The ''Observer-Dispatch'' (''The O-D'') is a

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 ...

serving the Utica-Rome metropolitan area in

Central New York The central region of New York state includes: * Auburn in Cayuga County * Cortland in Cortland County * Oneida in Madison County * Syracuse, the largest city of Central New York, in Onondaga County * Fulton and Oswego in Oswego County ...

, circulating in Oneida County, Herkimer County, and parts of Madison County. Based in

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

, the publication is owned by

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

History

Eliasaph Dorchester founded the weekly ''Utica Observer'' in 1817. The paper briefly moved to

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which lie ...

and published under the name of the ''Oneida Observer'', but returned to Utica after. The paper consolidated with the ''Utica Democrat'' in 1852, bringing with it long-time editor Dewitt C. Grove, who simultaneously served as mayor of Utica from 1860 to 1862. The ''Observers facilities were destroyed in 1884 by a fire. Construction began in 1914 on a new office for the Observer, which was completed in 1915. The two-story building was expanded to three stories in 1930, with the name "Utica Observer-Dispatch" engraved in the stone above the third story windows. In 1922 the paper was purchased by Frank E. Gannett, founder of the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...

. Gannett purchased the ''Herald-Dispatch'' at the same time and combined the two, creating the ''Utica Observer-Dispatch''. Gannet also purchased the ''Utica Daily Press'' in 1935. The ''Utica Daily Press'' and the ''Utica Observer-Dispatch'' merged in 1987, and were renamed to the current ''Observer-Dispatch''. Gannett owned the newspaper until 2007, when it was purchased by

GateHouse Media GateHouse Media Inc. was an American publisher of locally based print and digital media. It published 144 daily newspapers, 684 community publications, and over 569 local-market websites in 38 states. Its parent company, New Media Investment Group ...

. GateHouse Media's parent company merged with Gannett in 2019, returning the ''Observer-Dispatch'' to Gannett once more. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the O-D had a weekly

Bosnian language Bosnian (; / ; ), sometimes referred to as Bosniak ( / ; ), is the standard language, standardized Variety (linguistics)#Standard varieties, variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language mainly used by ethnic Bosniaks. Bosnian is one of ...

column serving the

Bosnian American Bosnian Americans are Americans whose ancestry can be traced to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The vast majority of Bosnian Americans immigrated to the United States during and after the Bosnian War which lasted from 1992–95. Nevertheless, many Bosni ...

population in Utica. The company added digital delivery of news and information in January 2000 with the launch of uticaOD.com. It began online video publication in 2006. In 2004, the ''Observer-Dispatch'' purchased the ''Mid York Weekly'' newspaper, serving

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Madison County, New York, Madison County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 6,379 at the 2020 census. The town is named after American Founding Father ...

, and seven weekly

Pennysaver A pennysaver (or free ads paper, Friday ad or shopper) is a free community periodical available in North America (typically weekly or monthly publications) that advertises items for sale. Frequently pennysavers are actually called ''The Pennysav ...

publications, which are mailed throughout Oneida and Herkimer counties. In January 2022, the paper announced it would cease printing its Saturday edition starting March. In March, the Observer-Dispatch building was purchased by a real estate investment group. In September 2023, the paper announced it will switch from carrier to postal delivery via U.S. Postal Service starting Oct. 23.

Awards

The ''Utica Daily Press'' and the ''Utica Observer-Dispatch'' were jointly awarded the 1959

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journali ...

References

External links

Observer-Dispatch , uticaOD.com
{{authority control Daily newspapers published in New York (state) Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers Utica, New York Rome, New York Publications established in 1817 1817 establishments in New York (state) Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners Gannett publications