February 27, 2026
This is Part 1 of a two-part series exploring the history of Vernon’s newspapers.
Several of Vernon’s newspapers are well known today, but many earlier titles have faded from public memory.
The first newspaper in Vernon—and the first in the Okanagan—was The Vernon News, founded by Angus K. Stuart and W. J. Harber on May 14, 1891. Largely agricultural in focus, it was widely read across the Valley and featured a popular “Town and District” column reporting on visitors, illnesses, and other social happenings. In many ways, it served as the social record of the community.
After more than 60 years of continuous publication, The Vernon News shifted to a twice-weekly format in 1954 and became a daily paper in 1973 under the new name The Vernon Daily News. It continued until its final edition on May 17, 1996.
Other early ventures reflected the political currents of their time. In 1903–1904, plans emerged for the Okanagan Herald, backed by prominent local Liberals seeking an alternative to the Conservative-leaning Vernon News. Although printing materials arrived in town, it remains unclear whether any editions were ever published.
In 1905, Louis W. Gould launched The Okanagan, later managed by a joint-stock company of Liberal supporters. It published bi-weekly until 1909. The Vernon Eye Opener, appearing sometime before 1923, carried the optimistic tagline “Your Town is What You Make It—Boost,” though little else is known about its run.
The arrival of The Morning Star in June 1988 marked another shift in Vernon’s media landscape, briefly overlapping with The Vernon Daily News before becoming the city’s primary daily newspaper.
Today, the Vernon Archives preserves physical and microfilm copies of The Vernon News, The Vernon Daily News, The Morning Star, and other local titles. Together, they offer a window into more than a century of community life, from agricultural markets to civic debates and everyday milestones.
While many of these newspapers were rooted firmly in local ownership and politics, the late 1990s would bring a very different chapter, one that connected Vernon’s media landscape to a much larger national story.
Next week: How Vernon’s newspapers became entangled in a national corporate scandal.
Archives Manager, Gwyneth Evans