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‘Report the Truth’: Andrew Nikiforuk on Covering the Pandemic

Crisis hit. The Tyee went all out thanks to support by readers like you. We asked what that meant to Andrew.

David Beers 3 Jun 2021TheTyee.ca

David Beers is founding editor of The Tyee.

As the pandemic swept into Canada it was as if the universe was telling The Tyee to put up or shut up.

We talk a lot about the value of independent, rigorous journalism in the public interest. We say we’re built to deliver it — thanks to the support of our readers.

Here was a whopper of a test. A fast-breaking crisis with myriad questions to be answered calmly, coolly, accurately.

We were fortunate to have on our team Crawford Kilian, so well versed in virus public health issues that he has his own blog on the topic read by experts.

We had just welcomed Moira Wyton as our first dedicated health reporter (so much for easing into the job!).

All our reporters were eager to view the emergency through the lenses of their beats, and our editors searched for expert voices to publish.

We had a sibling publication, science-focused Hakai Magazine, which began contributing COVID-19 pieces to our pages.

And we had Andrew Nikiforuk. He is author of not one but two noted books on pandemics, The Fourth Horseman and Pandemonium.

A year later we have published hundreds of pieces on all angles of the pandemic. Some have garnered startling readership. Nikiforuk’s, in particular, have attracted a wide audience and awards, too. Some of his pieces have over a quarter million views and rising.

And so, as we near the end of our spring member drive, we thought we’d check in with Andrew Nikiforuk about challenges faced and journalism delivered.

We are rounding the last corner in our campaign to bring on 850 new monthly members, who make possible the work of our stellar team of journalists that includes Andrew Nikiforuk in its ranks. To help us hit that target, sign up here. Choose an amount that works for you, and you can cancel at any time.

David Beers: Andrew, when did you sense we were facing a pandemic and what did you see as your mission?

Andrew Nikiforuk: Like most people I watched in disbelief as the virus exploded in Wuhan. At the time I did not understand the harshness of the Chinese response. You can’t trust what totalitarian governments have to say; you have to watch what they do. When the Chinese government acted to quell the pandemic, it didn’t mess around.

“But most of the world didn’t pay attention. The hell that besieged some of the wealthiest parts of Italy convinced me that we were in uncharted territory. A novel virus is a novel virus.

“A journalist’s mission during a pandemic is to report the truth, no matter how complicated or uncomfortable it may become. Truth is always the casualty of extreme events. During the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 governments lied like hell. And during COVID-19, they often lied like hell.

“Here in Canada, in many provinces, bad governance made the pandemic much worse than it should have been. So the mission was basic: give people the best and most trustworthy information. My guide was simple: what does my own family need to know to pass through this trial?”

What did it mean to have The Tyee as an outlet and community for your reporting?

“It meant everything. I have written two books about pandemics. But no one came knocking on my door other than The Tyee. Without The Tyee, I would have had no place to publish.”

You have published dozens and dozens of pieces about the pandemic on The Tyee so far. And during the same time exposés on Alberta coal mining plans, fracking and more. Where do you get your stamina?

“Pandemics are like wars. They make history. It is a rare opportunity for a journalist to study the human condition under altered conditions and make, if possible, some small difference.”

Now there’s a sense the vaccine will win the war. But a year ago you wrote a hugely read piece explaining why a vaccine won’t erase the pandemic. Do you still feel that way?

“Vaccines can’t end the pandemic by themselves because of the variants and vaccine hesitancy. It took lockdowns and vaccines to bring England’s numbers down.

“By abandoning public health measures that work at reducing aerosol spread, including stringent border controls — which Canada never adopted — we are setting ourselves up for trouble in the autumn.

“As complexity experts like Yaneer Bar-Yam and Zeynep Tufekci have repeatedly argued and I’ve reported, pandemics have long tails. They are complex events that require rapid over-reactions to prevent exponential growth. Global travel compounds this complexity, and it’s revving up again.

“Australia and New Zealand beat this pandemic without vaccines. To me that remains the gold standard.

“If we can’t use vaccines and public measures to eliminate COVID now within Canada’s borders, then when? The pandemic will not end until every nation is free of this novel pathogen. Otherwise every infected country becomes a global factory for more and more transmissible variants.

“For all those reasons, there is still much pandemic reporting to be done. We should not take our eyes away. Much is at stake.”

The Tyee exists to publish writers like Andrew Nikiforuk and help their work reach a large audience. We do so without fear or favour because we have the support of our readers.

We’re in the last week of our spring member drive, and we’re trying to get to 850 new monthly members by June 7. To help us get there, please sign up here.  [Tyee]

Read more: Coronavirus, Media

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