AJAs 2024 Finalists
Student attacked at St. John's high school
| Slug/Label | PWC Attack |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | January 15, 2024; Sept. 3, 2024, Sept. 11, 2024 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | The Telegram/ PNI Atlantic |
| Name of Program: | |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | St. Johns', NL |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | |
|
Short explanation of the story and how it developed: This submission includes three pieces from a series of at least a dozen stories I wrote on a horrific attack at a St. John's high school that shocked, scared and angered the community for more than a year, beginning the day it occurred. The first news story broke as we got word in the newsroom around lunchtime one day in March 2023 that a student of Prince of Wales Collegiate had been swarmed and seriously assaulted outside the school over the lunch hour. One by one over the next few weeks, five teenage males were arrested and charged with attempted murder. It took a year for the matter to make its way through the court, and in 2024, all five pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of aggravated assault. Only one of the accused, Tyler Greening, was old enough for me to legally name in my coverage. He was the last to have his day in court. By that point, I had heard the details of the attack - and seen the CCTV video of the attackers running up to the victim and striking him in the head with a baseball bat and a hatchet - multiple times, though I wasn't able to report on it, due to a publication ban that protected the evidence until Greening's sentencing hearing. It was challenging to report on the case without actually being able to say what the offenders did, and the public wanted these details. Greening addressed the court during his sentencing hearing, and gave detail that most offenders do not, allowing me to give the public some insight into how and why he committed such a heinous crime, on a child, no less. Getting the victim's side of the story was the missing piece in the coverage. I had introduced myself to him and his family in the courtroom at an earlier court proceeding, but didn't want to push them, understanding they wanted privacy until after it was all over. I gave my phone number to a Victim Services representative once Greening's sentencing hearing adjourned, and asked her if she'd mind passing it along. The next day I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize. "Is this Tara?" asked a young male voice. It was the attack victim. "My family and I are interested in talking to you. Can you meet tomorrow night?" I met the boy and his parents after work the next evening, and sat with them for about an hour and a half. I was struck by their fortitude and their resilience, especially that of the boy, who showed me not only the scars on his scalp from the attack, but a tattoo on his arm of a hatchet surrounded by roses; one for each attacker. The tattoo, he said, was to remind him of what he survived. I took a couple days to put the story together (between my regular court beat news coverage), because I wanted to give the provincial government a chance to respond to the family's comments. I also wanted to make sure I did this story - which I had been covering for a year and a half - justice, as it neared the end in court. This wasn't the last piece I wrote on the attack or the calls for change to the justice system as a result, but it was a particularly powerful one for me, and for readers too, it seems: the story was one of the top-read articles on our website for days, and I received several e-mails from readers with positive comments about it. The survivor and his parents declined all other interview requests with other media outlets. For this submission, I have included the text of the stories, as well as screenshots of them on The Telegram/PNI Atlantic website, as proof of publication. |
|
|
Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: I am one of seven reporters at The Telegram. The first two of these stories were completed within my regular daily deadline; the third piece, which incudes an exclusive interview with the attack survivor and his parents, was completed outside my regular work day, separate from my daily justice beat coverage. |
|