Paul Boyd (journalist)

Paul Boyd
Born Paul Graham Boyd
November 7, 1976
Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada
Education Mount Royal College
Occupation Television journalist
Years active 1995–present
Notable credit(s) Inside Edition correspondent (2001-2014)
Inside Edition Weekend co-anchor (2003-2014)
Spouse(s) Amanda Boyd
Children 2

Paul Graham Boyd (born November 7, 1976) is an American based Canadian television journalist. He worked for the syndicated news magazine Inside Edition for 13 years, and served as a co-anchor of Inside Edition Weekend until October 2014. Prior to this, he worked as a journalist in Canada.[1]

Early life

Boyd was born in Selkirk, Manitoba.[2] His family moved to Port Alberni, British Columbia in the early 1980s where he and his two brothers were raised. He graduated as class valedictorian from Alberni District Secondary School in 1994.[1]

Boyd has credited his high school media production program for sparking his interest in journalism when he was 16 years old.[3] He appeared on a daily morning television show produced by students and broadcast throughout the school via closed-circuit television.[4] One of his high school video segments was called "Fire Marshall Paul", an adaptation of the Jim Carrey character Fire Marshall Bill from the television show, In Living Color.[1]

While a senior in high school, Boyd placed 2nd in a national video contest promoting safe driving.[5][6] He was named top male vocalist at the West Coast Vocal Jazz Festival when he was 18 years old.[7]

Career

Boyd began his broadcasting career in 1995 working as a reporter with the CKUA Radio Network while attending Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta.[4] He worked for his college radio and television stations.[8]

In 1997, he graduated from Mount Royal College with a diploma in Broadcasting and received the prestigious Toby Towbridge Award as a top broadcasting student in his class.[9] Shortly after graduation he was hired as a part-time sports reporter and fill-in anchor at CICT-TV, Calgary.[4] Later that year he joined The Movie Show, an internationally syndicated entertainment program produced by Pyramid Productions.[10]

In 1998 he was hired as a reporter for Calgary's 24-hour news channel Now-TV operated by Shaw Communications.[4] He returned to his native Manitoba in 1999 to work as a reporter for CHMI-TV Winnipeg and was later promoted to co-anchor of the 10:00 pm newscast.[2]

Inside Edition

Boyd joined Inside Edition as a correspondent in August 2001 and moved to New York City to start the job three weeks before the September 11 attacks,[1] and investigated the terrorism links in Florida where several of the hijackers spent time in the days leading up to 9/11.[11]

In the early stages of the war in Afghanistan,[2][12] Boyd gained access to the dangerous tribal region on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, known as Waziristan, where he documented the hunt for Osama bin Laden in early 2002.[13][14] Boyd was reporting for Inside Edition from Pakistan when journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped.[15]

During his coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Boyd was interviewed live on CNN after discovering hand-written messages from Saddam Hussein in an abandoned Iraqi government office building.[16] The most significant message uncovered by Inside Edition was written by Hussein on March 20, 2003 immediately following the first missile attack in Iraq at Dora Farms and read, "The frivolous criminal Bush and his missiles didn't hit my house. God has protected us."[17][16] Hussein was captured nine months later.[18]

Inside Edition dispatched Boyd to the scene of the London bombings on July 7, 2005.[19] Later that year, he spent weeks documenting the human tragedy and destruction of Hurricane Katrina.[20] In 2007, he reported from the campus of the Virginia Tech massacre the day 32 people were killed by a student gunman.[21] In 2009, he reported from Texas on the day of the Fort Hood shooting that left 13 people dead.[22] In May 2010, he filed reports on the Time Square car bombing attempt, and documented the Connecticut apartment of terrorist Faisal Shahzad.[23]

Boyd reported extensively for Inside Edition during the 2004 and 2008 U.S. presidential elections and national conventions. He was named co-anchor of Inside Edition Weekend in July 2003, succeeding Don Criqui.[24] Boyd left Inside Edition in October 2014, after 13 years.[25]

Personal life

Paul and Amanda Boyd married in 2005; they have two sons.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Niomi Pearson, “Still Delivering The News”, Alberni Valley Times, October 27, 2006.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pat St. Germain, “The Inside Scoop: From A-Channel To Afghanistan”, Winnipeg Sun, September 1, 2002.
  3. ↑ Mia Vare, "ADSS Students Build Life Skills On Job", Alberni Valley Times, December 18, 2000.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Mike Leschart, "Paul Boyd Making Mark In Media", Alberni Valley Times, December 8, 2000.
  5. ↑ "Film Wins Student $2500 Award", Alberni Valley Times, February 16, 1994.
  6. ↑ "Video Wins Contest", Toronto Star, February 26, 1994.
  7. ↑ Barry Miller, "Teen Performers Win Invitation To Nationals", Alberni Valley Times, May 1, 1995.
  8. ↑ Bob Blakey, “Alternative Rock Back On The Airwaves”, Calgary Herald, February 23, 1996.
  9. ↑ Blair Riddle, “Broadcasting Grad Makes Career Of Living Dangerously”, Reflections Magazine, Spring 2003.
  10. ↑ “Pair Join Movie Show”, Calgary Herald, August 23, 1997.
  11. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: September 17, 2001).
  12. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: November 12, 2001).
  13. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: February 6, 2002).
  14. ↑ John Dempsey, "TV's Mags-To-Riches Story", Variety, February 18, 2002.
  15. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: January 30, 2002).
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Transcript". CNN. April 24, 2003. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  17. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: April 21, 2003).
  18. ↑ "Saddam 'caught like a rat' in a hole". CNN. December 14, 2003. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  19. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: July 8, 2005).
  20. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: September 6, 2005).
  21. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: April 17, 2007).
  22. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: November 6, 2009).
  23. ↑ Inside Edition (airdate: May 6, 2010).
  24. ↑ "Weekend Inside Edition gets new anchor". Broadcasting & Cable. July 21, 2003. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Ex-'Inside Edition' Anchor’s YouTube Rap Is Latest Sign That It’s Quitting Time: In the digital era, starting a new career chapter is rarely a private act", October 9, 2014; accessed November 19, 2014.