AJAs 2017 Finalists
Attachments
| Slug/Label | Missing Art |
|---|---|
| Date Aired or Published | June 11, 2024 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | CBC |
| Name of Program: | |
| If co-produced, list partner: | |
| Location: | St. John's |
| List awards, grants: | |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: This story took several weeks to come together as several factors had to be navigated to tell the full story, as well as my other responsibilities as a daily news reporter. It started off through a social media post by Carbonear-based artist Michelle Penney Rowe, who explained her artwork had been on display at the Doctor’s House Inn on consignment, but when the owner Jerry Byrne unexpectedly closed the inn, she wasn’t able to reach Byrne or get her art back. I reached out to her but she declined an interview. However, artist Wayne Maloney had responded to Penney Rowe’s post and he said he was in the same spot. I contacted him and he agreed to an interview. A cameraman and myself drove to Maloney’s Bay Bulls home. From there, we went to Green’s Harbour to see the now-abandoned inn and the state it was in. We spent several hours looking at the grounds of the abandoned inn and the state it was left in. Soon after I interviewed Maloney, Penney Rowe reached out and said she would speak, so I arranged a trip to her Carbonear studio. It took time to piece together what had happened to the Doctor’s House Inn, as well as making several attempts to speak with the inn owner. Though Byrne never contacted me directly, after the interviews I did with Maloney and Penney Rowe, he did reach out to the artists to say he had found their art in a Halifax storage container. The artists were also eventually reunited with some of their art pieces. Both Penney Rowe and Maloney spoke about just wanting their art work back and I helped that happen. This story is about artists, who are also entrepreneurs, that entered into a business arrangement with a well-respected businessman only to have that trust broken. This story was also about gaining trust. Initially, Penney Rowe did not want to go to the news with her missing art but Maloney spoke with her after our interview, and his experience with me helped convince her to speak out. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: In total I was given five days, over the span of three weeks, to put this story together. From researching the financial situation and history of the Doctor’s House Inn, which started as a private home for a doctor and his family, and its purchase and transformation into an inn by engineer and entrepreneur Jerry Byrne. It also meant driving to in-person interviews in locations across the Avalon Peninsula, from Maloney’s Bay Bulls home to the inn in Green’s harbour, approximately 100 kilometers away. Myself and a cameraman (as this was also a piece that aired on Here & Now besides a digital article) spent an entire day on the road and drove more than 200 kilometres. On another day, myself and a videographer drove 111 kilometres to interview Penney Rowe at her Carbonear studio. In total, we drove more than 400 kilometres to get this story. |
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