The Sedalia Democrat was founded in 1868 as a weekly newspaper and began its daily edition, originally called the Daily Democrat, Dec. 19, 1871.
In 2017, the Democrat changed from publishing six days a week to publishing five days, Tuesday through Saturday. Effective April 30, 2024, the Democrat became a twice-weekly newspaper, publishing a print edition on Tuesdays and Fridays, plus daily updates online.
The Democrat is Pettis County’s primary source for daily local news coverage. We reach more than 15,000 readers in Pettis County and five neighboring counties every Tuesday and Friday with our print newspaper. Some 64,000 unique viewers visit our website every month for the latest breaking news stories.
The Democrat newsroom took home nine awards, one of which was first place, in the Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest for work published in 2022. The Democrat competed against other daily newspapers of similar circulation size.
The newsroom received the Gold Cup for Class 1 Dailies in the 2021 MPA contest. Gold Cups are given to the newspapers that win the most points in each circulation class for dailies and weeklies. Newspapers receive points for each award they win, with more points attached to first place finishes, followed by second, third and honorable mention.
The Democrat and Star-Journal also produce the Plainsman, which is distributed every Wednesday. More than 23,000 copies are distributed by home delivery and racks in Pettis, Johnson, Benton, Morgan, and Henry counties.
The Democrat also owns the Warrensburg Star-Journal in Warrensburg, Missouri. It is a twice-weekly newspaper that reaches roughly 5,000 print readers each Tuesday and Friday and provides daily updates online.