The ''Odessa American'' is a newspaper based in
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County.
Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...
, that serves Odessa and the rest of
Ector County
Ector County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In the 2020 census, its population was 165,171. Its county seat is Odessa. The county was founded in 1887 and organized in 1891. It is named for Mathew Ector, a Confederate genera ...
.
The newspaper has daily editions (sold at $2) and Sunday/Thanksgiving Day editions (sold at $3).
The paper is particularly notable for its
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning picture of
Baby Jessica McClure when she was rescued from her well in neighboring
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County.
At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...
.
The ''American'' was owned by
Freedom Communications
Freedom Communications, Inc., was an American media conglomerate that operated daily and weekly newspapers, websites and mobile applications, as well as ''Coast Magazine'' and other specialty publications. Headquartered at 625 N. Grand Avenue in ...
until 2012, when Freedom papers in Texas were sold to
AIM Media Texas
AIM Media Texas is a United States publisher of daily and non-daily newspapers, primarily in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas.
In 2012, Freedom Communications began selling most of its newspaper portfolio. Former Dallas Morning News presid ...
.
History
In 1895, William C. "Uncle Billy" Griffin came to Odessa from Midland and began publishing Ector County's first newspaper, the Odessa ''Weekly News''.
The ''Weekly News'' lasted only one year, and was followed by six other short-lived weekly publications until August 1927, when production of Odessa ''Times'' and Odessa ''News'' began. In October 1928, the two weekly papers were merged as the Odessa ''News-Times''.
The towns of Penwell and Goldsmith supported, for a short time during oil boom of the 1930s, the only Ector County newspaper known to have been published outside Odessa.
The first daily newspaper, the ''Daily Bulletin'', began in 1936, and the ''News-Times'' followed in 1937. On October 2, 1940, R. Henderson Shuffler consolidated the ''Daily Bulletin'' and the "News-Times" into the ''Odessa American'', which he sold on Aug. 11, 1945.
Ownership of the newspaper changed twice before Aug. 13, 1948, when it was purchased by
Raymond C. Hoiles of Freedom Newspapers, Inc.
That company, which later became Freedom Communications, sold the ''Odessa American'' along with its other Texas properties to AIM Media Texas, LLC, on May 18, 2012.
The ''Odessa American'' has withstood brief competition from five newspapers since its first publication, and has been published at 222 E. Fourth St. since 1951.
On November 30, 2018, the'' Odessa American'' moved to new, more modern offices at 4001 E. 42nd St., Suite 200, in Odessa. On August 30, 2019, the ''Odessa American'' moved back to downtown Odessa to 700 N. Grant Ave., Suite 800, in the Bank of America building.
References
External links
Official siteOfficial mobile site
Daily newspapers published in Texas
Freedom Communications
Newspapers published in Midland–Odessa
Newspapers established in 1940
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