2012 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | |
| Name of Program: | |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | |
|
Short explanation of the story and how it developed: Steve Yankopoulos is not what one could call a silent partner of the Saint John Mill Rats of the National Basketball League of Canada. He is, however, not the most visible. Yankopoulos spends most of his time either in his home region of New England or in a Boston hospital. Randy O’Donnell first became aware of Yankopoulos’ incredible story during a pre-season workout the team co-owner attended. Because of his struggles with cystic fibrosis, Yankopoulos doesn’t stray too often from his homebase near Boston Children’s Hospital, where he receives treatments. He makes it to Saint John about four times a year, so two long interviews and a third phone interview for fact checking, were spread out over the course of two months. O’Donnell is the night news editor at the Telegraph-Journal. All interviews and writing were done on his own time. Also interviewed were fellow co-owners Ian McCarthy and David Cooper along with Dr. Gregory Sawicki, associate director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center in Boston. The story ran to coincide with a guest lecture Yankopoulos was giving as a fundraiser for another cystic fibrosis patient, who was about to lose her home in Saint John. A sidebar piece about that lecture accompanied the longer story on Yankopoulos. The result was a timely and compelling feature on a person determined to make the most of the time given to him and to inspire others to do the same. I urge you to consider “Chasing infinite dreams in finite time” in your Sports Reporting category. |
|
|
Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: |
|