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In-game description

Newspapers are a vital source of information in the American West, appearing in all three installments of the Red Dead series.

Red Dead Revolver[]

The Brimstone Epitaph[]

This newspaper is used to display the player's statistics after completing a chapter. The reporter, typesetter, publisher, and newspaper boy for the paper is Jody, who can be found hawking the paper outside of the paper's offices at the corner of 1st Street and Main Street in Brimstone.

Red Dead Redemption[]

The player is able to purchase newspapers in all settlements of the gameplay world for one dollar. Newspapers are normally sold outside train stations or near a stagecoach.

Newspapers give the player access to side missions, ambient events, and will report on game play events associated with player choices. For example, killing a person could result in the murder being reported in the newspaper.

The Blackwater Ledger[]

Characteristics[]

The Blackwater Ledger is the name of the newspaper available in Red Dead Redemption. It reports of the various events taking place in the world, and players can often find the adventures of John Marston inside, usually a few in-game days after certain missions. The Blackwater Ledger can be bought for $1 per edition in various towns, from the papermen marked on the map. Like many newspapers of the later Western period, The Blackwater Ledger is distinctly developed from the more basic frontier newspapers of the earlier times, containing a range of articles from various journalists, advertisements, and smaller notices from businesses.

The year of publishing for an edition of The Blackwater Ledger is given in roman numerals in the top left corner of the page for all editions, except for the final edition obtainable on completion of the game, where the year is in roman numerals just below the title. All editions are dated "MCMXI" (1911) except the last edition, which is dated "MCMXIV" (1914). The player can purchase issue numbers 53 to 60 as John Marston.

At the lower right corner, the player can read a variety of strange sentences, such as "I Wish I worked for Uncle Sam" and "You Got yourself a fine pair of eyes". These are cheat codes that can be entered via the main menu.

Final Issue[]

The final purchasable issue of the newspaper is considerably different from the others. It is called The Blackwater Ledger and Sentinel instead of simply the Ledger, and generally has a different format. It acts as an epilogue to the game, as it explains what happened to almost all of the characters encountered by John Marston during the main storyline:

  • Bonnie MacFarlane eventually married, though it is unclear to whom.
  • Seth Briars finally found the treasure he was looking for and returned to his family.
  • Edgar Ross retired after seven years and moved to a house by Lake Don Julio. (Ross can be killed by the player in the Stranger side-mission "Remember My Family", serving as the only significant storyline character who can still be encountered by Jack).
  • Leigh Johnson retired after having served as Marshal of Armadillo for seventeen years, resolving to move as far away as humanly possible from the town.
  • Abraham Reyes eventually defeated General Sanchez and became President of Mexico, but soon became a tyrant just like Sanchez.
  • Professor Harold MacDougal was expelled from Yale after a drunken brawl with a fellow academic.
  • Irish died in an outhouse in Thieves' Landing after his gun accidentally discharged, fatally wounding him.
  • Landon Ricketts moved back to the United States shortly after the events of the main storyline and died peacefully in his sleep a few weeks prior to when the player switches to the control of Jack.

The issue also has an article about the outbreak of World War I in which the reporter expresses that he is mostly ignorant to the events he describes. The last article states that state governor Nate Johns has been indicted on a vast quantity of criminal charges, despite the obviousness that Johns is guilty of all of the crimes.

This issue can only be purchased by Jack Marston, as it is purchasable following John's death. No more issues of the newspaper will be released even if the player completes more strangers missions.

Red Dead Redemption 2[]

Main article: Newspapers/Red Dead Redemption 2

There are several different newspapers in Red Dead Redemption 2, each serving different states.

The player can buy various issues from all of these newspapers, some of which cover the same events with different standpoints.

Trivia[]

  • Newspapers are the period-appropriate equivalent of the TW@ internet cafes and radio news in Rockstar's previous game Grand Theft Auto IV as well as the Weazel News internet and radio updates in Grand Theft Auto V.
  • Newspapers cannot be bought in Free Roam.
  • Newspapers cannot be removed from the "Kit" section of the player's Inventory.
  • If a player carefully stands on top of a stack of newspapers and jumps on them, they will make a metallic sound.
  • If the player purchases the 1914 issue of The Blackwater Ledger, they will drop it immediately after having finished reading it. If the player wishes to reread the final edition, they must rebuy it.
  • Sometimes, if the player rebuys the final issue in 1914, the the story columns in the paper will be rearranged.
  • The printing press of The Blackwater Ledger can be seen in Blackwater, but the building cannot be entered.
  • The Blackwater Ledger is sold in Mexico, although the vendors explain they are English editions brought across the border to be sold to Americans in the country.

Gallery[]

Miscellaneous[]

Blackwater Ledger Issue #53[]

Blackwater Ledger Issue #54[]

Related Content[]

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