The ''Ukiah Daily Journal'' is an American daily paid newspaper which serves the city of Ukiah and surrounding

Mendocino County, California Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza) is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United Sta ...

. Published daily Tuesday through Sunday, its estimated circulation is 6,795. It is currently edited by K. C. Meadows.

History

The ''Journal'' traces its history back to the foundation of the weekly ''Mendocino Democrat'' in 1868 by Alex Montgomery. It was later consolidated with the ''Weekly Dispatch'' (founded in 1873), under the ownership of Peabody and A.W. Sefton. In 1898, J. B. Sanford purchased the paper, and in 1913 took on partner E. P. Thurston, who managed many of the day-to-day operations. Thurston would edit and publish the paper for 36 years, eventually selling it to Ben Cober. From 1936 to 1939 it was a daily without Sundays, but reverted to a semi-weekly for financial reasons. This was the ''Dispatch Democrat'' owned by Mr. Cober. In 1949, Cober bought the ''Ukiah Republican Press'' and created the combined ''Redwood Journal-Press-Dispatch'', issuing the first issue under the ''Daily Journal'' name on April 19, 1954. In 1960, the paper merged with the weekly ''Willits News'' and ''Ukiah News'' in an effort to reduce costs through consolidation. In 1988, after the ''Anderson Valley Advertiser'' printed a hoax interview (supposedly with Congressman Douglas Bosco), the ''Ukiah Daily Journal'', which had had the printing contract for that paper, banned the use of its press by the ''Advertiser''. The out-of-state Donrey Media Group (now

Stephens Media Stephens Media LLC was a Las Vegas, Nevada, diversified media investment company. It owned stakes in the California Newspapers Partnership and the ''Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette''. The company had been expanding its interactive Internet b ...

) took over in 1984. In 1999,

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newspa ...

(California Newspaper bought the paper as part of a ten newspaper deal with Donrey meant to expand MediaNews's holdings in Los Angeles and Northern California. Saturday editions ran from 2003, making it a true daily newspaper until 2011. It now runs on a Tuesday-Sunday publication schedule.

Recognition

In 2017, the Ukiah Daily Journal won 1st place in the Coverage of Local Government category in its division of California's Better Newspapers Contest.

References

{{MediaNews Group Daily newspapers published in California Mendocino County, California