The Free Press, Fernie

The Free Press has served Elkford, Fernie, Sparwood and the South Country since 1898 and continues to be the Elk Valley's main source of community news. The Free Press won gold in the 2010 and 2012 BC and Yukon Community Newspaper Association awards for general excellence. The paper is published every Thursday and focuses on happenings in the Elk Valley or involving Elk Valley residents. The Free Press started in 1898 when newspaperman G.G. Henderson shipped a printing plant across Canada to the boomtown of Fernie. With no station or freight depot, his effects and the press were unceremoniously dumped in two feet of snow. Over the years the editorial team has covered fires, floods and documented the diversification of the area's economy and community from a mining and forestry valley to a world-renowned tourism hub with a strong resource base.