The ''Daily Democrat'' is the daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The paper is owned by

Digital First Media MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

. It is the oldest paper published in

Yolo County, California Yolo County (; Wintuan languages, Wintun: ''Yo-loy''), officially the County of Yolo, is a County (United States), county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Yolo County was one of the original counties of Californi ...

History

In 1857, the weekly newspaper ''Yolo County Democrat'' was founded in Cacheville by William L. Jernegan and M. E. Everts. Samuel Ruland served as the paper's first editor. After about three months Everts withdrew and the paper ceased after a year. M. P. Ferguson acquired the property and revived the paper in 1859 as ''The Cacheville Spectator''. That same year ownership transferred to T. J. Howard. Howard relocated the paper to Knights Landing and published under the title ''The Knights News'' in August 1859 with S. L. Snyder as co-publisher and co-proprietor. The paper shuttered after eight days. Two months later S. W. Ravely revived the paper and resumed printing that November under the old name. The paper moved to Woodland on June 11, 1864 and the name was changed to the ''Woodland News''. In August 1865, the paper came under the ownership of H. C. Grover and Charles E. St. Louis. At that time the paper switched party affiliations from Democrat to Republican. W. A. Henry became editor in November 1867 and the name was changed back to the ''Yolo County Democrat.'' Two years later and Henry was succeeded by L. P Hall, who ran the paper until a

libel suit Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

from the Yolo Mail caused him to retire. William Saunders become the paper's sole owner by February 1870 and ran it for a decade. The name was changed again on June 1, 1877 to the ''Woodland Daily Democrat.'' The paper was briefly owned by Ruffner & Lee, who sold out to Wick B. Parsons in 1887. In 1891, Edward E. Leake, editor of the ''Dixon Tribune'', purchased the paper. The Leake family owned and operated the ''Daily Democrat'' for 92 years until 1984, when it was sold to the

Donrey Media Group Stephens Media LLC was a Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, diversified media investment company. It owned stakes in the California Newspapers Partnership and the ''Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette''. The company once had an interactive Inter ...

. Donrey ceded control of the paper to the California Newspapers Partnership in 1999. The company is owned by MediaNews Group, Inc.

References

External links

* {{Digital First Media 1857 establishments in California Daily newspapers published in California MediaNews Group publications Newspapers established in 1857 Woodland, California Newspapers published in California Yolo County, California