About Kimberley Bulletin

Kimberley Bulletin

The Kimberley Bulletin is the weekly newspaper of Kimberley, British Columbia — founded in 1932 and once "Canada's smallest daily newspaper," publishing Monday to Friday. Now a Wednesday weekly owned by Black Press, it serves the East Kootenay ski town and its surrounding communities. Publisher: Karen Johnston. Editor: Carolyn Grant. Circulation: 794 (October 2022). (Wikipedia lists kimberleybulletin.com as its website.)

Overview

The Kimberley Bulletin is the little paper with the big claim: founded in 1932, it published Monday to Friday for decades, billing itself as "Canada's smallest daily newspaper" — the daily paper of a small Kootenay town. Its distinction is that daily run: the tiny daily, the town that supported a weekday paper, the Bulletin as Kimberley's morning read.

Kimberley itself is the Bavarian-themed ski town: the former mining city reinvented as the alpine resort — the Platzl, the ski hill, the mountain town. The Sullivan Mine, once one of the world's largest lead-zinc mines, operated for nearly a century before its 2001 closure — the mine that built Kimberley, the jobs that sustained generations. When the mine closed, the town reinvented itself: the Bavarian theme, the Kimberley Alpine Resort, the tourism economy. The Bulletin covered the whole arc: the mining boom, the closure, the reinvention — the town's transformation in weekly print. The Bulletin has covered the transformation: the mine's closure, the town's reinvention, the ski industry's rise.

History

The Bulletin was founded in 1932 — the Depression-era weekly of the mining town. It grew into a daily, publishing Monday to Friday as the Kimberley Daily Bulletin — "Canada's smallest daily newspaper," the tiny town's weekday paper. For decades, Kimberley — population in the single thousands — supported a daily newspaper: the Bulletin's remarkable run. 'Canada's smallest daily newspaper' was both a boast and a fact: the tiny town with the weekday paper, the morning read of the mining city. The daily Bulletin was Kimberley's civic institution: the paper on the breakfast table, Monday to Friday, the town's conversation starter.

In July 2010, Don Kendall — a former Black Press executive — purchased the Daily Bulletin and the Cranbrook Daily Townsman as part of the larger Glacier Media-to-Black Press transaction. Kendall noted Black "wasn't as interested in some titles — Cranbrook, Kimberley, Nelson, and Prince Rupert — but Glacier was only selling the papers as a block." A year later, Black Press purchased both dailies from Kendall. The two dailies, publishing Monday to Friday, had a combined circulation of 5,000 — the only dailies serving the East Kootenay. Black Press COO Rick O'Connor praised Kendall's stewardship: "Don has done an excellent job of improving both publications during the past year." CEO David Black declared the company "very bullish on the future economic prospects of the Kootenay region" — "substantial economic growth in that area in the next decade," and "a stronger media position in the Cranbrook region." Black Press also invested in the papers: improving the press operations at the Daily Townsman and adding bindery equipment at the Kootenay Advertiser. The acquisition was the chain doubling down on the Kootenays: the East Kootenay's dailies, the West Kootenay's weeklies (Nelson Star, Trail Daily Times, Castlegar News) — the region's papers under one roof.

The Bulletin has since become a Wednesday weekly — the daily become the weekly, "Canada's smallest daily" now the Kootenay weekly. The paper is published Tuesdays (per its 2026 masthead: "Published Tuesdays by Black Press Ltd. at 550A Mark Street, Kimberley, BC") — the rhythm slowed, the paper continuing. It is a member of the National News Media Council — the press council's standards, the tiny paper's accountability. The 2026 masthead lists the team: regional general manager Nicole Koran, regional copy editor Barry Coulter, reporter Paul Rodgers, circulation coordinator Melinda Howard — the small staff of the small paper, the Kootenay newsroom.

The Bulletin's move from daily to weekly mirrors the industry: the tiny daily that defied the odds for decades, finally yielding to the economics. But the paper endures: the Wednesday (now Tuesday) weekly, the 550A Mark Street office, the kimberleybulletin.com website — the 1932 paper in modern form. The 'smallest daily' claim lives on as history: the boast that marked the Bulletin's golden age, the daily paper of the little Kootenay town.

Kimberley's reinvention is the Bulletin's great story: the mining city that became the Bavarian city. In the early 1970s, facing the mine's eventual decline, Kimberley adopted the Bavarian theme — the alpine facades, the Platzl, the yodelling — turning the industrial town into the tourist town. The Bulletin covered the transformation: the debates, the construction, the identity shift — the mining families becoming the tourism families. When the Sullivan Mine closed in 2001, the town was ready: the ski hill, the golf, the festivals — the new economy. The Bulletin's 90-year archive is the record of that metamorphosis: the mine's century and the mountain's future, documented weekly.

Content

The Bulletin covers Kimberley and the East Kootenay: local government, the ski industry, tourism, community events, the mountain town's life. Its sections — news, event calendars, obituaries, classifieds — serve the small town's complete information needs. Its "Do Some Good" and "Good News" segments foster community connection: the paper as the town's cheerleader — the volunteers, the fundraisers, the good deeds, celebrated in print. The Bulletin's community role goes beyond news: the event calendars, the obituaries (the town's farewells), the classifieds (the town's marketplace) — the complete small-town paper, the community's bulletin board.

Coverage and Audience

The paper serves Kimberley and the surrounding East Kootenay — the ski town, the St. Mary River valley, the mountain communities. Its readers are the Kootenays' mountain people: the ski-industry workers, the tourism operators, the retirees, the outdoor enthusiasts. Kimberley's Bavarian theme — the Platzl, the alpine architecture, the yodellers — draws the tourists; the Bulletin serves the locals. The ski hill (Kimberley Alpine Resort), the golf courses, the mountain trails: the tourism economy that replaced the mine. The Bulletin covers the resort town's life: the seasons, the visitors, the locals who make the mountain town work.

Ownership

The Kimberley Bulletin is owned by Black Press (since 2011). Its lineage: founded 1932, the Depression-era weekly; the Kimberley Daily Bulletin, "Canada's smallest daily," Monday to Friday for decades; Don Kendall (2010–2011); Black Press (2011–present) — the tiny daily become the Kootenay weekly, in the province's community-newspaper chain.

Digital Presence

The paper publishes online at kimberleybulletin.com (Wikipedia lists kimberleybulletin.com as its website) — the digital edition of the 1932 paper: the ski town's news, updated for the digital age. The digital Bulletin is 'Canada's smallest daily' in 21st-century form: the same Kimberley, the same community focus, the new medium.

As of 2026, the Kimberley Bulletin continues — more than 90 years after the 1932 founding, still publishing weekly from 550A Mark Street, still Kimberley's paper, still the Bulletin. From the Depression-era weekly to 'Canada's smallest daily' to the modern Kootenay weekly, from the Sullivan Mine to the ski hill, it remains what it has always been: Kimberley's own paper — the Kootenays' news, the Kootenays' voice, the Kootenays' record. The 1932 weekly, 'Canada's smallest daily,' the modern Kootenay weekly: from the Sullivan Mine to the ski hill, from the Depression to the digital age, yesterday, today and tomorrow, still and always.

Note: website left empty in frontmatter per project rule for url-unverified rows; Wikipedia lists kimberleybulletin.com as its website.