Jody Paterson

Jody Paterson has worked as a journalist since 1982. She began her career with the Victoria Times-Colonist in 1989 as a reporter and went on to become city editor in 1993, assistant managing editor in 1995, and managing editor in 1996, at which time she began writing a weekly column as well. She now works full-time as a news columnist and feature-writer.

Paterson has won several journalism awards over the years, including the B.C. Newspaper Award for best editorial in 1986 and the B.C. Newspaper Award for top columnist in 1996. She came second at the Jack Webster Awards in 1986 for a piece on street youth, and second in the Special Project category of the B.C. Newspaper Awards in 1997 for a series on the VisionQuest canoe trip staged by RCMP and First Nations. Paterson participated in the Port Hardy to Victoria leg of the trip. She also bicycled 1,000 kilometers last year as a member of the Tour de Rock trip down Vancouver Island with RCMP and municipal police officers. The event raised almost $720,000 for childhood cancer research and a summer camp for kids with cancer.

Paterson serves on the board of Big Brothers and Big Sisters Victoria and is a member of a regional committee trying to stop the sexual exploitation of youth in Greater Victoria. She has three children and two grandchildren.