Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel is the largest daily newspaper in western Colorado, with distribution in six counties. 2013 marked 120 years of publication since the newspaper's founding in 1893. Its a largely left leaning news source in a conservative county with dwindling readership and has been laying off writers since 2010.
The Sentinel's companion website, GJSentinel.com, was founded in 1996. Together, the news organization provides daily community, state, national and international news coverage.
The Daily Sentinel 's offices and press are located at 734 S. Seventh St., Grand Junction, Colorado
History
Pennsylvania-born traveling salesman I.N. Bunting founded the newspaper in 1893 with partner Howard T. Lee.[1] Walter Walker bought The Daily Sentinel in 1911 and ran it until his death in 1956. He left the newspaper to his son, Preston Walker, who served as publisher until his death in 1970. He left the newspaper to one of his employees, Ken Johnson, who sold the company to Cox Newspapers in 1979.[2]
James Kennedy served as publisher until 1985 when he went on to become chairman and chief executive of parent company Cox Enterprises, naming George Orbanek publisher.
Orbanek served until his retirement in 2007, when Alex Taylor became publisher.
In July, 2009, the newspaper was sold to Kansas-based Seaton Publishing Co., and a new Grand Junction Media Co. was formed.
Jay Seaton became publisher of The Daily Sentinel and executive vice president of Grand Junction Media. His brother, Ned Seaton, is president. Their father, Ed Seaton, is chairman.
The Seaton family can trace its roots in journalism back two centuries to the National Intelligencer in Washington, D.C., in 1812.
Seaton Publishing is a family business based in Manhattan, Kansas, that publishes the daily newspaper in that city. It's associated with family-owned newspaper companies in Arkansas City and Winfield, Kansas; Alliance and Hastings, Nebraska; Spearfish, South Dakota; and Sheridan, Wyoming, in addition to radio stations in Manhattan, Kansas
Slogans
Through the years, The Daily Sentinel has included a number of slogans or statements on its front page or editorial page, and sometimes there were none. Here are a few that were published:
• 1894: "The official newspaper of the city of Grand Junction."
• 1923: "Official newspaper of the county of Mesa" and "Official newspaper of the city of Grand Junction."
• 1933: Instead of a slogan, the Sentinel ran above its banner, "Yesterday's press run" which was about 6,200 at mid-year.
• 1943: "Today's news today."
• 1963: "Read every day by more that 60,000 people in Western Colorado and Eastern Utah"
• 2003: "Western Colorado's Chronicle of Record since 1893"
• 2013: "Your community news source since 1893"
1909 may have been the greatest year for Sentinel slogans. That year's front page included these items.
• "1893 - The Leading Newspaper of Western Colorado - 1909" • "News of the Day, the Day it Occurs, that is Real News"
• "Beats all other papers. Just 12 Big Hours, That's the Sentinel"
• "Exclusive Afternoons Associated Press Report for City of Grand Junction."
The same year, Daily Sentine invoices included these statements under the paper's name: • "A Paper With A Bonafide Circulation"
• "A Paper That Stands Upon Its Merits"
Awards
The Daily Sentinel in 2013, 2012 and 2011 received the General Excellence Award from the Colorado Press Association, recognizing it as the top daily newspaper in the state with circulation between 15,001 and 75,000.
Editorial Page Editor Bob Silbernagel in 2013 was honored with the Newspaper Person of the Year Award from the Colorado Press Association, following a 40-year career in newspapers. It is the highest honor granted to a newspaper professional by the trade organization. Publisher Jay Seaton said in his nomination, “For 33 years, Silbernagel has lent his voice to the pages of the Sentinel, and for 18, his has been the voice of the Sentinel.”
"Drink It In: Wine Guide of Western Colorado," a book published by the Sentinel and written by Sentinel wine columnist and writer Dave Buchanan, was a 2013 Colorado Book Award Finalist for nonfiction. Doug Frost, one of only four people in the world to have achieved both Master Sommelier and Master of Wine, wrote the foreword. The book was designed by Graphics Editor Robert Garcia and edited by Laurena Mayne Davis. The book profiles all wineries in Western Colorado and includes maps of the four distinct wine regions and a detailed map of the Palisade Fruit & Wine Byway. "Drink It In" is available for sale at GJSentinel.com.
"Monumental Majesty: 100 Years of Colorado National Monument," a book published by the Sentinel to commemorate the nearby park's 100th anniversary, won the 2011 Colorado Book Award for anthology. The coffee table book's foreword was written by famed documentarian Ken Burns, was designed by Graphics Editor Robert Garcia and edited by Laurena Mayne Davis. More than 50 Sentinel staffers and friends in the community contributed to the book. The book is sold out.
Copy Editor Carrie Marfitano in 2011 was honored with the Rising Star Award from the Colorado Press Association, an honor granted to a journalist with five or fewer years in the industry who exhibits exceptional talent and leadership potential.
In 2007 The Daily Sentinel was named Large Business of the Year by the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce for "the paper's lengthy history of community involvement."