AJAs 2017 Finalists
Attachments
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| Date Aired or Published | Aug. 1, 2023 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | The Canadian Press |
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| Location: | Halifax |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: Often media obituaries are reserved for the politicians and celebrities deemed to have made a mark on the world. Harold Brine’s claim to fame was that he survived a mining disaster. But when reporter Michael MacDonald got word in May that Brine, the last survivor of the 1958 Springhill disaster, was near death, he recognized a chance to tell a story from a time that was fast fading into history. He contacted Brine’s family, and was able to conduct an interview with him from his room in palliative care in New Brunswick. When Brine died in July at the age of 91, MacDonald had the material for a gripping story of survival, of men thinking of their loved ones as they spent days trapped underground, so dehydrated they drank their urine and peeled bark from timbers in search of moisture. Brine’s was a life worth celebrating, and with his eye for detail and ear for the right quote, MacDonald’s story did the man justice. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: The Canadian Press Halifax bureau has four reporters who, with two colleagues in Fredericton and St. John's, are responsible for covering the Atlantic region for clients across the country. MacDonald prepared this feature while juggling other reporting and editing duties. |
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