It has notably received awards for excellence from the Associated Collegiate Press and is the most decorated student publication in the history of the National Pacemaker competition.
As of February 2021, The Plainsman is primarily an online publication, updating its website daily with articles, photographs and weekly podcasts.
[2] The Plainsman prints four to six special editions each year which are freely distributed throughout the campus and surrounding cities of Auburn and Opelika.
The editor-in-chief is selected by the Auburn University Communications Board, a group of faculty, students and professional journalists.
Founded by the school's two literary societies, the Wirts and Websterians, students began publishing a newspaper for the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Alabama in 1893.
In February 2021, editor Jack West moved The Plainsman to its current format as a primarily online publication, citing printing costs and the general trend of the journalism industry as reasons for the change.
In recent years, Plainsman stories have been picked up by almost every national major media outlet, including stories covering a triple homicide at an off-campus apartment complex, the confession of Toomer's Tree poisoner Harvey Updyke and the theft of more than 1,000 copies of The Plainsman by members of Auburn SGA.