The Tyee
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| Editor | Robyn Smith |
|---|---|
| Former editors | David Beers |
| Categories | Online |
| Frequency | Daily |
| Year founded | November 2003 |
| Country | Canada |
| Based in | British Columbia |
| Website | thetyee |
The Tyee is a left-of-centre independent online Canadian news magazine that primarily covers British Columbia. It was founded in November 2003 by its editor-in-chief, David Beers, an award-winning writer and former features editor at The Vancouver Sun. Since its launch it has recruited a number of other writers, including Steve Burgess, Murray Dobbin, Michael Geist, Terry Glavin, Mark Leiren-Young, Rafe Mair, Will McMartin, Shannon Rupp, Vanessa Richmond and Dorothy Woodend. The name "Tyee" is based on the current local definition of Tyee salmon—a Chinook or Spring salmon of 30 lbs or more. The word is derived from the Nuu-chah-nulth language, meaning a chief, a king, or champion. It also embodies the magazine's dedication to publishing lively, informative news and views, to "roam free, and go where we wish" as the tyee salmon do.
Tyee articles focus on politics, culture and life. It has expanded its activities to a blog: The Hook. Within two years of its launch, over 1,000 articles had been published by more than 1,500 registered commenters, reaching 89,458 unique visitors. In 2009, according to BCBusiness magazine, The Tyee had a growing British Columbia readership, up 77 percent since 2007 to approximately 175,000 unique visitors a month.
In 2007, The Tyee was recognized nationally with an Honourable Mention in the category of Excellence in Journalism for Small, Medium, or Local Media. The category includes all Canadian online journalism with fewer than 500,000 unique visitors a month. In 2009, the magazine BCBusiness also placed The Tyee as ninth of their list of the province's ten most innovative companies.The Tyee was awarded the Edward R. Murrow Award by the Radio and Television News Directors Association in 2009 and 2011. It was the only Canadian news organization to be honoured for the national (North America-wide) category in 2011. It was also runner-up for the 2011 Canadian Journalism Foundation Excellence in Journalism Award.
In 2001, David Beers was fired from the features editor position at The Vancouver Sun as part of CanWest Global's famous purge of top-level journalists. Beers says, "When I was fired it was kind of a wake-up call, I was writing some forthright things after 9/11—they weren't radical, I didn't think, but they challenged the jingoistic tone of many commentators and politicians in Canada as well as the US." Beers has openly expressed his opinion that CanWest had abused its position and failed to provide fair and balanced coverage. Afterwards, Beers contemplated exploring online journalism, and was encouraged by an anonymous philanthropist who had a similar goal, and finances to support the plan. The U.S. website Salon.com became the model.
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