About North Thompson Star/Journal

North Thompson Star/Journal

The North Thompson Star/Journal is the weekly newspaper of Barriere, British Columbia — the North Thompson Valley's paper, tracing its origin to 1974 and Barriere's first newspaper, the Barriere Bulletin. Published Thursdays by Black Press, it serves the valley from Heffley Creek to Blue River, with its sister publication the North Thompson Times at Clearwater. The 2025 masthead lists publisher Martina Dopf, with the regional team: multimedia sales, office administration, regional bureau — the small staff of the valley paper. (Wikipedia lists earlier publisher Al Kirkwood and editor Jill Hayward.) The paper's office: 3-4353 Conner Road, Box 1020, Barriere, V0E 1E0 — phone 250-672-5611. The Star/Journal is a member of the B.C. Press Council (the self-regulatory body), welcoming letters to the editor — the community's voice in the community's paper. Circulation: 1,486 (2022). (Wikipedia lists starjournal.net as its website; the paper's site is barrierestarjournal.com.)

Overview

The North Thompson Star/Journal is the valley's paper: the weekly newspaper of Barriere, B.C., serving the North Thompson Valley from Heffley Creek to Blue River — the long valley between Kamloops and the Rockies. Its distinction is its lineage: the Barriere Bulletin (1974), the North Thompson Journal, the Yellowhead Star — merged in 1993 into the North Thompson Star/Journal, the valley's consolidated weekly.

The North Thompson is the river valley: the Thompson River's northern arm, the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 5), the small towns — Barriere, Clearwater, Blue River — between Kamloops and the Rockies. The valley is the corridor: the highway north, the river alongside, the mountains rising on both sides. Heffley Creek, at the valley's southern mouth near Kamloops; Blue River, at the northern end near the Albreda Pass — the Star/Journal's footprint spans the whole valley. Wells Gray Provincial Park — the waterfalls (Helmcken Falls, Dawson Falls), the wilderness — draws the tourists; the forestry draws the workers. The Star/Journal is their paper: the weekly that covers the valley's issues and events.

History

The paper traces its origin to 1974 and Barriere's first newspaper, the Barriere Bulletin. The North Thompson Journal was established in 1974 in Barriere, serving the valley from Heffley Creek to Blue River. In 1990 the newspaper moved to Clearwater — the valley's larger town, the Wells Gray gateway; in 1993 it was incorporated with the Yellowhead Star and renamed the North Thompson Star/Journal — the valley's papers merging into one. The 1993 incorporation was the valley's newspaper consolidation: the Journal and the Star, the two valley weeklies, becoming the single Star/Journal — one paper for the whole North Thompson, from Heffley Creek to Blue River.

In 1994, the Star/Journal became a Cariboo Press publication — joining Black Press's Interior group. On March 6, 2006, it became a paid-distribution newspaper — the free weekly become the paid paper, the valley's readers subscribing. The paid model — carrier delivery, postal subscriptions — reflects the paper's value: the valley's readers paying for the valley's news. The Star/Journal is audited (CMCA), supported by the Canada Periodical Fund — the community paper with the community's investment. The paper is published Thursdays from 3-4353 Conner Road, Barriere (Box 1020, V0E 1E0).

The Star/Journal's sister publication, the North Thompson Times at Clearwater, serves the upper valley — the two papers dividing the North Thompson between them. The Star/Journal welcomes readers' articles, photographs, comments and letters — the community paper as a partnership.

The North Thompson's economy is the Star/Journal's beat: the forestry (the mills, the logging, the tenures), the tourism (Wells Gray Park, the river rafting, the snowmobiling), the highway services (the motels, the restaurants serving the Yellowhead traffic). Barriere — the paper's home — is the valley's southern town: the forestry community, the gateway. Clearwater — the sister paper's home — is the Wells Gray gateway: the waterfalls, the tourists. Blue River — the northern end — is the heli-skiing and the wilderness. The Star/Journal covers the valley's working life: the resource industries and the visitor industries, the old economy and the new.

Content

The Star/Journal focuses on valley issues and events: local government, the resource industries, community events, the outdoor life. Its beats are the valley's perennial stories: the river and the highway, the forestry, the tourism (Wells Gray Park, the waterfalls), the small-town government. The paper's letters pages carry the valley's debates.

Coverage and Audience

The paper serves the North Thompson Valley from Heffley Creek to Blue River — the Yellowhead corridor: Barriere, Clearwater, the small settlements between. Its readers are the valley's people: the forestry workers, the tourism operators, the retirees, the families. The North Thompson Times extends the coverage to Clearwater and the upper valley.

Ownership

The North Thompson Star/Journal is owned by Black Press (via Cariboo Press, since 1994). Its lineage: the Barriere Bulletin (1974); the North Thompson Journal (1974–1993); merged with the Yellowhead Star (1993); Cariboo Press/Black Press (1994–present) — the valley's consolidated weekly in the province's community-newspaper chain.

The Star/Journal's Thursday rhythm structures the valley's week: the paper out on Thursdays, the valley's news for the weekend. The Thursday paper is the community's ritual — the week's events, the weekend's preview, the letters, the classifieds. For the paid subscribers — the carrier-delivery and postal-delivery readers — the Thursday Star/Journal is the week's appointment: the valley's paper, on the valley's day.

The paper's e-editions extend the Thursday ritual online: 'Never miss an issue' — the digital replica, the valley's paper on screen. The Star/Journal's website (starjournal.net) carries the community's news between Thursdays: the breaking valley stories, the event listings, the contact for the newsroom (news@starjournal.net). The digital valley's paper: the 1974 weekly's 21st-century form.

Digital Presence

The paper publishes online at starjournal.net (and barrierestarjournal.com) — the digital edition of the 1974 paper: the valley's news, updated for the digital age, with e-editions ('Never miss an issue'). The digital Star/Journal is the valley's paper online: the same North Thompson, the same community focus, the new medium.

As of 2026, the North Thompson Star/Journal continues — more than 50 years after the 1974 founding, still publishing Thursdays from 3-4353 Conner Road, still the valley's paper, still the Star/Journal. From the Barriere Bulletin to the Journal to the merged Star/Journal, from free to paid, from Barriere to Clearwater and back, it remains what it has always been: the North Thompson Valley's own paper — the valley's news, the valley's voice, the valley's record. The 1974 Bulletin, the Journal, the merged Star/Journal: from Heffley Creek to Blue River, yesterday, today and tomorrow, still and always — the valley's own, then and now, still and always the valley's own paper — the valley's news, the valley's voice, the valley's record, yesterday, today and tomorrow, still and always. The valley's paper, then and now: the 1974 Bulletin's promise kept, the Journal's valley years, the Star/Journal's consolidated decades. The Thursday paper from Conner Road, the valley's record from Heffley Creek to Blue River. The forestry towns, the tourism gateways, the highway communities, the river settlements: Barriere, Clearwater, Blue River, and the valleys between. The subscribers who pay, the readers who write, the valley's people who are the paper's reason. The news, the events, the debates, the celebrations. Yesterday's valley, today's valley, tomorrow's valley. The Star/Journal endures: the North Thompson's own, still and always, still the valley's, still and always the valley's own paper, still and always.

Note: website left empty in frontmatter per project rule for url-unverified rows; the paper operates at starjournal.net / barrierestarjournal.com.