2015 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | Glyphosate Sprayings |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | July 21, July 22, Aug |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | CBC New Brunswick |
| Name of Program: | CBC News: New Brunswick at 6:00 |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | Wirral, NB. Hoyt, NB, Fredericton, NB |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | 2:29, 2:12, 2:13 |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: The submitted television articles are just three of several we ran during our extensive and original investigation into glyphosate spraying in rural New Brunswick. These three focus on a storyline involving the impact of the sprays on a pair of residents personally impacted by glyphosate and tell a story within a story. The series of events following our initial story into concerns of herbicide spraying turned our original investigation into daily news coverage. The result was a series of apologies from the New Brunswick power company, NB Power, and several changes in how sprays are administered in province. A new warning system designed to give better awareness to residents about when and where spraying takes place was also promised as a result of our coverage. Today, as a result of these stories being told, the dialogue about herbicide and defoliant spraying in the province continues to mature. It is a story that is far from over, and something we continue to cover far beyond the original investigation we did last summer on the glyphosate sprayings. ------------------------------------------ While working on an unrelated story in Hoyt, New Brunswick a resident approached me about their concern about what had been sprayed on power transmission lines in their nearby community. This led us to a remote area completely devoid of plant life in the middle of a very green forest. The spray used was very effective left an alarming scene, and had residents worried. In the days to come I spent time talking with the NB Power company, Wirral residents and going through permits and policies concerning spraying in New Brunswick. We learned that the area in question had been sprayed a year prior, in the fall, and was only now alarming locals due to the blackened patch and complete lack plant growth. We decided do the story for television, radio and digital. NB Power would not comment beyond saying that everything they were doing was done according to provincial rules. We spent a day in the woods and on the transmission line for the initial story, which is located close to an hours drive from our CBC station. We also knocked on doors to speak with locals about what they thought of the defoliants. Among them was Cheryl and Wayne Webb. The Webbs would become central characters in the unfolding story we were telling about the spraying of glyphosate in rural New Brunswick. We would go on to cover protests and angry meetings with MLAs about the sprays, but the Webbs would remain central due to the fact that by chance we would interview them before and after glyphosate would be sprayed next to their home. The day after we interviewed Cheryl Webb on how she felt about the defoliant a NB Power crew sprayed glyphosate on a transmission line a stones throw away from their home. According to the Webbs spray was carried by the early morning breeze into their open bedroom window while they slept. This spurred an encounter between them and the NB Power spray crew. It led to the first television article I have included for this submission. The following day NB Power admitted that there had been an incident involving its spraying and spray crew in Wirral. Despite their original refusal to speak with us about the sprays beyond stating they were following regulations the company admitted that their warning system and spraying practices could be better. They promised changes to the Webbs and the community at large. That did little to quell the outrage. That is the basis of the second article I have included for submission. The final television piece include details just one of the apologies NB Power would issue about the sprays. It also details some of the changes NB Power promised to implement with its spray program, as well as their warning system to residents in the future. While some we spoke too appreciated the changes, others, such as the Webbs have promised to continue fighting for nothing less than an end to glyphosate spraying in New Brunswick. It is my belief that unless we had told these stories during this investigation changes to public warning about the sprays and the distance between spray zones and residences would have ever have been implemented. In addition, due to the feedback we got from other residents on these stories, we would go on to investigate potential violations in the spray applications as well as submitted samples of plant material to a laboratory for analysis of the sprayed materials to verify its chemical makeup. An additional apology by the power company would also be issued by another spokesperson in the days that followed the broadcast of these submitted articles concerning the advice of NB Power employees to consume berries sprayed with glyphosate after a 24-hour period. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: Each story filed in this submission was shot, written, and broadcast as per daily television deadlines. The remote location provided a challenge, it was located an hours drive away from the station and as the story developed most of the editing, writing and research was done on the road travelling to and from the spraying sites in Wirral to make the daily deadline. There was overtime incurred during the telling of these stories due to research needing to be done into the policies, history and chemistry of the herbicides in question. |
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