The Observer-Dispatch has been telling Utica’s stories for 200 years.
Started in the days of the horse and buggy, open-hearth cooking and quill pens, the paper has gone on to chronicle everything from abolition to the lunar landing and beyond.
The Observer-Dispatch is a paper born out of consolidation and the hard work of journalists looking to keep the public informed.
In 1959, the O-D and Daily Press won a Pulitzer Prize for their joint efforts, an unusual feat for a small city paper.
News is published regularly online every day, in our daily eNewspaper and in print six days a week. The biggest stories of the day can be found in our Daily Briefing newsletter, which readers can subscribe to here.
When was the Observer-Dispatch founded?
In 1922, when the Utica Observer merged with the Utica Herald-Dispatch to create today’s O-D, it also added 24 years to its pedigree; while the Observer began in 1817, the Herald-Dispatch’s great-great-granddaddy was the Whitestown Gazette, first printed in 1793.
In 1900, the Utica Morning Herald (what the Whitestown Gazette was eventually named) merged with the Utica Dispatch and became the Utica Herald-Dispatch.
Thus, today’s Observer-Dispatch — a consolidation of two newspapers, each with a history dating to the earliest days of Utica — has on its family tree a branch labeled “Whitestown Gazette,” the first newspaper west of Albany.
Who owns the Observer-Dispatch?
Gannett Co. Inc (NYSE: GCI) is the Observer-Dispatch’s parent company, operating a national flagship media brand, USA TODAY, and hundreds of media brands throughout the United States under the USA TODAY Network umbrella. It is one of the largest publishing and digital media companies in the nation.
A Pulitzer for the Observer-Dispatch
As Utica grew and prospered, its criminal underworld did as well. By the 1950s, organized crime, gambling and prostitution were fixtures of city life. Local churches and community members complained vocally, and finally state investigators stepped in.
The paper covered the investigation hard, even when its staffers came into harm’s way. At least one of the editors got death threats, and their kids were threatened too.
In 1959, the O-D and Daily Press won a Pulitzer Prize for their joint efforts, an unusual feat for a small city paper.
How to connect with the Utica Observer-Dispatch
The Democrat and Chronicle is active on several social media platforms:
Utica Observer-Dispatch on Instagram
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Utica Observer-Dispatch on X
You can also add the Observer-Dispatch as a “preferred source” in Google by following this shortcut.
If you want immediate updates on anything and everything Utica and the Mohawk Valley, you’ll want to download our mobile app.
Who leads the Utica Observer-Dispatch?
Local Editor Ed Harris leads the newsroom. His email is eharris1@gannett.com.
Customer service can be reached at (800) 790-9565.
Get to know our full staff here.
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Journalism principles guiding the Utica Observer-Dispatch
For the USA TODAY Network Principles of Ethical Conduct For Newsrooms, click here.
For the USA TODAY Network Style Guide, click here.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Get to know the Observer-Dispatch: About us
Reporting by Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
