| Argus Observer | |
| Type: | Daily newspaper |
| Owners: | Wick Communications |
| Headquarters: | Ontario, Oregon, U.S. |
| Editor: | Leslie Thompson |
| Publisher: | Jeff Schumacher |
| Circulation: | 4,987[1] |
The Argus Observer is a daily newspaper in Ontario, Oregon, United States. It is owned by Wick Communications.
The newspaper and went through several names and owners before becoming the Argus Observer, which is a reference to Argus Panoptes, a creature from Greek mythology that had 100 eyes.[2]
The paper was established January 6, 1897 as a weekly publication in Vale, Oregon called the District Silver Advocate. The first proprietor was Bert Venable and editor John E. Roberts. The paper's name was in reference to the Free Silver Movement, which the publication supported along with politician William Jennings Bryan.
Roberts moved the paper from Vale to Ontario, changed its name to the Advocate and it became an organ of the Democratic Party. Don Carlos Boyd purchased the paper on November 28, 1900, changed its allegiance to Republican and assumed the name Argus. In the paper's first decade it was generally a weekly newspaper, with at least two short-lived efforts to switch to daily publication.[3]
The Eastern Oregon Observer, founded in Ontario by Elmo Smith in 1937, merged with the Argus in 1947. The paper assumed a daily publication schedule in 1970.[4]
In January 2024, the newspaper notified readers it plans to cut print days from four to two starting March 1. Also, delivery will transition from carrier to postal and the paper's Ontario printing operation will shutter. Moving forward, the paper will be printed in Nampa, Idaho.[5]