By JIM GENARO

One of Ashevilleís longest-running weekly newspapers announced recently that it will be ceasing publication.

After more than eight years of publishing, the Asheville Global Report announced† in its May 24 edition that it will no longer publish its print edition for a number of reasons, including financial pressures and recent boosts in postal rates.

Some media critics have charged that the postal-rate increases are specifically detrimental to smaller periodicals such as the AGR.

However, the AGR will continue to promote underreported news through its newly created satellite-television program, which has started running on Free Speech TV on the Dish satellite network.

The AGR also maintains an online version of its paper as well as weekly radio broadcasts on WPVM.

The paper was started in 1999 as an eight-page newsletter photocopied at Kinkos, according to the AGRís farewell article.

Over the course of its publication, the AGR became well known for its coverage of stories that were largely underreported in the mainstream media.

While much of its content was drawn from international wire services, the AGR also featured a significant amount of original reporting and commentaries.

The paper also received critical acclaim for its coverage, including 10 awards from Project Censored, a media-watchdog group.

This is not the first time the publication has faced closing. A 501(c)(3) publication staffed solely by volunteers, the AGR has often had difficulty raising enough funds to continue printing.

Several times, the paper has had to call on its readership to help raise money through fund drives and public events.

However, the paper has, in the past, managed to continue ìby the skin of our teeth and at no small amount of sacrifice of some of our volunteers,î according to the May 24 article.

This time, though, the challenges of dwindling public funds and a lack of community support have necessitated the shift to alternate media, according to Editor Eamon Martin.

Meanwhile, the AGR Web site reportedly has seen a significant increase in traffic recently, with more than 3,600 people logging on daily.