Paul Matadeen's story 'In Memory of Mia' won the Nevada Broadcasters Association's 2012 Electronic Media Award for best hard news coverage. In 2007, his coverage of a tornado's aftermath in Apalachicola, FL earned first place recognition for spot news coverage by the region's Associated Press.
Paul Matadeen brought viewers an exclusive report and followup in Summer 2012 when he was able to interview - on camera - students who claimed their substitute teacher hit them. He followed up unveiling the school district's rather slow process to investigate and prosecute potential 'bad teachers' elevating parents' call for more accountability (see initial report)
Paul Matadeen exclusively revealed to a Las Vegas woman on camera that a local ‘fake doctor’ sexually abused her son while she was sedated. The story began when the woman came forward to talk exclusively about w about the sexual abuse she endured while sedated as well. (watch story here)
Paul Matadeen lead the market in finding local connections to the stories of revolution in the Middle East. Matadeen spoke to an Egyptian refugee who unveiled his connections and fears about the unrest abroad. He brought viewers a touching interview with an Egyptian woman who feared for her cousin's life, and he also exclusively spoke to a local physician who feared for his family's life in Libya. (watch exclusive report)
Paul Matadeen was able to exclusively locate, book, and identify a woman who claimed she witnessed police wrongly shoot and kill her boyfriend just a day before. Matadeen's story lead a weekend newscast calling for more police accountability and transparency. (see story)
Paul Matadeen and photographer were the only local TV crew allowed access to ground zero while covering a recent local storm. The crew was the only to provide live pictures of a busy street turned chaos when several live power lines hit the ground forcing drivers and pedestrians to flee for their lives. (watch live report)
Paul Matadeen and his photographer - Erik Ho - was the only local TV crew to capture the near attack of an Inside Edition crew by a chimpanzee who had escaped and caused public havoc just hours before. (see story)
CAREER MILESTONES:
*Beginning in May 2010, Paul Matadeen was one of the Fox News Channel's lead producers on the ground coordinating and covering the details of the oil disaster in Louisiana. Matadeen was among the first crews to discover oil in the marsh lands in Southern Louisiana. He worked closely with local government to bring FNC viewers an exclusive encounter between a Parish President and BP officials when he presented to them the first severely oiled animals from the area. This was a broadcast exclusive. Matadeen also grilled BP's COO about contracted cleanup workers who showed up in the area just hours before President Obama was to tour the area. Matadeen also booked the COO for a live interview just minutes after the Obama administration announced it would look into potential criminal charges against individuals within the company. Matadeen was the FNC producer who booked and set up the interview with BP CEO Tony Hayward where he said to a correspondent that he 'wanted his life back.'
*In November 2009, Paul Matadeen served as the Fox News Channel's lead field producer for the entirety of FNC's Fort Hood massacre breaking news coverage. Within hours of the stand off, Matadeen kept in constant contact with victims families, investigators at both Fort Hood and in Washington, D.C. and was in regular cell phone contact with Major Nidal Hassan's apartment manager and attorney.
Matadeen's FNC crew was said to be the first network TV crew to be granted access to Major Nidal Hasan's apartment uncovering a stash of HIV medication prescribed by and to Hasan. On a related note, Matadeen was able to book and execute one of the first live interviews of an Army specialist who was shot in the boot allegedly by Maj Hasan. The specialist described live to FNC anchor Shepard Smith how he returned to the scene of the shooting to rescue other victims using his friend's pickup truck.
Matadeen continues a freelance relationship with the Fox News Channel most recently producing for the network's coverage of the Republican Governors Conference in Austin, TX where the country's most prominent republican governors spoke out against Obama's proposed health care plan.
*As a reporter at WNCN-TV (NBC Raleigh/Durham), Paul uncovered a warrant control problem in the Durham, NC magistrate office. In a live report, Paul revealed for the first time 50,000 unserved arrest warrants (including some for rape and robbery), some of which were nearly 20 years old and still waiting to be served. Paul was able to look beyond this problem and at the broader picture to uncover a lacking criminal justice system, which is now being addressed.
*As a reporter at WNCN-TV (NBC Raleigh/Durham), Paul was a part of a team of reporters, web producers, and news managers who attempted to usher in a new ‘web first’ and ‘hyper-local’ multimedia environment. Focusing on a specific geographical area within the market, Paul focused on breaking stories on the web first; using the evening broadcast and web updates to provide a stream of information on the story instead of waiting until the end of the day to produce a summary of those developments.
*As a reporter for KOMU-TV (NBC Columbia, MO), Paul successfully one-man-banded reports from some of the hot spots of the 2001 Colorado Wildfires, providing unprecedented coverage for the station and the market at the time.
*As a field producer for the Fox News Channel, Paul has field produced and interviewed for various reports on presidential races. Paul has also followed the devastating tornadoes of Enterprise, Alabama in 2007, returning a year later to produce follow up reports, while coordinating and troubleshooting for satellite shots in various locations including the 2004 Iowa Caucuses.
*As a reporter for WJHG-TV (NBC Panama City), Paul earned an Associated Press Award for First Place in the Spot News Reporting Category. He earned the award for following the town of Apalachicola as officials responded to and rebuilt after a tornado devastated parts of its historic infrastructure.
*As a special projects host for WPLG-TV (ABC Miami), Paul provided live coverage for the 2000 & 2001 Air and Sea Show Beach Bash for Miami’s ABC affiliate. The Air and Sea Show has been one of the largest live broadcast events for the station, bringing in more than one-million participants to the event, over two days.
*Paul produced and hosted a community issues program at WPLG-TV (ABC Miami) for 5 years. Through the program, he addressed South Florida’s school overcrowding problem, the Governor’s mentoring initiative, and featured many successful community service programs in the area.
*For a total of 6 years, Paul co-founded, hosted, and produced Christian Music News programs for various national and local television outlets. Paul has interviewed almost every national Christian Music Act including Michael W. Smith, the members of DC Talk, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, Mercy Me, and more than 60 others, including comedian Sinbad and actor Stephen Baldwin.
*Between 2010-2012, Paul Matadeen worked as the sole nightside live reporter - Wednesdays through Sundays - at KSNV-TV, the NBC affiliate in Las Vegas, NV. His job description: if the story was new at 11, Paul and his photog likely covered it. Matadeen says the past two years forced his team to be quick, efficient, and very witty on the fly when shooting, writing, editing, and presenting stories. Matadeen says it became very apparent to he and his photographer that their work heavily influenced how many viewers tuned in and stayed during the 11 o'clock show. He regularly tweeted and updated viewers via Facebook to tease them to watch. Paul is proud to report that since he began reporting on News 3 Nightside at 11, it has grown from a #3 to a solid #2 position. The show now fights for #1 spot from time to time, despite somewhat challenging prime time lead ins. Matadeen says looks forward to a future position where he can contribute and grow as a journalist as his eagerness remains to aggressively pursue both breaking news and in depth enterprise stories.