For Once, Let's Give Voice to BC's Youth. You Can Make It Happen

What if young people were the first people our media listened to, instead of the last?

What if a top-notch journalist made it her mission to seek out thoughtful, engaged young people with strong opinions about what kind of future we should be creating today?

After all, they are the ones who will have to live in it. And very shortly, they will be instrumental in helping to build it.

That mission -- giving voice to young people -- is exactly what Tyee reporter Katie Hyslop dreams of pursuing over the next year, an election year.

We are asking you to make this possible.

Today, The Tyee is launching a new crowdfunding campaign to fund a year-long series that will send Katie around British Columbia to document the struggles and aspirations of young people, and to gather their creative thinking about what needs changing.

(Katie, by the way, has been expertly covering The Tyee's youth and education beat with a social justice perspective for six years. Meet her in the video above.)

Let the kids speak

One year out from the next provincial election, can you imagine a more vital, but likely to be ignored, constituency with crucial perspectives to share?

The next generation of British Columbians faces daunting realities. Skyrocketing unaffordability. Mounting post-secondary fees. Evolving job markets. And all of this taking place in a climate-stressed world.

Every day, our political leaders make critical choices that will affect the lives of our kids. Cabinet ministers hold press conferences. News headlines blast government talking points. Bureaucrats battle behind the scenes. And the same middle-aged, well-off talking heads drone on in our media.

But what about the people who will be most affected by the decisions we make? What kinds of choices, challenges, priorities press upon young people in B.C. today? And what is their ideal tomorrow?

We want to find out and we hope you do, too.

To fund this project, we'll need to raise $25,000 by May 30. Can you help us get there?

If you do, and we meet our target, Katie will hit the road to meet and give voice to B.C.'s next generation, from interior mill towns to fishing ports, from wealth-gap widening cities to First Nations reserves seeking new relationships with business and government.

And this we pledge: We will personally email the collected stories -- the collected youth voices -- to every candidate running for office in the next provincial election.

Original reporting like this -- reporting with purpose and impact -- takes resources and most of all, time. Reader contributions of $25,000 will cover a year of reporting and expenses for Katie to hit the road and do the reporting that simply won't be done, by anyone, if she isn't turned loose to pursue her mission.

Click here to pitch in now.

For over 10 years, the team of independent reporters at The Tyee has been dedicated to documenting the debates and decisions that have shaped life in British Columbia (and increasingly, the whole country).

While local news outlets and reporting beats have dwindled, we've done our best to act as a public watchdog, keeping an eye on the shifting economic, social and environmental conditions that we all have to live with.

Meet your reporter, Katie Hyslop

As we said earlier, when it comes to covering education and youth well-being, Katie has become B.C.'s leading reporter on the beat. During the teachers' strike in 2014, Katie's reporting became a go-to source for readers who were looking for deep analysis and context on the issues at hand.

When you support this project, you will receive special email updates whenever a new story is published in this investigative series. Plus, you'll get all the other benefits of joining Tyee Builders -- a swanky custom Tyee lapel pin, discounts on Tyee events, and random swag giveaways.

The Tyee is proud to feature work from reporters like Katie that go beyond the daily news cycle and do a deep dive on solutions. But we can't do it without the support of our readers.

We don't place our articles behind any paywalls, so when you contribute as a Tyee Builder, you are helping to make this information free and open for everyone to read, while at the same time ensuring that hard-working reporters are paid for their work.

Invest in critical investigative reporting on the future of youth in B.C. Please support this project today.