2013 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | May 17 / Oct 3 / Nov 13 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | CBC Newfoundland & Labraador |
| Name of Program: | Here and Now |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | 7.12 |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: 1 of 3 Examples - May 17th - Deer Lake Flooding - Deer Lake lies outside my normal coverage area, but with that region's reporter ill, I was called in to cover the threat of rising waters. I hit the road at 6 am for a two hour drive to a town I had never been to, with little background as preparation. Through on-the-ground interviews with residents, the mayor and power utility officials, I got the grasp of the situation while documenting on the fly. In between asking for directions at every turn, and attempting to keep camera equipment from the relentless downpour, I provided live rants for radio news. The road to reach the actual dam was blocked off by the power company. After pleading my case with company officials at the blockage and with their head offices, they let me through for a 20 minute drive on a waterlogged dirt road to get a few minutes of the powerful shots of gushing water. Soaked to the bone, I then drove 30 minutes to our Corner Brook office (another unfamiliar place) to turn around the entire story within one hour to be the lead on that evening's news. 2 of 3 Examples - Oct 3rd - Beothuk Erosion - I uncovered this story while chatting with archeologist friends, who complained of the state of severe erosion at the Beaches site after years of grant slashing. All that's left there is due to the diligence of one archeologist. This story required a lot of research beforehand: the internet, local museum, province's department of heritage, other archeologists and the interviewed archeologist were all sources to understand the context of the importance of this site as well as the history of human settlement in Newfoundland. Then, he and I arranged to head out to the site when weather conditions would hold enough for the half hour motorboat ride to reach it (not including a 2 hour drive to the dock) -- this process actually took more than a month. When we did arrive out there we had the limit of about two hours gathering time due to weather and tides. 3 of 3 Examples - Nov 13th - Dead Whale - I received a text message at 7:30 am from the town manager of Lewisporte, to notify me they were removing a beached whale from theirshores at 9 am. Lewisporte is at least a 45 minute drive away, and I was in my pajamas. A quick call to my assignment editor and a change of clothes and I was off. The whale was quite far offshore, but in shallow water, so i waded out in rubber boots to collect close shots before the removal process began. From there it was a marathon of shooting the event as it unfolded, with little control over the circumstances but a lot of getting in the way, and gathering interviews on the fly while action was happening at every turn. With so much footage after the removal wrapped up around noon, it was a challenging edit but a fun one: I wish every story had the problem of too many amazing shots of a process few people ever get to see. The town was so pleased with the piece that aired, the next day the invited me back to shoot the autopsy of the animal take place. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: |
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