Steven Hillel Paikin is a Canadian journalist, author, and documentary producer. Paikin has primarily worked for TVOntario, Ontario's public broadcaster, and is anchor of TVO's flagship current affairs program The Agenda with Steve Paikin.
Early life and education
A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Paikin was born to Lawrence Sidney Paikin and Marina Suzanne Sibulash. Paikin is Jewish. Paikin graduated from Hillfield Strathallan College in 1978 and continued to university where he received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto. Later, Paikin received his master's degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University. He served as sports editor for the University of Toronto's independent weekly, The Newspaper, while pursuing his BA, and was the play-by-play voice of the Varsity Blues hockey and football teams on U of T Radio.
Career
Paikin was an anchor and Queen's Park correspondent for CBC Television's Toronto station CBLT-TV, and host of a daily news and current affairs program on CBC Newsworld. He also held reporting jobs in private radio and print media, including the Hamilton Spectator and Toronto radio station CHFI, where he was Toronto City Hall reporter from 1982–85. In 1992, Paikin began work at TVO, hosting the political series Between the Lines until 1994. He also co-created the Queen's Park magazine Fourth Reading, which he hosted for 14 years. In 1994, Paikin began co-hosting duties on Studio 2 until 2006. In 1998, he co-created and began hosting Diplomatic Immunity, a weekly foreign affairs commentary show. Pat Quinn on The Agenda with Steve Paikin In 2006, TVO cancelled Studio 2 and replaced it with a new program, The Agenda with Steve Paikin. Paikin frequently is selected to be the moderator of election debates. He acted as a moderator for federal leaders debates in 2006, 2008, and 2011; and for Ontario provincial leaders debates in 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2018. Aside from his hosting and journalistic endeavors, Paikin has produced a number of feature-length documentaries: Return to the Warsaw Ghetto; A Main Street Man; Balkan Madness; Teachers, Tories and Turmoil; and Chairman of the Board: The Life and Death of John Robarts. For 1993's Return to the Warsaw Ghetto, Paikin won the "Silver Screen Award" at the U.S. International Film and Video Festival, and received awards at the Yorkton Film Festival in Saskatchewan and at China's Shanghai Film Festival. In February 2012, Paikin was named the Queen's Park journalist with the most Twitter influence in a study conducted by PR agencyHill+Knowlton Strategies. He holds honorary doctorates from McMaster University, Victoria University, Laurentian University, York University, and honorary diplomas from Humber College, Centennial College, Mohawk College and Fanshawe College. He was later appointed chancellor of Laurentian University in Sudbury in October 2013. In December 2013, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and invested into the Order of Ontario.
