2015 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | August 5, 2015 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | The Telegram |
| Name of Program: | |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | St. John's |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | |
|
Short explanation of the story and how it developed: Dear judges, This was not an assignment passed on by an editor. Rather I got the story only because of the trust I built up with a source over the years, who phoned me about it. However, the thing is, my source made it clear the man who fell in the hole was absolute in his resolve that he would not talk to a reporter about it as he has a severe speech impediment. My source told me that his sister might speak to me. I phoned her and she, right off the bat, expressed an interest in going to one of the local TV stations, NTV or CBC, particularly NTV as her longtime neighbour is an anchorwoman there. I convinced her to leave it with me and also got her to let me meet her brother. I was able because of my unique people skills to put him at ease enough to talk about the story with me. The result is not only did The Telegram get a fantastic story, but I won over both the man and his sister after they read the compelling story I wrote. I had to turn it around on a very tight deadline as our publication was afraid that someone else might hear about it so produced it for next day. I received many comments from people about how they felt they were right there in the hole with the man by reading the story. It went viral as well on social media and our website. Thank you for your consideration. Obviously, there were news followups to update the story. |
|