Federal filings show the Jeff Davis County Mountain Dispatch prints about 1,220 copies per week, with 1,197 of those distributed to paid subscribers. But the numbers reveal that less than a quarter of county residents actually receive the paper.
According to the filing, just 246 copies were mailed inside Jeff Davis County. The remaining 463 were mailed outside the county, and another 488 were distributed through dealers and carriers. With a county population of around 2,300, that means fewer than 11% of residents get the paper delivered directly to their mailbox.
The Dispatch maintains almost no digital presence, with only a trickle of web traffic and minimal online referrals.
By comparison, the Big Bend Times reported more than 341,000 website views and 202,000 visitors between October 2024 and September 2025. The Big Bend Times Facebook page, with over 100,000 followers, drives between 4 million and 5 million views monthly.
The contrast highlights a growing gap: while the Dispatch circulates mostly outside Jeff Davis County, the Big Bend Times has leveraged social media and digital platforms to dominate local news consumption and reach a far wider regional audience.
Texas Reporter 