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. 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 Blackwater Ledger can be bought for $1 per edition in various towns, from the papermen marked on the map. 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 is the name of the newspaper available in Red Dead Redemption. For example, killing a person could result in the murder being reported in the newspaper. Newspapers give the player access to side missions, ambient events, and will report on game play events associated with player choices. Newspapers are normally sold outside train stations or near a stagecoach. The player is able to purchase newspapers in all settlements of the gameplay world for one dollar. 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. This newspaper is used to display the player's statistics after completing a chapter.

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