They blog for different reasons, but have the same mission — documenting life in WNC.

Cruising the blogosphere is daily routine for many who want to stay informed of what’s happening in Western North Carolina and throughout the nation. It’s a way of obtaining information that may not be reported in traditional newspapers, and it’s often written in an edgier style.

As for blog sites that write about what’s going on in this region, here are a few that standout for their popularity and their news content.

A crusader for free press

Blog: Eastern Band • www.easternband.com

Blogger: Bill Killian

Recent post: “Being called trouble makers by a preacher,” about minister Denny Crowe calling those who want alcohol at the casino troublemakers.

Retired Cherokee minister Bill Killian says his no-holds-barred philosophy of printing any and all news and opinions about the Eastern Band and its government hasn’t made him the most popular guy on the reservation. Of course, the 2 million readers he says have visited his blog so far this year would probably disagree.

Killian doesn’t have a writing background and obviously didn’t need one to draw readers in. Instead, his strategy was to create a safe haven in a place where dissenting opinions haven’t exactly been welcomed.

Killian maintains that in his study of Cherokee history, he “started to see patterns forming in how our government was used as a device to oppress our people.” That motivated him to start his blog and practice a no-holds-barred style of communication, where any and all comments are welcomed.

Indeed, Eastern Band is a unique source of information and dialogue. The only tribal media source — the One Feather newspaper — is owned and operated by the tribal government, which keeps a tight fist on what is printed. When former editor Joe Martin refused to stop printing a column where anonymous comments — many derogatory toward the government — were welcomed, he was demoted from his position and eventually resigned.

Killian’s site has faced heavy scrutiny.

“When I started it, I immediately started getting flack from the tribe — threats of lawsuits, attempts on my life, and that kind of stuff,” he says.

None of that deters Killian, who readily attaches his name to the blog and stands behind everything he prints. Blogging for him is a full-time commitment. Sometimes he reports news himself; much of the time his blog is an open forum for comments on a variety of issues. A recent site visit found users discussing alleged backroom deals, wasteful spending, and nepotism and favoritism inside the tribal government — all topics that appear frequently.

Though Killian puts his name out there, the identities of users on his site are protected — a major reason his blog is so popular.

“I keep identities quiet,” he says. “One person can post one thing on the Internet and cost 10 people their jobs. I’m protective about the members on my site — I don’t know who they are, and I don’t care.”

Eastern Band isn’t just a forum for complaints — Killian makes sure to offer solutions, too.

“What good is a cynic who doesn’t have another plan?” he asks. “There are other people who have tried to improve things here and just got pushed aside and ignored. After so much time of that, they go away. It’s the people who have a second agenda that keep coming back and throwing themselves against the wall that finally break through.”

Killian continues to blog for the benefit of his community as a whole.

“All I’m trying to do is clean up my corner of the world,” he says. “I’m trying to demonstrate that one man can make a difference.”

Filling a niche

Blog: Southern Highland Reader • www.southernhighlandreader.com

Blogger: Bill Graham

Recent post: “McCurry, Downtown Sylva Association Director, resigns”

Bill Graham, a Sylva graphic designer, started his blog in February of this year to address what he perceived as a gaping news hole in the far western part of the state.

“There’s not a lot of daily news coverage west of Balsam,” he says. “We wanted to have a real daily source of interesting and original information.”

Newspapers west of Haywood County only publish once a week. The two daily news sources that cover the region — the Asheville Citizen-Times paper and WLOS television station — tend to skip over events unless they have a major regional interest. That can sometimes leave residents wondering what’s going on in their community.

Graham has a full-time job and blogs in his free time, sometimes as much as two hours a day. He’s limited in the time he can devote to the blog, so he mainly sticks to Jackson County happenings, though he technically covers Macon, Graham and Swain counties as well.

Unlike many blogs, which are rife with opinions of the author, Graham’s is set up like a true news source. One section is for news, another is for editorial — he keeps the two as separate as possible.

Rather than simply linking to stories written by other media outlets, Graham pens some of the articles himself. He recently wrote about the resignation of the directors of both the planning department and downtown Sylva association. For other articles, he referenced a Raleigh News and Observer story and linked to a Conde Nast piece, though he made sure both were relevant to his local audience.

He tends to link to articles that show how the area is reflected by media outside the region.

Graham calls his blog a hybrid — part news source, part journalism review.

“I hope to include a lot of original writing for different people, so that it’s sort of an online magazine — that’s the goal, anyway,” he says.

Graham worked in the newspaper industry for years, and says blogs have some advantages over print media. He likes being able to see how readers respond to what he has on his blog.

“I can write a partial story and go back and massage it and change the headlines, then watch how many readers are attracted by any given headline,” he says. “It’s been an interesting thing to really study responses.”

Graham, though, says he doesn’t view his blog as competition for other media sources. He doesn’t have the time to concentrate on in-depth pieces or investigations.

“It’s not really our intent to compete on the news front,” he says. “I love newspapers, and I like giving props for the work they do as much as I can.”

Blogger and journalist

Blog: Ashvegas • ashvegas.squarespace.com

Blogger: Jason Sandford

Recent post: “Asheville Obama watch: The eagle has landed”

Nearly half a million readers a year flock to Ashvegas to catch a glimpse of local issues through the eyes of writer Jason Sandford. The Mountain Xpress reporter’s witty take on WNC happenings have snagged him the title of best regional blogger for two years running.

Sandford’s reporter instincts — he has spent his career as a reporter and was at The Asheville Citizen-Times before moving to the Xpress — shine through his blog, which focuses on all things newsy in the area (Sandford mainly writes about Asheville, but occasionally ventures to other areas in the region). Unlike many other blogs, which are essentially journals of the writers life, Ashvegas readers won’t find Sandford’s personal account here.

“There are a lot of blogs that are the personal diary style — I can’t do that,” he says. “I’m not a columnist. I can’t write about myself like that. I just write about the things that interest me.”

Sandford spends three or four hours a day scouring the Internet for news from around the region, taking and scanning pictures, and attending events which he’ll often write up himself.

Recent posts included a fall leaf report, the best weather forecast in WNC, an Obama watch where readers were invited to post any local Obama sightings on the blog, and musings on the gas shortage. Sandford ranges from the serious to the silly — he often pokes fun at local television station WLOS and recently polled readers on which newscaster would look the best when the station switched over to high definition.

“I try to provide original material — material that I think nobody else has seen or taken notice of,” Sandford says. “I’m looking for offbeat tidbits or pieces of information that have gone unnoticed.”

Sandford’s personal take on the information he posts attracts readers.

“Why people read me is that I put things in a different context — I frame it with commentary that’s sharp or snarky,” he says.

Sandford must balance his role as the Ashvegas blogger with his full-time job as a newspaper reporter. Though his opinions are broadcast for the world to see through his blog, he doesn’t think that interferes with the appearance of neutrality he must maintain as a reporter.

“My blog is my personal opinion — it’s not a newspaper or news site,” he says. “I think the reader can tell the difference.”

“Bloggers would say they wish traditional news outlets would be more honest in terms of their biases in coverage,” he adds.

The storyteller

Blog: Ruminations of the Distant Hills • gulahiyi.blogspot.com

Blogger: Anonymous

Recent post: Elk return to Cataloochee Valley

The Cullowhee-based creator of the Ruminations blog writes under the pseudonym Gulahiyi, a Cherokee word for a wild plant once abundant in the area. In an email, Gulahiyi explains that to him, “the message is the point — not the messenger.”

Ruminations is all about mountain culture and the history behind it. Gulahiyi writes in a fantastical style, blending past with present; and fact with fiction. He combines historical accounts, poems, photographs, renderings and current news topics to form his take on life in the WNC mountains.

In an email, he explained some of his creative license and fascination with history.

“Mountain culture is a rich mine for any writer, but I think a lot of things have been written to death,” he said. “I like to take some of the old stories and have fun with them ... put myself in the middle of it ... bend space and time to the breaking point.”

Gulahiyi is just as likely to pen a make-believe anecdote as he is to write about a current news topic. His primary interest is development, and he’s generally skeptical, even mocking, of mountain developers. He writes frequently about the new Jackson County development, Legasus, and about the sketchy Big Ridge development in Cashiers.

“You can go back hundreds of years with the story-line about people who have no higher ambition than to transform these mountains into money,” he said in an email. “Those interests need to be exposed and lampooned for what they are.”

Gulahiyi’s tendency to lambast developers is a partial reason he writes under a pen name.

“I use a pseudonym for the same reason golf-course developers use LLCs,” he said in an email. “When they quit hiding behind their LLCs, maybe I’ll quit hiding behind my pen-name.”

Though Gulahiyi doesn’t want readers to know much about him, he’s endlessly fascinated by others.

“My favorite part of (blogging) is learning more about what other people are thinking, either through their web searches or from the comments they leave in response to various posts,” he said.

In keeping with his tendency to incorporate history into everything, Gulahiyi equates blogging with the ancient art of storytelling.

“I think it’s a healthy sign that so many people are telling their stories via blogs,” he says. “Stories will outlive us — storytelling keeps a culture alive. If I had my way, I’d be exchanging stories with the rest of the tribe gathered around a campfire. But until that option is available, I’ll have to make do with the soft glow of a computer screen.”

Life in the remote Smokies

Blog: This Dam Life • fontanavillage.com/thisdamlife

Blogger: Jerry Span

Recent post: “Lost turtle,” about a turtle that stumbled into the yard of his remote home near Fontana Dam.

What would it be like to live in the remote Smoky Mountain wilderness half an hour from the nearest town? Jerry Span does, along with his wife and daughter — and he chronicles his family’s unique experience through a blog called “This Dam Life.”

Span’s blog is essentially a journal of one young family’s life in rural Graham County. Span is the recreation director at Fontana Village resort and leads an active life — one that makes for an interesting blog.

Span started blogging to keep his family, who lives in Florida, updated on his activities. He writes about whatever he happens to be doing in life — not necessarily a standout topic, but one made infinitely more interesting by his remote location.

Recent posts include a link to an article Span wrote about best places to hike away from the crowds, information about a project called Fontana Stories he’s working on that documents old-timers’ accounts of life in the area, a video of two great swimming holes, and pictures from his trip foraging for mushrooms.

One of the owners of Fontana Village was so taken with Span’s blog that he suggested they link it up with the resort’s homepage.

The blog has recently taken a backseat to Span’s full-time job coordinating activities at Fontana Village.

“When I wasn’t so bogged down with other work, I was able to post more!” he laments.

Still, Span’s blog is worth watching for updates when he does have time again.