The Ouray County Plaindealer is a weekly newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 based in Ouray

Ouray, Colorado

The historic City of Ouray is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Ouray County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 813 at the U.S. Census 2000 and 1,000 as of the U.S. Census 2010...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and owned by Ouray County

Ouray County, Colorado

Ouray County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado in the United States. The county population was 3,742 at U.S. Census 2000. As of 2010, U.S. Census data place the population at 4,436. The county seat is the City of Ouray...

 Newspapers. It is the newspaper of record

Newspaper of record

Newspaper of record is a term that may refer either to any publicly available newspaper that has been authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices , or any major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and...

 for the city and county of Ouray.

History

The Plaindealer was founded as the Ouray Times, publishing its first edition June 23, 1877. It published weekly until 1886, when it was renamed the Ouray Budget and ran alternately as a weekly and a daily. In 1888, a new owner changed the name to the Ouray Plaindealer.

The Plaindealer consolidated with rival newspaper San Juan Silverite in 1892, becoming known as the Silverite Plaindealer, which published daily until 1898. It then published weekly until 1901, when it dropped the Silverite part of its name.

In 1922, the Plaindealer again consolidated, this time with another rival, the Ouray Herald, to become the Ouray Herald and Plaindealer. That name stuck until 1939, when it became simply the Ouray County Herald. Finally, in 1969, the Herald was renamed the Ouray County Plaindealer, a name that has been kept since.

Since 1980, the Ridgway Sun

Ridgway Sun

The Ridgway Sun is a weekly newspaper based in Ridgway, Colorado and owned by Ouray County Newspapers. Known as the "Newspaper that refused to die" it remains the newspaper of record for Ridgway.-History:...

 and Ouray County Plaindealer have been published by the same publishing company, currently known as Ouray County Newspapers.

Editorial policy

In a statement published in the Plaindealers print editions, the paper's goals are described:

...To accurately and comprehensively report news of importance to the people of Ouray and Ouray County.

...To be a strong, independent voice on local public issues, and to provide a forum for open discussion of those issues.

...To provide a marketplace for local businesses and individuals, so as to encourage a healthy local economy.

...To be a responsible and profitable business.

Awards

The Plaindealer is a frequent winner of Colorado Press Association awards in its class, and in 2007 Publisher David Mullings received the state’s “Service to the First” (Amendment) award. He was recognized for initiating action against the Ouray County Board of County Commissioners that resulted in an open process of selecting planning commissioners, and for enduring sharp and anonymous attacks on the newspaper and his credibility for the challenge.