About Us

Williams Lake is a young town in an old setting. By the mid-1860s, the future of the original town seemed assured. Here the new stipendiary magistrate for the Cariboo had made headquarters. There was a flour mill, sawmill, and British Columbia's first distillery here. All that was needed was the approaching Cariboo Highway.
And then disaster struck. The road by-passed the settlement. The courthouse was abandoned, the post office moved to Barkerville, and the valley was left to sleep for 50 years until another mode of transportation was to establish the 'new' Williams Lake village.
In the year 1919, rails of the Pacific Great Eastern (now British Columbia Railway) reached the townsite and surveyors were already at work laying out streets and lots in the wheat fields.
In 1929 Williams Lake was incorporated as a village and, one year later, in October 1930, the first issue of the Williams Lake Tribune appeared. 'Editor and proprietor' was the late E.P. Cotton, a printer by trade. The eight-page issues of the day consisted of six pages of boiler-plate with two pages reserved for local news. If local news and advertising was particularly heavy, a single sheet would be made up and inserted.
The newspaper was operated by Mr. Cotton for 10 years and in 1940 was sold to Chilcotin rancher George Washington Renner, who immigrated to the Cariboo from the United States in 1918. His decision to buy the newspaper probably stemmed from his deep interest in politics and during his tenure he was actively engaged in Liberal party work. Gradually the boiler-plate became wholly "home print."
In January of 1950 ownership of the newspaper again changed, with Clive Stangoe starting his long association with the Tribune. At the time he was the youngest publisher in the province and he was the first publisher of the Tribune with editorial experience. The Tribune became recognized for its editorial content and general typographical appearance -- something successive publishers and editors have strived to maintain.
The Tribune has won more than 90 provincial and national awards. In the late 1960s Stangoe sold the newspaper to Northwest Publications and continued on as publisher. Then in 1969 Northwest Publications put the newspaper up on the block. Alan Black, then an executive with NorthWest Publications, suggested to Stangoe that they go into partnership and buy the paper. Stangoe agreed and a deal was made that same day. A couple of years later, in 1972, the decision was made to go twice-weekly. The broadsheet has published twice a week since then.
In the mid-70s Alan Black's son David purchased the newspaper and began building the Cariboo Press chain, now BC Interior North and South. Black now lives in Victoria and retains ownership. The Interior North head office, however, remains in Williams Lake.
Bob Grainger, who served as publisher of the Tribune in the 1980s, now lives in Victoria and works side by side with David Black. Former Tribune publisher Lorie Williston is president of Interior North and continues to live in Williams Lake. Lorne Doerkson was named publisher in the fall of 2001. Ken MacInnis is the Tribune's editor.
In 1989, the Tribune launched a weekend shopper called The Sunday Shopper. This broadsheet free market distribution newspaper was launched to counteract a competing 'good news' newspaper operating in the city. In 1995 the Sunday shopper was changed to a tabloid and renamed The Weekender and is now called the Tribune Weekend.
While its competition has since folded, the Weekender and its parent newspaper, the twice-weekly Tribune, continue to thrive. The Tribune now employs 75 full-time and part-time workers.

Your Community News Team

	Publisher/Sales manager Lorne Doerkson 250-392-2331 ext 227
	Editor, Columnist Ken MacInnis 250-392-2331 ext 240	Ken MacInnis is the editor of the Williams Lake Tribune and the Tribune Weekend.
	Classifieds manager Michelle Robinson 250-392-2331 ext 225
	Circulation manager Kathryn Dell 250-392-2331 ext 224
	Reporter Greg Sabatino 250-392-2331 ext 245
	Community editor Gaeil Farrar 250-392-2331 ext 244
	Reporter Erin Hitchcock 250-392-2331 ext 243
	Reporter Sage Birchwater 250-392-2331 ext 242