and mailing operation are based at 134 N. Fifth Street, Highlands, NC, with standard weekday office hours.

The publication's product surface spans a core print newspaper, a digital e-Edition served via the eTypeServices platform, an extended searchable archive through NewsBank, and obituaries hosted via Legacy.com. Beyond the core title, The Highlander produces four specialized magazine publications — a Medical Directory, Mountain Traveler, Real Estate Magazine, and Mountain Life — that target vertical advertiser segments within the Plateau economy, particularly real estate, healthcare, and tourism. The website maintains WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility compliance through ongoing automated scanning.

The revenue model combines paid subscriptions (digital-only and print+digital tiers), display and classified advertising, legal notices, obituary placements, and special-publication ad sales. Distribution is regional, direct-to-consumer and direct-to-local-business, with marketing conducted primarily through the website (highlandsnews.com), a Facebook page (TheHighlanderNewspaper), and email newsletter alerts. The publication has no identified venture capital, private equity, or corporate parent ownership and appears to be locally owned and operated. The business demonstrated operational resilience through Hurricane Helene in October 2024, continuing to publish during a period of widespread regional disruption.

Name

The Highlander

Legal name

The Highlander, Highlands, North Carolina

Website

https://highlandsnews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Highlander is a privately held community newspaper serving the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau of Western North Carolina, delivering local news, sports, obituaries, classifieds, and specialized magazines via print and digital e-Edition to Plateau residents and seasonal visitors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Highlands

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Highlander is a locally owned weekly community newspaper founded in 2002 that publishes news, sports, obituaries, classifieds, and special interest magazine publications for the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau in western North Carolina. It distributes both a printed weekly edition and a digital e-Edition, supported by a dedicated website and social media channels.

Product overview

The Highlander is a local newspaper providing comprehensive coverage of the Highlands, North Carolina area. The publication operates primarily as a print newspaper with a digital e-Edition component. Additional offerings include special publications such as the Medical Directory, Mountain Traveler, Real Estate Magazine, and Mountain Life magazine. The newspaper is distributed through subscription services and maintains an archive of past issues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Highlander Newspaper (Weekly Print Edition) Weekly published print community newspaper covering local news, sports, obituaries, and classified listings for residents and visitors of Highlands, NC and the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau.
• The Highlander E-Edition Digital edition of The Highlander newspaper providing online access to published stories, archives, and special publications for subscribers via the publication's website.
• The Highlander Magazines (Special Publications) Special interest magazines published by The Highlander to provide additional in-depth content on topics relevant to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau community.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Macon County News: Local newspaper serving Franklin and Macon County, NC, directly overlapping with The Highlander's Macon County coverage area. Same small-market weekly newspaper model with print subscriptions, obituaries, classifieds, and local advertising.
• Hendersonville Lightning: Independent local news outlet covering Hendersonville and Henderson County, NC, within the broader Western NC region. Comparable hyper-local news focus with subscription-supported digital and periodic print products.
• The Sylva Herald: Local newspaper covering Sylva and Jackson County, NC, overlapping directly with The Highlander's coverage of the Cashiers and Jackson County portions of the Plateau. Operates a similar print-plus-digital subscription model for a small mountain community.
• Smoky Mountain News: Weekly community newspaper serving Haywood and Jackson counties in Western North Carolina, directly adjacent to The Highlander's Highlands-Cashiers Plateau territory. Closest comparable product mix: print + e-edition, hyper-local coverage, and reliance on local advertising and subscriptions.
• The Mountaineer (Waynesville): Community newspaper covering Waynesville and Haywood County, NC, adjacent to The Highlander's coverage area. Same small-market print + e-edition subscription model serving a Western NC mountain community.
• The Transylvania Times: Long-running local newspaper serving Transylvania County, NC, another small mountain county neighboring The Highlander's footprint. Comparable in scale, business model (print + digital subscriptions + local advertising), and community-newspaper editorial focus.
• Cherokee Scout: Local newspaper covering Cherokee and Graham counties in far Western NC. Comparable small-market print and digital local-news operation in the same Western North Carolina mountain region.
• Mountain Xpress: Alternative weekly newspaper and digital publication serving Asheville and the surrounding Western NC region. Comparable local-news product with a stronger digital emphasis, competing for some of the same regional advertising pool.

Broad incumbents

• Blue Ridge Now: Daily newspaper serving Hendersonville and Henderson County, NC, owned by Gannett. Operates as a larger regional incumbent with print and digital subscriptions, overlapping with The Highlander's reach into the southern portion of its coverage area.
• Asheville Citizen-Times: Regional daily newspaper covering Asheville and Buncombe County, serving as the dominant regional incumbent in The Highlander's broader Western NC market. Larger scale and broader geographic reach, but covers overlapping territory and competes for the same regional advertising and reader attention.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheHighlanderNewspaper

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 The Highlander