Two local newspapers compete for title of ‘official county newspaper’

MANDAN, N.D. (KFYR) - In this election cycle, there are several contested newspaper races in the state.

Counties that have contested newspaper races in the general election include; Barnes, Cass, Dunn, McHenry, McLean, Mercer, Morton, Ransom, Slope, Walsh and Ward.

The Morton County News Journal and the Morton County Mandan News are up against each other in this election.

“People say that the print product is dying and I would highly disagree with that, because if you look at our subscription numbers, we probably have... I would say 80% of our readers are print subscribers,” Jill Friesz, the owner of the Morton County News Journal said.

They want the title of the official county newspaper, because they believe they have better access to the communities they cover.

“We are in the communities everyday. We have two offices, one here in Mandan and one out in New Salem and we are at the sporting events, we’re at the different activities in the summer and we’re always somewhere, always doing something,” Ann Estvold the managing editor said.

The official county newspaper is the publication legally designated by law to serve as the sole authorized media outlet for publishing certain legal notices, public announcements and official proceedings within that county.

The Morton County Mandan News is owned by Lee Enterprises and is currently the official county newspaper.

“And I think fundamentally, the whole point of public notice is very much is about accountability and transparency. You know, independent newspapers like us, we provide that third party public record that citizens know and trust and they have access to it,” Ben Rogers, the president of the Dakota region of Lee Enterprises said.

The Mandan News has served this region for 153 years.

“Being the paper of record for the community is a huge portion to what we do, right? I think that’s one of the pieces from our perspective that provides us with that access and credibility when we are doing our news coverage of different events in the community,” Rogers said.

Both publications will be listed on the Morton County Ballot with their official names.