The Conversations We Need? We Asked, You Told Us

What are the conversations — deep and substantive — that Tyee readers are eager to have right now? We found out, and we’ll tell you more about it in a bit.

We’ll also tell you our idea to promote deeper understanding with your support. Tired of all the bad faith yelling and screaming on the internet these days? So are we. Together let’s show a better way to hash things out.

We can do it! The Tyee is a non-profit, reader-funded newsroom. We’ve been around for 20 years (happy birthday to us in November!), and we’ve done a lot of experimenting in our time to figure out how to publish quality public-interest journalism that people want to read and support.

One of the things that we’ve learned is that by involving our readers in the reporting process we get better story ideas, and we get more interest in the outcome.

The days of one-way journalism are over — or should be. It’s best done as a collaboration between journalists and citizens who bring powerful knowledge and perspective to the equation.

There are too many places on the internet that make you question that premise — toxic realms where sensationalist headlines pander to coarse emotions and you feel a worse person for having visited.

The Tyee was created to be the opposite. Our way of fighting back against algorithmic social media feeds and bad actors is to be devoted to fact-based and rigorous journalism.

Journalism that is truly in the public interest.

The kind of journalism fuels civil, probing discussions about what’s going on in our communities. And points the way toward practical solutions.

What you told us

So last week we sent out a call asking you, our readers, to help us plan some special features over the next few months. And boy, did you show up! Over 1,500 of you took our poll.

We also left lots of room for people to write in their own responses, and over 1,000 of you did so. We’re blown away by that response!

Here’s what we learned from what you told us, which we are still poring over and analyzing:

• People are deeply concerned about housing — how it can be made affordable, and how likely we are to achieve that.
• Readers are very interested in understanding how our economic system can support a redefined definition of "the good life" that takes seriously our limits and need to adapt to climate change.
• And we see in the poll responses a deep concern and curiosity about the state of our public systems — especially health care and education — and what can be done to strengthen them.

Our pledge to you

If you come through and we meet our spring fundraising goal, in the latter half of this year and beyond…

• We’ll devote more reporting to the topic areas you highlighted in order to thoroughly explore the wicked problems that are present in all of these realms.
• We will seek out leading edge voices and problem solvers.
• We will convene online dialogues that you can participate in.
• We’ll hold public events you can attend.
• We’ll go beyond daily updates on the slow drip of problems. We won’t rest until we’ve peeled back more understanding of the forces at play, and what’s standing in the way of solutions.

That’s why we asked which conversations you think we should be having here on The Tyee. Now we’re eager to inform those conversations with stellar journalism.

In the coming weeks, as we unpack your survey responses, we’ll give you more details about plans our reporters and editors are crafting to tackle your issues. Stay tuned!

There’s a big "if" though. The Tyee is non-profit and reader supported. Most of our revenue comes from financial contributions from individuals giving what they can afford. We need your help to go deep on these topics.

We’re kicking off our spring fundraising drive today, and we’re asking our readers to help us raise $50,000 by June 26 to do this work. Are you in? Support our work today.

When you chip in to our editorial budget, you’re joining a program we call Tyee Builders, and we’ll even send you a snazzy little pin and other fun Tyee swag (if you want it).

Tyee Builders are readers who financially support our reporting, either through an ongoing monthly or annual contribution, or a one-time contribution.

In the past 10 years, the Tyee Builder program has grown tenfold and is now the largest source of revenue for our non-profit newsroom and supports our robust team of 20+ people.

Together with our supporters we’ve done great things — Tyee Builders have funded federal and provincial election reporting, a special project on B.C.’s youth, a memorial reporting fund in honour of the late Rafe Mair, expanded reporting Alberta, and more.

Ongoing support from readers makes it possible for The Tyee to operate without a paywall and not have to try to survive from advertising income. Your support allows us to pay talented, tough-minded journalists to take on stories that matter.

Every dollar given by Tyee Builders goes straight to producing independent, high-impact journalism.

We think — and by looking at the results of our reader poll, many of you agree — that what’s missing in the public conversation right now is nuanced, sustained coverage about the big pillars of our society: housing, health care, education, a stable climate and how to pursue meaningful lives.

We’re eager to devote our time to this, with your support. If you’d like to make possible the kind of journalism you won’t read anywhere else, that puts its readers first, please consider contributing to our editorial budget and help us hit our $50,000 target by June 26.

Go to our donation page and sign up.