Welcome to Thanh Tan, who joins our editorial page staff this week as a new multimedia editorial writer and columnist.

We lured her away from the Texas Tribune, even though neither of Washington's gubernatorial hopefuls -- Jay Inslee or Rob McKenna -- is likely to be half as interesting as Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the forgetful erstwhile presidential candidate and coyote hunter.

This digital journalist went from being a commercial TV reporter to Idaho Public TV, where she hosted a weekly political program and revolutionized the station's social media approach, only to be stolen away by the innovative Tribune to be a multimedia reporter/producer. That's right. She got to cover Idaho's Gov. (and team roper) Butch Otter too!

Thanh, an Olympia native, will be a great partner in the opinion section’s efforts to more fully engage readers on important issues with her multimedia approach to probing journalism and extensive experience moderating debates and community discussions.

Thanh was interviewed recently on The Rachel Maddow Show about her story on women going across the Texas border with Mexico in search of drugs they hope can end their pregnancies. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, on the PBS NewsHour and This American Life. She graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in International Relations and Broadcast Journalism.

Email her: ttan@seattletimes.com
Follow her on Twitter: @uscthanhtan