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History of the Richmond Sentinel – 10ᵗʰ Year Anniversary

Published 3:53 PDT, Wed September 9, 2026

Last Updated: 10:51 PDT, Fri September 11, 2026

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Ten years ago, Paul Tam was asked to create a mainstream community newspaper. It didn’t take Paul long to make a decision. It is a communication product that he was very passionate about based on his early years as an immigrant. His father moved his family to Vancouver from Hong Kong when Paul was sixteen years old. It was a challenging time for him as he did not speak English. A librarian suggested that reading newspapers was a great way to improve his English as well as learn about his new community and country.

In 2016, the Richmond Sentinel was founded and Paul provided employment for employees who were laid off from their previous jobs when the Richmond Review shut down. Paul had three directives:

Write stories on factual information
No editorial page and
No personal opinions

He wanted this not-for-profit community newspaper to update the readers on what was happening in their City of Richmond and he wanted the publication to be an educational product to support newcomers to the community. When the Pandemic shut most businesses down, the staff worked from home and communicated through technology. When it was finally safe to re-open the office, some staff did not return, so Paul asked if I would step in and support the team.

With experience in filming, we added a film division and began producing filmed interviews for the Richmond Sentinel’s website and YouTube channel and transferred that into the Sentinel’s print copy. During this transition, there was a municipal election and Richmond had 62 candidates running for Mayor, Coucillors and School Trustee. After attending an “All Candidates” event, I spoke to Paul about providing equal opportunity to all the candidates. Paul gave me the approval to film every candidate that chose to participate. We rented a room at City Hall, lined up a “very tight” schedule, hired an interviewer and a camera crew. Everyone thought we were taking on the impossible and with the support of a tight crew, we filmed 58 interviews within six hours, streamed it live back to the studio where the Editor prepared individual segments for those who wanted to share the interview. It was an interesting challenge but one that we were proud to have provided to the voters so they could make an educated decision.

Yes, the Richmond Sentinel has taken on a new look while still including press releases from all three levels of government when available and with the support of a very talented team we are able to bring an entertainment factor, while still staying true to finding a Link to Richmond. I’ve said all along we are not journalists we story tellers and draw on our experiences to brings many undiscovered stories to life. Quite often captured through the lens of a camera.

One day we might be with a CEO in a board room, the next week with a young entrepreneur whose working out of their parent’s garage. No opportunity is too daunting or too small. With the support of the following contributing writers, who've helped create today's Richmond Sentinel.

Joe Leary long-time radio & TV personality who has a wealth of stories to share on music, sports and entertainment.
DJ Scammell writes about men’s fashion, educating us on the history of the design and fabric and not what’s trendy but how to shop wisely.
Richard Gooding travelled the world educating people on food and wine, and as a consultant turned many restaurants into a success story.
Rika Mansingh, a best selling author, certified dietician and a brilliant outlook on health and wellness that is understandable.
Jolene George keeps us updated on financial matters when the topic hits the air waves.
Steve Erikson covers sports – Richmond Jr. A hockey team providing our readers and fans interesting updates.
Our partnership with Our City Tonight, a national television show brings filmed interviews with world-wide celebrities which they share with our viewers online and in print.
Jim Gordon a TV Producer, Director and interviewer has overseen interviews with all 3 levels of government, business leaders and entrepreneurs.

The front cover is produced from a story published that week and we’ve had some pretty special covers with the support from our graphic designers, for example, a photographer on the back of an open truck in Africa taking photos of wild life, Nathan Rourke a BC Lions’ Quarterback whose all the buzz these days, Michael Bociurkiw a foreign correspondent for networks like CNN will only report on what he sees first hand, so at the time of the interview and our cover story, he was closing up his home in Vancouver and heading to Ukraine for first-hand reporting.