Tyeenews

Tyee's Reporting Team Grows

Added: Victoria bureau chief, investigative editor.

By David Beers, 3 Dec 2007, TheTyee.ca

Andrew MacLeod and Monte Paulsen (spliced photograph)

Andrew MacLeod and Monte Paulsen.

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I'm pleased to introduce readers to two excellent journalists joining The Tyee full time. Andrew MacLeod is now The Tyee's legislative bureau chief in Victoria. Monte Paulsen is investigative editor, based in Vancouver.

The two of them didn't waste any time getting started. Wednesday, MacLeod's first piece as our point man at the Leg revealed the B.C. government's task force on pharmaceutical pricing is stacked with drug firm reps. On Thursday, Paulsen uncovered how the Vancouver mayor's non-profit society hides political donors, and followed on Friday with a report on B.C.'s suburban homeless.

You may recognize both bylines as regular contributors to The Tyee. For example, MacLeod, who until recently was a reporter at Monday Magazine in Victoria, has published in The Tyee an important series on the Campbell government's welfare law changes. And Paulsen, who first contributed to The Tyee as our Election Central 'Superblog' editor in 2005, has been holding governments' housing claims up to the light with his series 2010: More Homeless than Athletes?

At Monday Magazine, MacLeod's main focuses included poverty, land use and the environment. His work has been referred to in the B.C. legislature and the Canadian Senate. He won a 2006 Association of Alternative Newsweeklies award for news writing and was a finalist for a 2007 Western Magazine Award for best article in B.C. and the Yukon.

Paulsen's many exposés include infiltrating a hate group and outing a carcinogen-dealing British company. He shared a Pulitzer Prize at the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Herald and won a National Magazine Award for his Walrus piece on the search for habitable planets. He was a senior fellow at The Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit, non-partisan, research organization in Washington, D.C., before moving to Vancouver.

Adding these two seasoned pros signals The Tyee is growing and working hard to provide the substantive news reporting you seek. MacLeod and Paulsen join contributing editors Tom Barrett, Heather Ramsay, Tom Sandborn and our valued other regular contributors to make what certainly is one of the best political news reporting team in the province.

You can reach Andrew MacLeod at amacleod@thetyee.ca and Monte Paulsen at monte@thetyee.ca. [Tyee]

David Beers is founding editor of The Tyee.

14 Comments:

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  • Grumpy

    4 years ago

    Good stuff this!

    More and more the Tyee is becoming better than the Asper press.

  • SharingIsGood

    4 years ago

    Congrats fellas

    Keep up the good work, and I'll keep donating.

  • southdeltawalker

    4 years ago

    Equity?

    Let's see, there are 8 men and three women columnists.

    The contributing editors now looks like four men and one woman plus whoever is not listed above.

    What's listed adds up to 12 men and four women either columnists or contributing editors. Plus the editor is male.

    No wonder some of my women friends call the Tyee a "boys club" and can't be bothered to read it.

    I'll continue to read the Tyee but it would be great if there were more women investigative reporters.

  • lynn

    4 years ago

    Great to read

    I've followed Monte Paulson's work on the Tyee and I think he is a great choice.... Andrew MacLeod, equally so.... and in a much needed post as well. Congrats all 'round.

  • Jeffrey J.

    4 years ago

    Congrats to the Tyee and Mr. McLeod and Mr. Paulsen

    A huge void has grown with the advent of non-news being produced by CawWestGlobal and other media monopolies. Thank you Tyee for filling that void. It is extremely important that we have a real news source filled with committed individuals. You have a giant readership base which will only grow.

  • Shannon Rupp

    4 years ago

    That reference to the Tyee

    That reference to the Tyee as a “boy’s club” tells me readers are ignorant of the make-up of most newsrooms. Fewer women than men work in newsrooms, particularly in newspapers. More women gravitate to television or magazines and many of those who stay in newspapers prefer the so-called “soft” sections. It’s a choice. No one makes’em do it. There’s no conspiracy. Now there may be some wider social and culture influences that have an impact on the career choices people make but that has nothing to do with the Tyee or journalism in general.

    Historically, journalism has always tolerated women and sometimes the craft has even encouraged us. Going back to its 19th century origins, the trade has always spawned some editors who prefer clean copy to anything else – social skills, personal hygiene, sobriety, and sex.

    Dave Beers happens to be one of those editors. And I’m offended that someone who has never seen the inside of any newsroom, let alone the Tyee, would hang a charge of sexism around his neck.

    As for the person who made the ill-informed comment – you do women no favours by claiming sexism where none exists. It has a sort of “crying wolf” effect that is likely to get legitimate concerns about misogyny dismissed.

  • David Beers

    4 years ago

    Administrator

    equity

    southdeltawalker,

    Thanks for sticking up for gender equity, a concern I do share. It is true that our political news team happens, at present, to be majority male. It hasn't always been that way. Barbara McLintock, for example, was our lead political reporter before she quit journalism to join the coroner's office. And of course The Tyee publishes the work of many female reporters focusing on serious issues that don't fall directly under politics. Contributing editor Danielle Egan, for example, has done hard hitting reports for us on medicine, sexuality and other areas. In addition, we run many reports on social and political issues by female freelancers.

    That said, I do take seriously your criticism. I'm quite concerned that your friends perceive our content, our stories, as reflecting the male bias of a "boy's club." I welcome suggestions for stories, or areas of coverage, that you and they think would correct that perceived imbalance.

    You can send emails about this to

    Thanks,

    David

  • trulib

    4 years ago

    huge readership?

    I'm curious to know what the readership is and what steps the Tyee taken to get the word out beyond word of mouth. ie)have ads been put in the Canwest dailies?? and if so, why not? I would like to see more of the 'middle of the political spectrum' join in the forums here. From what I've seen ( I don't come in here often), NDP'ers seem to dominate the forums along with a few neocons.

  • Frank

    4 years ago

    trulib

    Perhaps NDPers dominate places like the Tyee because Liberals already have the Asper press?

    Is it really that surprising that as CanWest backs the Liberals their readership has shed tens of thousands of readers (while the population almost doubled) and that many of those ex-readers would come to places like the Tyee?

    In the end, why should the Tyee go after a demographic that is already catered to by Pacific Press rather than the demographic that is ignored by Pac Press? I don't think that would make much sense.

  • David Beers

    4 years ago

    Administrator

    trulib

    Thanks for your questions. Advertising in print, radio or tv mediums is expensive and The Tyee simply does not have the money. Most of our attempts to spread the word rely on our readers to recruit other readers, and on links to our stories on other sites, as well as our writers appearing on programs, at events, etc. It's just a fact of life, given we are tiny, nay miniscule, in staffing and budget compared to CanWest and others.

    Our readership is running a bit over a quarter million visits a month.

    Regarding spectrum of opinion on the threads: We welcome all perspectives, and merely ask that commenters remain civil towards one another, and refrain from racist, sexist or defamatory remarks. Thanks for participating in the conversation.

  • bclion999

    4 years ago

    Men and women ratio

    Who the hell cares how many female and male columnsts/editors are at the Tyee or any other media outlet?
    All that matters is the best people are in place.
    If that means an all-male or all-female staff, so be it.
    Go join the NDP and its quota-trumps-talent mantra...

  • Frank

    4 years ago

    Tyee staff

    Methinks this tempest in a teapot could be resolved amicably if a few staffers, okay I'm looking at Will McMartin and Rafe, and oh what the hell, Murray Dobbin too, would be willing to undergo a simple but permanent operation and change the Tyee from the "old boy's club" into the "used-to-be-boys club".

  • Frank

    4 years ago

    Quote:Go join the NDP and

    Quote:
    Go join the NDP and its quota-trumps-talent mantra...

    Of course this begs the question as to what the Liberal mantra since "talent" is obviously not part of the equation. Its fundraising ability trumps connections right? Or is it the other way around?

  • margot

    4 years ago

    advertising?

    The great thing about the Tyee is that it is spread by word of mouth or email. I love it.

    When I'm trying to read it all, yikes, I am not yelling at the "news" on the tube, or doing other timewasting things, like telling myself I can write or read while commercials are playing.

    I welcome Andrew as I appreciated his pieces in Monday, and it's great that I don't have to pick up that shiny stuff to read him now.

    Andrew or anyone, what's with the new paper comes with Monday?

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