Marking 20 years
of bold journalism,
reader supported.
Tyee News
Media

Why Support The Tyee? Meet Three New Friends

We’re on the downhill slope of our campaign thanks to folks like Vivian Pharis, Leni Goggins and Ryan Reynolds. Yep, that Ryan Reynolds.

Jeanette Ageson 20 Dec 2021TheTyee.ca

Jeanette Ageson is publisher of The Tyee.

We’re halfway there! Over the weekend we passed 325 new monthly Builders on our way to our goal of 650. Builders are the wonderful people who support what we do with financial contributions. We’d like to introduce you to three today, and invite you to join them in making possible our journalism. In other words...

More results-getting investigations.

More solutions-focused reporting.

More sharp commentary.

More diverse voices from all corners of British Columbia and beyond.

As we explained when we launched this campaign, reader support is essential to our model. Some 5,500 Tyee Builders already contribute monthly and hundreds more make a one-time gift when their bank account allows. Without that revenue we quite simply would not exist.

And next year will be our first as a non-profit organization. We are making that transition to double down on our recipe for true independence: Build a broad base of reader support and commit to putting every dollar into making more and better journalism in the public interest. If you’d like to contribute, start here.

We reap another great benefit from this approach. The love. Sounds corny, but covering critical issues in a time of crises can feel a bit lonely for a reporter, even lead down some dark corridors. Which is why we daily share among us (yep, on Slack) all the kind things our Builders tell us about why they support our work. Every note is a real morale booster, so we thought we’d give you a few examples today.

582px version of LeniGoggins.jpg
Tyee Builder Leni Goggins: The Tyee covers ‘what our local media won’t touch.’ Photo submitted.

Leni Goggins let us know: "I live in rural B.C. where our local newspaper is not interested in representing diverse voices or reporting out on events that might offend the status quo. The Tyee however has often reported on the big things going on in this town including on stories about our colonial past, which is something that our local media won't touch."

And Vivian Pharis, from Cochrane, Alberta, told us: “I support and value The Tyee for its independence and its emphasis on investigative journalism. Most media (not CBC) is owned by someone who has a bunch of biases and ties to the corporate world that interfere with independent reporting. Most no longer support investigative journalism.

“I also appreciate The Tyee’s emphasis on environmental stories. I relish stories you do on the environment, on Alberta and its tyrannical leadership and the broader stories on health and justice.”

As we hear from many of our supporters, Vivian appreciates that we mix wit and seriousness in our pages. “I enjoy Steve Burgess and his satirical analyses,” she says, while also citing two of our hard-hitting journalists. “I think Andrew Nikiforuk is a national treasure, as is Geoff Dembecki.”

Vivian observed that “being an Albertan, I rarely read stories about what’s going on in Vancouver.” Fair enough. However, we have our fans from Vancouver, too.

Take, for example, this guy (or should we say Guy?) who famously holds a soft spot for his hometown and all of B.C.

851px version of RyanReynolds.jpg
Hero on the screen and to The Tyee, Ryan Reynolds. Photo by Gage Skidmore.

Suffice it to say it put huge grins on our faces when, out of the blue, we received a contribution from Ryan Reynolds. His explanation was short and sweet: “I love The Tyee and am happy to support their work.”

Thanks Ryan! Builders like you and Leni and Vivian enable our team to do what they love. As our reporter Chris Cheung said last week to our email subscribers, 2021 demanded a lot of our team.

“I entered the year with a big question I wanted answered: who was getting hit hardest by COVID-19?

“B.C. health authorities were shy about sharing demographic data, so I crunched it myself. One bit of information the province did share at the height of the third wave was the location of ‘hotspot’ neighbourhoods. I combined that with census data to reveal that the areas hardest hit were home to blue-collar workers, with high percentages of people of colour, South Asian residents in particular.

“Not everyone has the luxury of working from home. A young immigrant from B.C.’s hottest hotspot in Surrey told me that she wanted to get tested when she showed symptoms of COVID, but her frontline job would not give her the sick day to do so.

“We ran a big story with my graphs and maps (special thanks to Andy Yan of SFU’s City Program) that showed the anatomy of a COVID hotspot. I was so pleased we had a well-designed website that allowed me to walk readers through this in visual detail.

“My pandemic coverage would go on to be awarded the first Jack Webster Award for diversity and inclusion reporting.”

582px version of ChrisCheungHeadshot.jpg
Tyee award-winning reporter Christopher Cheung: ‘Thank you for believing in us.’

All of us here at the Tyee echo Chris when he says:

“So here I am with a heartfelt thank you to you readers for believing in us, especially at a time when newspapers are getting thinner and other newsrooms are shrinking. And I’m also asking you to sign up as a monthly supporter to help us do even more impactful projects next year.”

Count yourself among cool people like Vivian Pharis, Leni Goggins and Ryan Reynolds.

Please join our much appreciated community of Tyee Builders. The amount you give is up to you. Click here to sign up now and help us hit our year-end target.  [Tyee]

Read more: Media

  • Share:

Facts matter. Get The Tyee's in-depth journalism delivered to your inbox for free

Tyee Commenting Guidelines

Comments that violate guidelines risk being deleted, and violations may result in a temporary or permanent user ban. Maintain the spirit of good conversation to stay in the discussion.
*Please note The Tyee is not a forum for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, denying its existence or minimizing its risk to public health.

Do:

  • Be thoughtful about how your words may affect the communities you are addressing. Language matters
  • Challenge arguments, not commenters
  • Flag trolls and guideline violations
  • Treat all with respect and curiosity, learn from differences of opinion
  • Verify facts, debunk rumours, point out logical fallacies
  • Add context and background
  • Note typos and reporting blind spots
  • Stay on topic

Do not:

  • Use sexist, classist, racist, homophobic or transphobic language
  • Ridicule, misgender, bully, threaten, name call, troll or wish harm on others
  • Personally attack authors or contributors
  • Spread misinformation or perpetuate conspiracies
  • Libel, defame or publish falsehoods
  • Attempt to guess other commenters’ real-life identities
  • Post links without providing context

LATEST STORIES

The Barometer

Do You Think Naheed Nenshi Will Win the Alberta NDP Leadership Race?

Take this week's poll