{{Short description|American journalist}}
{{Infobox person | name = Tim Mak | image = Tim Mak Emergent Ventures.jpg | alma_mater = McGill University | occupation = Journalist | years_active = 2009–present | employer = The Counteroffensive | birth_date = October 24<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://politi.co/2q4EiOW|title=BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Tim Mak, reporter for NPR's Washington desk|author=Politico Staff|website=POLITICO|date=24 October 2018 }}</ref>
}}
'''Tim Mak''' is a Canadian<ref name="Thousands of miles away from his native Vancouver, journalist Tim Mak is on the Counteroffensive">{{cite web|url=https://reviewofjournalism.ca/ukraine-dispatches/|title=Thousands of miles away from his native Vancouver, journalist Tim Mak is on the Counteroffensive|date=27 April 2025|website=Review of Journalism|access-date=21 February 2026|archive-date=18 January 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260118113025/https://reviewofjournalism.ca/ukraine-dispatches/|url-status=live}}</ref>-American journalist and editor of the Kyiv-based publication ''The Counteroffensive.''<ref name="The Accidental War Correspondent">{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/05/ukraine-war-russia-journalism-news-journalism.html|title=The Accidental War Correspondent|date=2 May 2023|website=Slate|access-date=15 December 2023|archive-date=15 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215080431/https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/05/ukraine-war-russia-journalism-news-journalism.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Previously an investigative correspondent for National Public Radio,<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/people/577125263/tim-mak|title=Tim Mak : NPR|website=NPR|language=en-US|access-date=2023-04-04|archive-date=2023-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404144917/https://www.npr.org/people/577125263/tim-mak|url-status=live}}</ref> he covers national security, politics, and the role of emerging technologies.<ref name="auto1" /> He is the author of ''Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA'' (E. P. Dutton, 2021) about the gun organization's inner workings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-524746-45-2 |access-date=2023-04-04 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Book Deals: Week of May 20, 2019 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/80089-book-deals-week-of-may-20-2019.html |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-date=April 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404150418/https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/80089-book-deals-week-of-may-20-2019.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rosen |first1=Jacob |date=12 November 2021 |title=NPR's Tim Mak on the NRA's troubles — "The Takeout" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nra-downfall-tim-mak-the-takeout/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112110631/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nra-downfall-tim-mak-the-takeout/ |archive-date=12 November 2021 |access-date=17 July 2023 |website=CBS News |publisher=CBS Interactive |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kaiser |first=Charles |date=6 November 2021 |title=Misfire review: a bullseye from Tim Mak – but the NRA isn't beaten yet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/06/misfire-review-tim-mak-nra-gun-control-lapierre-congress |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106061006/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/06/misfire-review-tim-mak-nra-gun-control-lapierre-congress |archive-date=6 November 2021 |access-date=17 July 2023 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=POLITICO Playbook |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2019/05/19/a-crack-in-the-gop-defense-of-trump-437893 |website=Politico|date=19 May 2019 }}</ref>
== Career == He graduated as valedictorian from McGill University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dwdf3LumWM|title=McGill Arts Class of 2009 Valedictory Address - Timothy Mak|date=2 June 2009|via=YouTube}}</ref>
Mak broke the news about a Russian national in Washington, D.C. named Maria Butina, who would later be convicted for acting as a Russian agent.<ref name="mcgill.ca">{{cite web|url=http://mcgillnews.mcgill.ca/s/1762/news/interior.aspx?sid=1762&gid=2&pgid=2032|title=Nothing fake about it|website=mcgillnews.mcgill.ca|date=11 January 2019 }}</ref> After President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen threatened Mak in an attempt to prevent the publication of a story about Trump, the journalist published the recorded audio of Cohen's threats.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/27/ex-wife-donald-trump-made-feel-violated-during-sex |title=Ex-Wife: Donald Trump Made Me Feel 'Violated' During Sex |first1=Brandy |last1=Zadrozny |first2=Tim |last2=Mak |newspaper=The Daily Beast |date=28 July 2015 |via=www.thedailybeast.com |archive-date=23 May 2017 |access-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523090536/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/27/ex-wife-donald-trump-made-feel-violated-during-sex |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2018/05/31/615843930/listen-how-michael-cohen-protects-trump-by-making-legal-threats |title=LISTEN: How Michael Cohen Protects Trump By Making Legal Threats |website=NPR.org |date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180531195701/https://www.npr.org/2018/05/31/615843930/listen-how-michael-cohen-protects-trump-by-making-legal-threats |archive-date=31 May 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2020, Mak obtained recorded audio of then-Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr making a private speech about how devastating the coming COVID-19 pandemic would be, in contrast to his optimistic public messaging. After it was revealed that he sold millions of dollars in stocks around the period he gave this speech, the senator was investigated for possible insider trading.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-secret-recording-captures-gop-senator-privately-raising-alarm-2020-3|title=Secret recording captures GOP Sen. Burr issuing a dire warning about coronavirus to a private club, while publicly conservatives and Trump downplayed the threat|website=Business Insider|language=en-US|access-date=2024-02-08|archive-date=2024-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208085346/https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-secret-recording-captures-gop-senator-privately-raising-alarm-2020-3|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/coronavirus-richard-burr-stocks-trade-fbi-investigation.html |title=What Richard Burr Actually Did |website=Slate |date=18 May 2020 |language=en-US |access-date=2024-02-08 |last1=Harris |first1=Mary |archive-date=2024-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208085346/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/05/coronavirus-richard-burr-stocks-trade-fbi-investigation.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
He has also written extensively on the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). In 2021, he published secret tapes showing how the organization's executives reacted in strategy sessions following the Columbine High School massacre.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1049054141/a-secret-tape-made-after-columbine-shows-the-nras-evolution-on-school-shootings|title=A secret tape made after Columbine shows the NRA's evolution on school shootings|website=NPR|language=en-US|access-date=2023-04-04|archive-date=2021-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113163237/https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1049054141/a-secret-tape-made-after-columbine-shows-the-nras-evolution-on-school-shootings|url-status=live}}</ref>
He covered the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine from within the country, having arrived the night the invasion began.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/02/24/1082736138/after-months-of-escalation-russia-has-begun-an-invasion-of-ukraine|title=After months of escalation, Russia has begun an invasion of Ukraine|website=NPR|language=en-US|access-date=2023-04-04|archive-date=2023-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404144914/https://www.npr.org/2022/02/24/1082736138/after-months-of-escalation-russia-has-begun-an-invasion-of-ukraine|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/> His investigations in Ukraine include tracking down the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade,<ref>{{cite web |title=NPR investigates Russia's notorious 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade |website=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163301491/npr-investigates-russias-notorious-53rd-anti-aircraft-brigade |access-date=2023-04-04 |archive-date=2023-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404144920/https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163301491/npr-investigates-russias-notorious-53rd-anti-aircraft-brigade |url-status=live }}</ref> the unit which shot down MH-17; and investigating a war crime in the town of Nova Basan.<ref>{{cite web |title=There have been 50,000 alleged war crimes in Ukraine. We worked to solve one |website=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/12/10/1138710652/russian-war-crimes-ukraine-investigation |first=Tim |last=Mak |date=10 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210143832/https://www.npr.org/2022/12/10/1138710652/russian-war-crimes-ukraine-investigation |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
In May 2023, he launched ''The Counteroffensive'', a newsletter that publishes narrative journalism and personal experiences from Ukraine during the Russian invasion. It also reports from other places where people face challenges from authoritarianism, such as Syria, Georgia, and Taiwan. He told Slate magazine that he wants to tell "deeply-reported human interest stories that humanize events."<ref name="The Accidental War Correspondent"/> By 2025, ''The Counteroffensive'' had become the most-read publication in Substack's 'International' category.<ref>https://substack.com/top/international</ref> With a "small team of local journalists" operating in Kyiv, the audience had grown to approximately 150,000 subscribers, according to Forbes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tim Mak, On Reporting From Ukraine: ‘I Feel Like I’ve Aged A Decade’ |website=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2025/11/08/tim-mak-on-reporting-from-ukraine-i-feel-like-ive-aged-a-decade/ |first=Andy |last=Meek |date=8 November 2025 |url-status=live |access-date=8 November 2025 |archive-date=8 November 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251108231942/https://www.forbes.com/sites/andymeek/2025/11/08/tim-mak-on-reporting-from-ukraine-i-feel-like-ive-aged-a-decade/ }}</ref>
Politico cofounder Robert Allbritton invested in Mak's company in 2025 to help expand The Counteroffensive's B2B defense technology publication, The Arsenal. <ref>{{cite web | title = Politico Co-Founder Invests in European Defense Tech Media in Kyiv | url = https://www.amediaoperator.com/news/the-arsenal-the-counteroffensive-tim-mak-robert-allbritton-politico-defense-tech/?utm_source=mail.amediaoperator.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=politico-co-founder-invests-in-european-defense-tech-media&_bhlid=55c492a1272b618271288cc7f4faeb930e61bd00 | publisher = A Media Operator}}</ref> It now has operations in Kyiv, Brussels and Berlin.
In 2026, after the beginning of the war in Iran, Mak expanded his coverage of international war with a new Substack publication called ''Iran War Dispatches with Tim Mak''.<ref>{{cite web | title = Iran War Dispatches with Tim Mak | url = https://www.iranwar.news/ | website = Substack | publisher = Tim Mak | access-date = 11 March 2026 | archive-date = 12 March 2026 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20260312120836/https://www.iranwar.news/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{Official website|https://www.timkmak.com/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mak, Tim}} Category:NPR reporters Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:McGill University alumni Category:21st-century American journalists Category:American war correspondents Category:21st-century American male journalists Category:American technology journalists