AJAs 2024 Finalists
Housing Crisis
| Slug/Label | Nowhere to turn / Raw sewage |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | June 27, 2024 / July 2, 2024 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | CBC Nova Scotia |
| Name of Program: | CBC Nova Scotia News |
| If co-produced, list partner: | NA |
| Location: | Halifax |
| List awards, grants: | NA |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | 2:34 / 2:52 |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: This series of stories is a window into the lives of the most vulnerable tenants in Nova Scotia. Nowhere to Turn started as a daily news file about a woman worried about losing electricity because her landlord didn’t pay the bills, but it soon became clear she, and others, often had no heat and running water as well. Speaking with town officials only led to more questions, and revealed a patchwork of protections for tenants across the province, many of which were failing. From there, Nicola teamed up with producer Angela MacIvor and they called every municipality in Nova Scotia, looking for answers. This culminated in an investigative series that includes the Nowhere to Turn web interactive, TV and radio story, as well as a follow-up piece on a woman living with an active sewage leak in her basement. The team focused on human characters and visited them in their homes to show the heart of the issue and bring the TV audience to the source. The coverage revealed new information to two levels of government, and led at least one municipality to pursue changes to better protect tenants. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: The pair of stories took around four weeks from conception and research to publication/airing. Nicola and Angela worked with video producer Dave Irish on the visuals, the team of three taking three trips to New Glasgow and Pictou to gain the trust of the interviewees, find more people affected and get to the bottom of the central questions. Accountability interviews with government officials were done in between. Nicola met Tricia Gallant in the street after finishing an interview with Ruth Harding, then the second story in the series grew from that interaction." |
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