2014 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | Adam Walsh Crooked Contractor |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | June 9,10 2014 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | CBC NL |
| Name of Program: | Here and Now |
| If co-produced, list partner: | Philippe Grenier/ Paul Pickett |
| Location: | St. John's |
| List awards, grants: | N/A |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | 12m56s |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: Philippe and I had heard anecdotal horror stories from the renovation industry in St. John's -- people left with half-completed renovation work done... their money spent. We decided to do a two-pronged investigation under the CBC investigates banner-- one part that showed what was going on with the industry, the other... concrete examples from people who've been left in the lurch. The first: a hidden camera investigation and a test of local contractors. We put hidden cameras in Philippe's basement and had contractors come in to place bids for a small job. We then showed the videos to a former president of the Canadian Home Builders' Association of NL and the current CEO. They gave tips on what to do when hiring a contractor and also what to avoid. They also rated the bids of the contractors who bid on our job and gave a range for what was and was not reasonable, for example asking for large sums of money up front is not ok. The big realization in all this was that unless someone is ready to take a contractor to court, there is no recourse for shoddy/incomplete work in NL. The second part of our investigation led us to finding a notoriously shady contractor in St. John's. We focused on three separate people who had very similar stories of being bilked by the same guy. The worst case was a woman who spent $225,000 on a basement apartment and upstairs renovations that were not complete. That was close to $130,000 over the initial budget. We also found the contractor had switched companies multiple times and had declared bankruptcy. A check with the local Supreme Court turned up documents of a couple suing the contractor for price gouging and incomplete work. After our stories aired. The contractor promised to return and finish the work he didn't complete. We've also been in contact with 15 other people who had similar stories of big bills and bad work. Because Philippe is with Radio-Canada and I am with CBC, this project aired the same night in two languages. One in Newfoundland on Here and Now, the other across NL and the Maritimes on Radio-Canada's Telejournal Acadie. This exercise showed just what both sides of the public broadcaster can do when we work together. Paul Pickett was the producer/editor for all the work. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: Our investigation took months to complete.We started getting things together in December and set up hidden cameras. Philippe had to take time off from his regular filing schedule to arrange meetings with a dozen contractors. We also used investigative unit resources for pulling court documents. I was taken off my regular job as well for days at a time to do research and fact check on stories we were hearing about the industry. Paul Pickett was put solely on editing together the visual components of our stories for close to a week. |
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