MEDIATHE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS • FALL 2012 • VOLUME 15, NUMBER TWO

MEDIA FALL 2012 • VOLUME 15, NUMBER TWO A PUBLICATION OF THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS

EDITOR LEGAL ADVISOR ART DIRECTION and DESIGN David McKie Peter Jacobsen, Bersenas David McKie Jacobsen Chouest Thomson Blackburn LL P CONTRIBUTORS EDIOTORIAL BOARD COLUMNISTS: Don Gibb, Stuart Thomson, Fred Vallance-Jones, Chris Cobb ADVERTISING SALES Glen McGregor, Kelly Toughill, Lucas Timmons, Stuart A. Thom- Catherine Ford David McKie son, Stanley Tromp, Stephen J.A. Ward, AWARD WINNERS: Michelle MacAfee 1-613-290-7380 Steve Buist , Alison Crawford , Andrew McIntosh, Andrew Lindsay Crysler Stobo Sniderman, Charles Rusnell, Ken Jackson, Natalie Clancy, John Gushue Rachel Mendleson, Selena Ross, Timothy Sawa, Steve Russell, Rob Cribb Grant Robertson, Ros Guggi, Shawn Jeffords, Rich Lam, Susan Rob Washburn Clairmont, Susan Pigg, Lindsay Kines

COVER PHOTO: FORCED OUT: Jenny Hile (left), 19 was forced to move from her mother, Wendy Massine’s, home because budget problems at Commmunity Living B.C. Jenny’s plight was featured in Lindsay Kines’ stories in Victoria’s Times Colonist about reduced support for people with developmental disabilities. Lindsay won the 2011 for his reporting. FORCED OUT PHOTO/CREDIT: ADRIAN LAM/TIMES COLONIST PHOTO AT TOP OF PAGE: FIGHTING TO LIVE: Born after just 26 weeks, Ella Carniello needs help to breathe in McMaster Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. Ella’s story was part of The Hamilton Spectator’s Born project, which showed links between poverty Jenny Hile (left), 19 was forced to move from her mother, Wendy Massine’s, home and the health of babies. Born earned Steve Buist and his team the CAJ’s overall 2011 award, the second year in a row he has won the top prize. because budget problems at Commmunity Living B.C. PHOTO/CREDIT: Cathie Coward/The Hamilton Spectator

MEDIA is published four times a year by the Canadian Association of Journalists. It is managed and edited independently of the CAJ by Lindsay Kines and its content does not necessarily reflect the views of the association. 2 MEDIA FALL 2012 • VOLUME 15, NUMBER TWO FALL 2012 • VOLUME 15, NUMBER TWO http://www.caj.ca/?p=391 http://www.caj.ca/?p=391

29 OPEN TELEVISION (LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES) - APTN National News - The Carson Affair - Ken Jackson explains how he used his sex-trade industry contacts to tell a story about Bruce Carson, a former top advisor to MEDIA Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that still has buzzing. Table of contents 33 SCOOP - CBC - When former RCMP officer Catherine Galliford went public with her sexual ha- COLUMNS rassment claims, the floodgates opened. By Natalie Clancy

6 First word By David McKie - Celebrating award-winners. 35 CWA /CAJ LABOUR REPORTING - Huffington Post Canada - Income inequality and the decline of unions - Former auto sector workers will find it difficult -- if not impossible -- to find similar, well-paying, union- 7 Writer’s toolbox By Don Gibb - Avoid ugly leads. ized jobs. By Rachel Mendleson

11 The back story By Stuart Thomson - Racing to publish the facts of an early-morning shooting. 37 MAGAZINE - Maisonneuve Magazine - ’s snow-removal and ploughing business is dirty and cor- rupt and full of people too scared to go public. By Selena Ross 13 Negotiating for dataBy Glen McGregor - It’s easier than you think.

15 Data Journalism By Fred Vallance-Jones- The CAJ’s computer-assisted reporting award needs a makeover. 39 OPEN TELEVISION (GREATER THAN FIVE MINUTES) - CBC/the fifth estate - Scout’s Honour - Details about years of sexual abuse within Scouts Canada were buried in a “confidential list.” By Timothy Sawa 57 Behind the numbers By Kelly Toughill - Newsrooms are shrinking, but the number of journalism jobs is not. 41 PHOTOJOURNALISM - Portfolio entry - The - Steve Russell 59 Mapping By Stuart A. Thomson - A step-by-step guide to using Google’s Fusion Tables.

61 Net tipsBy Lucas Timmons - Fusion Tables help to tell great stories. 2012 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER AWARD WINNERS

63 Access to informationBy Stanley Tromp - Open data policies may impede freer access to information 43 EXPLANATORY WORK - - The story behind Canada’s currency overhaul - Grant Robertson explains how an RCMP raid that never made the headlines forced the 65 Ethics By Stephan J.A. Ward - In praise of impartiality. Bank of Canada to switch from paper to plastic money. 2012 CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISM AWARD WINNERS 45 SPECIAL PROJECT - The Province - BOOMERANGST - With senior care becoming a more pressing concern, 17 OPEN NEWSPAPER AND THE DON MCGILLIVRAY OVERALL WINNER - The Hamilton Spectator - For the sec- The Province began asking questions and looking for answers. The 14-part series engaged readers, forcing B.C.’s ond year in a row, Steve Buist used statistics to draw disturbing connections between poverty and health. government to find solutions. By Ros Guggi

19 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTING - CBC Radio One/Dispatches - The eyes of Rosa and Antonio - Alison Crawford 47 LOCAL REPORTING - Sarnia Observer - HOOKED - With the help of a determined single mother willing to saw it with her own eyes: Antonio Savone and Rosa Gomez’s emotional embrace just before the final stage in share her story, Shawn Jeffords had the central character for his three-part series about a problem few resi- their 35-year quest for justice in Argentina. dents in Sarnia even knew existed.

21 CAJ/MARKETWIRE COMPUTER-ASSSITED REPORTING (CAR) - QMI Agency - On mange bien à Terrebonne 49 NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY - Getty Images -- A photo of a couple kissing during the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots – Eating Well in Terrebonne -Andrew McIntosh and Kinia Adamczyk - Top city managers in the Quebec munici- - At first the picture earned praise, then some suspicion it was fake. By Rich Lam pality of Terrebonne splurged on clothes, restaurants and other perks. By Andrew Mcintosh 51 COLUMNS - Hamilton Spectator - A Cop in Crisis - Susan Clairmont recounts why a police officer’s wife 23 PRINT FEATURE - - Andrew Stobo Sniderman witnessed the pain of peoples opened up to her -- five years after constable Roy Jones killed himself. who testified about their time in Canada’s residential schools. 53 BEAT REPORTING - The Toronto Star - Stories on ageing - Susan Pigg introduced readers to memorable char- 25 OPEN RADIO NEWS/CURRENT AFFAIRS - CBC Edmonton - Crown Conduct - An Crown prosecutor acters of indomitable spirit. misled the court about the extent of a Mountie’s assault on a prisoner. By Charles Rusnell THE 2012 MICHENER AWARD WINNER 27 REGIONAL TELEVISION - CBC Edmonton -- Porkbarrel politics - For years, Alberta’s ruling Conservative party had been collecting illegal political donations. By Charles Rusnell 55 FORCED MOVE: Times Colonist reporter Lindsay Kines recounts how his stories about mentally disabled adults moved from their group homes forced the province to change its policy. 3 MEDIA FALL 2012 4 FIRST WORD Celebrating this past year’s award winners THE ATKINSON FELLOWSHIP By David McKie

step down. to tell a compelling story of survival, IN PUBLIC POLICY In all the award categories, there were justice and hope. also finalists. And although their write-ups The challenge of pitching and telling are not featured in this edition, it’s worth the investigative, enterprise or explana- taking a moment to salute their fine work tory story will always remain and even he link between poverty and mater- and continue to find original stories worth intensify, despite what news managers say Tnal health; the RCMP counterfeit telling. about being committed to original content. raid that forced the Bank of Canada to Increasingly, many of the stories of The reporter who accomplished an Deadline for applications: change the material used to make bank the finalists and award-winners went impressive juggling act has moved on to a notes; disabled people in B.C. forced out beyond their natural medium, expanding larger paper with even more demands; the January 18, 2013 of their group homes. to the Internet and using the advantages reporter who assembled the business plan Founded in 1988, this prestigious These were among the 2012 award- of cyberspace to encourage people to get aired her story on a CBC program that was winning stories that graced the pages of involved. a victim of budget cuts and is no longer on The Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy fellowship promotes liberal journalism newspapers, enriched our airwaves and The online world continues to shape the air. cyberspace. and change the way we do journalism and After reading the accounts of these two is an award for a Canadian journalist to and the progressive values espoused by Without a doubt, this is my favourite this will become a more pressing reality journalists and all other award-winners, edition of Media. It’s an inspiration and as publications like Newsweek go totally and talking to them about their stories, undertake a year-long research project Joseph E. Atkinson, former publisher of a joy to assemble, as the award-winners online, and newspapers like The Globe it’s hard to believe that they will suddenly explained how they told the stories and and Mail and The New York Times create abandon their struggle for excellence and on a public policy issue related to social The Toronto Star. It culminates in the offered tips to journalists trying to do firewalls that force people to pay for web originality. That’s the good news. similar work. content. In addition to these stories, we also have and economic justice. publication of a series of articles in The But unlike past editions, we’ve gone Media made the switch to online a few our slate of columnists, and one new addi- Star, which the journalist may later one step further, partially, in an effort to years back, allowing for a richer variety of tion to the mix: The Globe and Mail’s Stu- underscore the Canadian Association of interactive content. art A. Thomson, not to be confused with develop into a book or documentary. Journalists increasingly close relationship I predict that online, with its ability to the ’s Stuart Thomson, with the National Newspaper Association. get people involved and the proliferation whose work is also featured in this edition. The CAJ has held joint conferences of data visualization tools, will play a Stuart A. works for the Globe’s online The Fellow is paid a stipend of $75,000 with the association and plans to do so more vital role in investigations. service, and will share his expertise in again in 2013 in Ottawa. In light of this The new reality of shrinking newsrooms mapping and data visualization, areas that and up to $25,000 for research expenses new reality, it only made sense that we with less money to spend, makes doing are becoming increasingly important as include the write-ups of the NNA winners original work much harder. governments at all levels continue to post for the period of one year beginning in this edition. As well, I have to declare Pitching stories that strive to rise above data online. His tutorial will walk you a bias: I was a judge in the columns cat- the sound bites, choreographed outrage through using Google’s Fusion Tables, a September 1, 2013. egory, and was blown away by the quality and staged events that comprise far too great tool that helps readers see the story of the submissions. That exposure also much of content these days, can be a or trend, and then interact with it. helped inform my decision to expand this tougher sell because of the requirements of With these columns, complete with edition of Media. time, money, and the uncertainty that the easy-to-follow tutorials, we also strive For good measure, I have also added end result will deliver as advertised. to make the magazine the go-to place for Michener Award winner Lindsay Kines to Assignment editors know that some learning new skills in a fast-changing the mix. After being a nominee for past ef- sort of story will emerge from that news media environment. forts such as his coverage of B.C.’s miss- conference discussed during the morning To date, this is the largest and most ing women’s story, Lindsay finally won story meeting. The same can’t be said for ambitious edition of Media magazine. an award whose most significant require- the enterprise or investigative idea. I’m confident that you’ll find the content, ment is that the story lead to change. In You’ll learn how at least one reporter inspirational, informative and relevant. the case of the displaced disabled people I had to juggle his investigative work with And as usual if you want to get a hold For more information about the mentioned in the lead sentence, Lindsay’s regular assignments. In another instance, a of me to suggest topics we should be award and how to apply, visit: atkinsonfoundation.ca/fellowship stories with Victoria’s Times Colonist reporter put together a money-saving busi- pursuing, please feel free to contact me at forced the province to make changes, and ness plan that allowed her to travel abroad [email protected] the minister responsible for that file to

5 MEDIA WINTER 2013 6 fied to tell readers what John does. hotdog stand lead. It tells readers nothing $729.8 million a year earlier. Numbers A mob of high school teachers about the story. – they sneak up on you. Before you know Writer’s Toolbox stormed the board of education offices Seven stores on Main Street were it, they take control and leave the reader last night demanding action on contract completely destroyed in a blaze over the dizzy. Be brutal. Tell yourself no more negotiations. Watch out for loaded lan- weekend. “Completely” is redundant. than two numbers per sentence. Fifty-two ugly leads guage. In this case, “mob” and “stormed.” The Canadian Oxford Dictionary It’s deja vu all over again. It might The teachers were noisy, but there was defines the word ugly as “unpleasing or have been cute or even clever the first no indication they stormed the office as a repulsive to see or hear.” Some leads fit time, but it should be put to rest. The first sentence is prime real estate, so don`t waste it mob. Take time to pick the precise words. this description. Booooring, especially if A family narrowly escaped their The auditor general’s report offered the word is self-explanatory. burning townhouse in a spectacular government officials some good news The weekend jazz festival attracted its fire that lit up the sky last night. Like By Don Gibb and some bad news. Ah, the old good largest crowd ever and had something “horrific”, “spectacular” can be used to news/bad news. It’s been around for years, for everyone. The writer makes no effort describe every fire. Delete it. so if it was good enough for the old-tim- to find something specific to say about the Jessica Parker has invested in RRSPs ome days they come easy, some As Patti Tasko, of , and that will result in the chopping ers, it’s good enough for … Nah. festival besides the trite (and easy) “some- for 15 years. This year, she’ll make an- Sdays they don’t. And some days they once said or said more than once, the of bus routes,” said the transit chair- You wake up groggy. You stagger thing for everyone.” other $2,000 contribution to a portfolio are just plain ugly. victims in such stories were actually pretty man. This is often referred to as an “echo out of bed and head to the fridge. You JULY that now tops $40,000. Since the beginning of time, it has been unlucky. quote.” The writer uses a quote to repeat grab a glass of milk. Then you wonder Many doctors believe the provincial Parker is among three million Ca- drummed into every aspiring reporter that The immediate past president of the what the lead already says. No need to why you are so tired. You probably have government’s legislation on access to nadians who will purchase RRSPs this you’ve got to hook ‘em – readers, that is ad hoc committee to review municipal say it twice. And while you’re at it, why sleep apnea. Or maybe you just partied health care should be revamped … The year. (See #9). This is the other common -- with your lead. If not, the consequences spending is concerned that local politi- not simply tell readers they’ll have to wait too much the night before. It could be any- word “many” is overused. Don’t use the lead-in to the rest of the story – another- are dire. cians will boycott committee hearings. It longer for the bus? thing, so don’t assume all of your readers word unless you have interviewed lots of weak transition. As with #9, find a more Just ask William Zinsser, author of the is 13 words before we reach what the lead When Tony Nusca purchased his have sleep apnea. doctors rather than the usual two or three. creative way to move the story forward. best-selling On Writing Well: “The most is about. Long titles have no place in the first house, he never dreamed it would MAY A 35-year-old man armed with only Imagine you are on a Caribbean important sentence in any article is the lead. Shorten them. Provide the full title become a gourmet meal for termites. Of Prime Minister Stephen Harper had a screwdriver was shot and killed by cruise. Imagine you are off the ship tak- first one. If it doesn’t induce the reader later. course he never dreamed it. nothing to say last night about the latest police during an attempted breakin ing a tour of a coffee plantation. Imag- to proceed to the second sentence, your It’s every parent’s worst nightmare – MARCH controversy to involve one of his cabinet … Watch your choice of words. Every ine that you return late and miss the article is dead.” the colicky baby. These words have been Jessica Parker has invested in RRSPs ministers. Why should readers continue? word counts. The word “only” leaves the ship. Let’s not force readers to imagine No room for error. Wow. debased and devalued because they have for 15 years. This year, she’ll make an- Craft a lead that “says something.” impression the cop used too much force. things. Just tell them what happened. It’s Zinsser has friends, too. Rene Cappon, been used to describe too many “night- other $2,000 contribution to a portfolio They ran, jogged, walked, biked and Maybe, maybe not, but someone else will probably an exciting enough story without author of another excellent book on writ- mares”. that now tops $40,000. pushed kids in carriages during the fifth make that determination. the imaginary build-up. ing, The Word, says: “Every story must The federal budget was greeted with She is not alone. It has become the annual walkathon to raise money for … After three bruising contests that each SEPTEMBER have a beginning. A lead. Incubating a mixed reaction by education, labour, cliché transition to the body of these types Again, a writer who has nothing spe- produced different winners, the Repub- It’s everybody’s hospital nightmare – lead is a cause of great agony. Why is no and health officials. Most everything you of stories. Find a more creative entry into cific with which to open the story, so she lican nominating contest has moved to waking up on the operating table with mystery. Based on the lead, a reader makes cover receives “mixed reaction.” It, too, the story. If she was alone, you’d have a throws a list together. It’s a standard weak a state that is much more like the rest of the surgeon’s scalpel cutting into you. a critical decision: ‘Shall I go on?’ ” is an overused generalization – a catch-all great story. lead on such annual stories. America in its diversity, multiplicity of OK, maybe you think I’m overdoing the Now that’s pressure. However, a reli- lead used by reporters reluctant to focus “Absolutely awful.” A five-year-old girl was killed in a media markets and its voter base, which worst nightmare leads. Nonetheless, I re- ance on the cliché, the trite, the hack- on one specific element. “Dreadful.” horrific crash Saturday night … The is less likely to be swayed by the family sent the presumption that this is my worst neyed, or the warmed-over lead means FEBRUARY “Gross.” overused “horrific” simply means horrify- values issues that played a dominant hospital nightmare. the writer has surrendered without a fight. She leaned back in her plush leather That’s what people had to say about ing. It adds nothing substantive. role in prior contests in Iowa and South This community is in shock today Dull leads are dull, whatever device is chair and sighed. Is this the most impor- … The moment you open with quotes, A five-year-old girl was killed in a Carolina. Are you out of breath yet? This after the brutal murder of a family of used, said Paula LaRocque, a former writ- tant thing you can write about your sub- there’s really no way out except to say tragic car accident Saturday night … lead is 64 words long. Consider periods four on a quiet, tree-lined street. Com- ing coach in Dallas. ject? She actually leaned back in a chair. A “that’s what people say” or some similar- Just as “horrific” is overused, so is “trag- to be among your best friends. Use them. munities are always in shock and murders This column offers up 52 ugly leads – “plush leather” chair (just to add colour). phrase. Most quotes work best in context. ic.” Ask yourself, what made this accident Break this lead into two sentences so read- are always brutal. And if it’s not a quiet one for every week of the year. They are Tell readers something that makes your City council met last night to discuss different from any other accident? ers can more easily digest the content. street, it’s a tony or upscale neighbour- based on real leads. And just to be clear: subject interesting or different to entice environmental issues affecting the com- Garbage. During Reading Week, most universi- hood. Cliché, cliché, cliché. I once read I’ve written my share of ugly leads. My them to read on. munity. Tell readers what council specifi- Agricultural specialists at the Univer- ty students ditch the books in favour of a lead in which a man was struck by an goal is simply to write fewer. Joseph Jones went to work as a cally discussed. sity of Guelph are experimenting with heading south for some sun and fun. It’s impaired driver as he walked along “a Fight the urge to write leads that are bricklayer today – and came home a It’s the worst nightmare of parents growing vegetables on top of a garbage “most” that causes concern. Avoid such quiet sidewalk.” Hmm. too wordy, too bureaucratic, too complex, hero. The word “hero” is overused – and whose kids ski. Yet another parent’s worst dump. One-word leads don’t work if they fuzzy generalizations unless you have the It has been two weeks since teach- too predictable, too clever, too vague, and too often a conclusion reached only by the nightmare lead just to show how ridicu- don’t segue smoothly into the next sen- numbers to back it up. ers began their work-to-rule campaign too repetitive. And beware of leads that reporter. Leave it to others to call people lous they can get. My “nightmare” collec- tence. That’s why they often get chopped AUGUST …The length of the campaign can’t be contain too much attribution, too much heroes. tion exceeds 200. and sentence #2 because the lead. A T & T reported net income of $75.4 the most important element. Tell readers clutter, and too many ideas jockeying for The local transit commission took APRIL JUNE million ($1.59 per common share) for what’s new. the reader’s attention. That’s not asking an axe to its services today in what will John starts his day like most other It is about 3 a.m. on a mild Sunday in the first nine months of 2011, down A $10-million, full-service hotel, com- too much! result in the outright chopping of bus people do. He wakes up early, travels to April. A court justice once said your open- from $107.8 million ($1.89 per common plete with convention and recreational JANUARY routes and other substantial changes, work at a private law firm and puts in ing paragraph is prime real estate, so “why share) for the first nine months of 2010, facilities and a first-class restaurant, A six-year-old boy is lucky to be alive including longer waits for buses. his eight hours. I hate references to “most would you put a hotdog stand there?” with consolidated revenues to Sept. 30 won’t be built if city council allows a after he fell down a four-metre hole … “We’ll have to take an axe to services other people.” Don’t generalize. Be satis- Beginning with the time, day or month is a totalling $608.4 million compared to $3-million motel to be constructed in the 7 MEDIA FALL 2012 8 Fight the urge to write leads that are too wordy, too bureaucratic, too complex, too predictable, too clever, too vague, and too repetitive.

same area, a local businessman warned. The provincial health minister met always been puzzled by its use in both Too much secondary detail. It takes too with a group of concerned citizens in positive and negative stories. long to get to the point that it “won’t be Jasper Falls on Monday. Surely some- DECEMBER built.” Call it a major convention hotel thing happened beyond the fact a meeting Christmas comes but once a year … in your lead and provide the finer details was held. (See #44 and #45.) And if it’s not “once a later. Rain failed to dampen the spirits of year”, then it’s “just around the corner”. OCTOBER those attending the 125th edition of the Don’t state the obvious. With colourful costumes, lively steel- Clapperton Fall Fair. This lead is as old The jolly fat man in the white beard drum music, and lots of ethnic foods, as the fair itself. Look for an interesting will bring his reindeer to town on Satur- the annual Caribbean Parade did not angle. day afternoon. This hackneyed lead or a disappoint in any category. Yet another NOVEMBER close facsimile has been used and abused a example of a cliché, banal lead where a There is much to be thankful for this thousand times. writer prefers the general “did not disap- Thanksgiving. Put such obvious and drab Christmas came early this year for a point” over offering something specific. “holiday” leads to rest. Now that’s some- family who lost everything in a weekend There was no official word today on thing I’d be thankful for. fire … Another old chestnut that won’t die whether striking postal workers would Halloween is a time for trick or treat- of natural causes. return to their jobs next week. Ranks ing ghosts and goblins. (See #44.) Jubilant partygoers crowded into up there with the had-nothing-to-say lead. It was the best of times, it was the Times Square to ring in the new year. Why read on? worst of times. Charles Dickens got there Make a New Year’s resolution never to Citing unhappiness with the govern- first. Let it go. use it. ment on issues ranging from same-sex How would you like to inherit $10 Don Gibb was a reporter and city editor marriage and foreign policy to its million? The answer is pretty obvious at from 1968-88. handling of deficit budgets, veteran MP which means the question is pretty routine He taught reporting at Ryerson’s School of Paul Schmuck quit the party yesterday and, frankly, not worth asking. Just tell the Journalism from 1988 until his retirement and will sit as an independent begin- story without being coy about it. in 2008. ning today. So much time, so many words Municipal taxes will increase by more Well, he’s not completely retired. Don spent backing into the lead. The man than seven per cent this year, thanks teaches journalism at the Munk School “quit” (25 words into the lead). That’s the to politicians stuck with a ballooning of Global Affairs. He can be reached at story. Save the background for later. deficit. Is this a sarcastic “thanks to”? I’ve [email protected]

Visit online for details about how to apply and enter. michenerawards.ca

FALL 2012 10 The back story Reporting on the web and social media may speed everything up, but we still need the same judgment and attention to detail that have Using social media to break stories always been prerequisites for newspaper reporting.

Publishing information about an Edmonton shooting STAND BACK: A police officer stands watch outside the was a balance of speed, accuracy and judgment ’s HUB Mall and Residence on June 15, 2012, the site of a triple shooting murder where four armoured vehicle security employees were gunned down in an early-morning armed robbery.

By Stuart Thomson PHOTO CREDIT: Larry Wong/Edmonton Journal

he evening of June 14 wrapped up David Johnston was running the Twitter As Yogaretnam, Ibrahim, MacKinon Tlike any other shift. The Edmonton account. and I filed new quotes and context from Journal’s cop reporter, Mariam Ibrahim, The deadline for the newspaper had students, Timmons shaped the raw materi- and I left the building at midnight after an just passed and we knew instinctively al into a more detailed news story. We had uneventful night in the city. that social media was going to be a huge three people in the office with the spare An hour later, rumours started popping part of how we covered this story. We had person copy editing before each increment up on Twitter about a shooting. I had un- no concern for print deadlines or word was published online. plugged for the evening and it took about counts. It might have provided a glimpse 45 minutes before I realized something at the future of news. What to do? awful had happened. From the phone interviews with stu- Midway through the night, we had Lucas Timmons, the Journal’s data dents, we knew that many of them were our second ethical quandary. Early on, a journalist and unabashed night owl, spot- scared (some were in lockdown in the police watch commander had told us the ted the rumours immediately and called basement of the HUB Mall) and that all of victims were employees of an armoured Ibrahim for confirmation. By 1:20 a.m., them were relying on the Journal for the car security company. This was important the Journal had confirmed the shooting latest news. information and we kept it fairly high up via social media and a breaking news alert The story broke on Twitter, like just in the story. was quickly posted on the website. about every story these days, and Ibrahim Later on, a police spokesman called Three security guards were dead, an- continued to use her Twitter account to and demanded that we remove that fact other was wounded and the suspect was publish updates. Timmons created a Sto- from the story. The police were still in the on the loose. The shooting had happened rify -- a curated selection of Tweets -- that process of contacting the victims’ fami- police. We removed the reference until they were refreshing the Journal website Stuart Thomson is a website producer at at the HUB Mall, a large student residence we posted to the website, giving readers a lies and they didn’t want information that about half an hour later when the univer- and monitoring our Twitter feed for news. the Edmonton Journal. on the University of Alberta campus. mix of student reaction and official com- could identify them on our website. sity confirmed it independently. When a competitor published false in- I contacted a student who was posting ment on the story. It was a tough call. The alleged killer By the time the bosses arrived, we had a formation, I had an awful, sinking feeling Links to Edmonton Journal stories on Twitter about the shooting and did a All of us learned about ethics in journal- was still on the loose and students, having lengthy story online, a second story filled that maybe we got something wrong. We about the shooting: quick phone interview about student reac- ism school, but these situations have a seen enough school shootings in the news, with student reaction, a map of where the doubled-checked everything, called of- tion at the university. I emailed my quotes habit of sneaking up on you in the real were worried that he could still be a threat. shooting happened, a Storify that collected ficial sources and reassured ourselves that http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/ to Timmons and headed into the office. world. The average age at the paper’s cop If students knew the motive was most web reaction and a photo gallery of Jack- we had the facts straight. played+Timeline+shooting/6789653/story. Journal intern Shaamini Yogaretnam desk is 27-years-old and Timmons, with likely robbery, that knowledge might allay son’s shots from the scene. The double-edged social media sword html -- another night owl who was struggling two years at the Journal under his belt, is a lot of fears. As I was heading home at around 7:30 means that news organizations can get to sleep that night -- was hard at work at the grizzled veteran of the group. We were equally concerned about the a.m., the newsroom was filling up with information out quickly, but it means that http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/ the cop desk when I got in. Timmons was Rumours were floating around on Twit- victims’ families. Nobody wants to be reporters and editors who all seemed un- false information also flashes out like shooting+wanted+triple+murders+wrote+ coordinating the coverage, taking direction ter, so we had to be very careful about responsible for heaping more misery ruffled by their early wake-up call. I took lightning. We double-checked every tweet about+making+news/6791185/story.html over the phone from the Journal’s digital what we published. For more than an hour, on people who are dealing with such a some time to marvel at the professionalism and we carefully copy-edited every sen- editor Kerry Powell. another media outlet got the number of tragedy. of my colleagues before crawling into bed tence that appeared online, while keeping Ibrahim was on the scene with photog- victims wrong. Of course, this kind of decision was for a few hours sleep. up with a fast-moving story. rapher Ryan Jackson, working through Even with the need to be careful, imme- above our pay grade. Powell called Reporting on the web and social media the night. Veteran sports columnist John diacy was still the key. The story, initially managing editor Stephanie Coombs, who Lessons learned may speed everything up, but we still need MacKinnon, who just happened to be published as a breaking, two-paragraph quickly joined us in the office. The more I spoke to students, the more the same judgment and attention to detail nearby, provided more colour from stu- news alert, kept growing throughout the Coombs, I think wisely, decided that I became aware of the huge responsibility that have always been prerequisites for dents. The Journal’s social media maestro night. this wasn’t a battle worth fighting with the on my shoulders. People I spoke to said newspaper reporting.

11 MEDIA FALL 2012 12 Data journalism YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO THE DATA: The delicate art of negotiating for data At The , we spent It’s easier than you think four years fighting Health Canada for a copy of the database that contains By Glen McGregor applications for the federal medical marijuana program. delimited ASCII text file, stored on USB The information technology people will thumb drive or CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.” also help you overcome another common f you’ve ever called the city to Once you’ve filed your request and sent hurdle in data requests -- privacy con- Icomplain about barking dogs or early in the fee, $5 in most jurisdictions, you’ll cerns. morning jackhammers outside your win- have to wait for response, which, more Most databases contain sensitive per- dow, you’ve created electronic data. often than not, will be a polite “No.” sonal information, such as the names and If you’ve applied for a marriage licence, Thus begins your negotiation. addresses of people interacting with gov- PAYING FOR PARKING TICKET DATA: driven on a toll highway, received a speed- When your request is rejected, it will be ernment. With printed records, someone ing ticket or obtained a passport, you have accompanied by a letter with instructions must manually go through each page of When I asked the City of Ottawa for contributed to the growing pool of elec- on launching an appeal of the decision. the document and eliminate the offending tronic data retained by governments. Hold off, for now. information. five-years’ of parking ticket data, they Virtually every interaction we have with The next step, if you haven’t done so But with a request for data, you can municipal, provincial and federal govern- already, is get in touch with the freedom- easily modify your request to exclude told me it would cost $140,000 to pro- ment is electronically captured and entered of-information or access-to-information any field that is likely to contain personal in a database somewhere. And under open coordinator handling your file. Tell her information -- such as fields that contain duce copies of the 2.4 million tickets. records laws, you’re entitled to have a you will be appealing, but would first a narrative of what happened. Ask the IT copy of the databases. Like no time in like a chance to see if there’s a way to people to bring a copy of a few sample We eventually got the entire dataset history, journalists can get access to these avoid going this route by modifying your records from the database so you and enormous number of records to use in request. the freedom-of-information coordinator for $40. their reporting just by asking. Governments keep careful tabs on the can see which fields to exclude from the The challenge is getting these datasets statistics these kinds of requests and most database you will request. When they cre- off government mainframes, onto your coordinators want to avoid appeals. Tell ate a “query” to export the data for you, remain intransigent, remind them that you letter, and in- * Never accept a huge fee estimate. own computer, and into your news story. the coordinator you’d like to set up a computer people will eliminate these fields have a legal right to obtain a copy of the dicate that you are willing to talk anytime Exporting data is a relatively simple job The open data movement has compelled meeting, via conference call or, preferably, Street addresses, cities and postal codes data, allowing for certain exemptions. to clarify or discuss your request. If the and shouldn’t take too long, unless your some governments to proactively publish in person, with the information technology are usually in separate fields, so you may Then launch an appeal. freedom-of-information person contacts request is particularly complex. electronic data, but these typically are of people and bureaucrats who hold the data only need to exclude the street field or part It’s handy to check with the appeal body you with problems, propose a meeting. * Be prepared to bend a bit. Every little interest to journalists. The City of Ot- you’re after. of the postal code. Often, you can obtain -- the Information and Privacy Commis- * Make sure that the government depart- database structure is different and the tawa’s open data site, for example, pushes Many access-to-information staff are the first three characters of the postal sioner of , for example -- to see if ment or agency understands you want information technology people might have maps of swimming pools and tennis data illiterate, incapable of answering code -- known in post-office speak as the there are any rulings on release of similar machine-readable data, not scanned ver- legitimate reasons for raising concerns courts. Rarely do governments voluntarily questions about the database you want. forward sortation area or FSA -- which data. sions of printed records. Ask them to suggest a better way to get release records, such as the locations of Having an information technology geek in won’t identify any one person, but will Most open-records laws in Canada A common problem with data requests all or most of the data you want without bike thefts, that might lead to an embar- the room solves a lot of problems. give you an approximate location. require some sort of mandated mediation are image files of records saved as PDFs. creating too much work for them. rassing analysis of their own performance. One misconception is that the number of At the Ottawa Citizen, we spent four process that will force the government to You can’t work with this data. It is next to * Don’t lose your cool. It can be To get the good stuff, you’ll still need records requested will make more work. years fighting with Health Canada to get a the table. useless. frustrating dealing with bureaucrats who to file freedom-of information (at the mu- You may even be given you a massive fee copy of the database used to track applica- Again, this is another chance to find a * Most open-records laws allow you to raise silly arguments to keep data out of nicipal and provincial levels) or access to- estimate. When I asked the City of Ottawa tions for the federal medical marijuana way to overcome any technical hurdles receive data in the format in which it was your hands, but if you remain polite and information (at the federal level) requests for five-years’ of parking ticket data, of- program. The department initially refused or privacy concerns by amending your created. Today, that is almost always an respectful, they’ll eventually understand for electronic data. ficials told me it would cost $140,000 to to release virtually every field in the data- request slightly. electronic format. Don’t settle for print- you have a legal right to the data. All this takes is a letter to the correct produce copies of the 2.4 million tickets. base, including the applicant’s province. At this stage, the public servants you outs. Until officials got the city’s information We appealed and continued to negotiate deal with will usually want to avoid a rul- * Don’t let the IT people snow you with agency and a request that specifies you Glen McGregor is a national affairs reporter technology people involved, they didn’t until, finally, the department relented and ing against them, so they tend to be more geek talk about “Oracle” or “MySQL want the records in electronic format. I with the Ottawa Citizen. He is available to give understand that it doesn’t take any more released a complete list of applications, cooperative. database formats”. Most modern database typically ask for “all records in all fields of web-scraping and datajournalism seminars to effort to save a file with a million records including the medical conditions of the Some tips systems will easily allow export to text the database of [whatever you’re look- your newsroom or classroom. Contact sush- than one with only 10 records. We eventu- patients and their FSAs. * Always include your phone number files you can work with in Microsoft Excel ing for] in machine-readable, electronic [email protected] format, in either tab-delimited or comma ally got the entire dataset for $40. If the bureaucrats refuse to meet or and email address in your original request or Access. 13 MEDIA FALL 2012 14 Data journalism In a sense, CAR has grown up and gone mainstream, because using Perhaps it’s time to ditch the computer- computers is now the mainstream. assisted reporting award...

MAPPING CRIME: .... and replace it with something bigger, and better The By Fred Vallance-Jones used the program called Tableau Public to show he CAJ awards are broadly respect- for use of computers made no more sense cool, something called Netscape was king Ted in Canadian journalism circles than rewarding use of the phone, but the and Data was perhaps better known as a which communities had because of their focus on investigative idea was accepted, and the CAR award character from Star Trek. reporting and the fact they are judged by was born. In the substantial footsteps of the CAR the highest number of our peers. But like anything that’s been It went on to become one of the most pioneers, has grown up the burgeoning around for a while (anyone too!) they need prominent in the competition, with some world of data journalism, which encom- parolees per capita. the occasional refresher. of the stiffest competition between news- passes traditional CAR techniques of One of the awards that definitely needs rooms. The CAR award winner was often using data as the source, but also includes a little shining up and retooling is the also the winner of the overall award, the visualization of data, data-driven applica- computer-assisted reporting award. I Don McGillivray Award for Investigative tions and an explosion in use of geograph- should declare a conflict right off the top; I Journalism. Of course, it didn’t reward ic data and mapping techniques. and my investigative workshop from 2011 the use of computers, but the outstanding You only need to see some of the work were nominated for the CAR award. We reporting that happened to use computer being done by the likes of Jim Rankin, didn’t win. analysis as part of the reporting process. Patrick Cain, Glen McGregor and Chad Long ago I was part of the CAR caucus Dangerous drugs, risky air travel, taxi em- Skelton to realize how diversified the in the CAJ, and it was from the caucus pires and police responses all became the world of data journalism has become that emerged the idea for an award to give focus of stories using CAR techniques. Where we used to talk about how to best recognition to investigative stories based But as I said off the top, everything has wrestle a spreadsheet of contracts out of on data analysis or advanced Internet its day and everything must change. And I a government department, these guys are research. Computer-assisted reporting was think we need change in the CAR award. using the application programming inter- in its infancy in Canada and we wanted to That’s because the world we live in faces (APIs) of social networking services give it a boost. There was some opposi- bears little resemblance to the one we to gain deep insights into how people are tion from those who felt giving an award inhabited in 1999, when hyperlinks were interacting with each other and on what.

MAPPING THE COMMUNITY: Cloud-based services such as Tableau and while the great stories were appreci- celebrate not only traditional data-as- The Edmonton Journal used Public, Google Maps and Fusion Tables ated, it was a lonely existence. source CAR, but also all of the amazing are allowing people to put together, at no Some have suggested doing away with and exciting things journalists are doing mapping techniques to draw at- cost, work that would have taken much the CAR award because it has lost rel- with data today. That way we not only longer and have been much more difficult evance in the new world of data journal- give an important award a little spruc- tention to the many resources to to achieve using traditional desktop tools. ism. But that would be a mistake. ing up, but we encourage people to keep In a sense, CAR has grown up and Data journalism is the future of journal- working at the frontiers of journalism, which residents have access. gone mainstream, because using comput- ism because data is ubiquitous, and there showing us old timers how much we also ers is now the mainstream. Today, I have are so many ways to use it to do good need a sprucing up. students who come into my journalism journalism. If only we could figure out an easy way classes with years of programming experi- So my modest proposal is the Canadian to do that. ence, something that would have been Association of Jouranlists expand the Fred Vallance-Jones is a professor of journal- almost unthinkable when I first started scope of the CAR award, and rename it. ism at the University of King’s College and working with data in 1995. Back in those Perhaps we could call it the Award for co-author of Computer-Assisted Reporting: A days, you were regarded as a data geek, Excellence in Data Journalism. It could Comprehensive Primer.

15 MEDIA FALL 2012 16 CAJ Award Winner Don McGillivray Award/Open Newspaper Our exclusive analysis shows that neighbourhoods and communities with low income and poor education suffer devastating effects when The Hamilton Spectator it comes to rates of teen mothers, low birth weight babies and early Born: A Code Red Project prenatal care. Teri Pecoskie and Steve Buist

WATCHING OVER ELLA: Mike and Michelle Carniello watch over their premature infant daughter Ella in the NICU at McMaster Hospital.

Following a similar project last year, Born: A Code Red Project examined the rela- PHOTO CREDIT: Cathie Coward/Hamilton Spectator tionship between poverty and health

ORN: A Code Red Project exam- ers and babies across the entire province Master’s Centre for Spatial Analysis and Bined reams of public data on of Ontario. he, too, agreed to assist pro bono. pregnancy and births and turned them into The BORN project shows clearly and The BORN data was assembled into compelling articles, pictures and online unmistakably that the same connections spreadsheets for analysis at two levels. content on just how well – or not – moth- between poverty and poor outcomes exist The data was aggregated up to the level ers and their children are faring across across Ontario when it comes to certain of municipalities and small communities, Ontario. factors related to the health of mothers and including native reserves. There are 420 They are the smallest and most vulner- babies. municipalities and communities repre- able members of our communities and yet The series started with an application sented in the data. every baby born in Ontario carries a hefty made to Better Outcomes Registry & The information was also broken down unspoken promise – the promise of hope, Network Ontario for access to all Ontario to the level of neighbourhoods — or potential and opportunity for the future. birth outcomes and maternal health data census tracts, as defined by Statistics But for some of these babies – a disturb- for the four fiscal years spanning 2006-07 Canada — for each of Ontario’s 19 census ing number, in fact – the deck has already to 2009-10. metropolitan areas. To tell those stories, we travelled to the re- to advance the cause of social justice in Related links been stacked against them from the mo- BORN Ontario maintains newborn There are more than 2,100 neighbour- mote northern reserves of Big Trout Lake Hamilton, and now, across Ontario. ment of conception. and maternal information for each birth hoods represented across the province and and Grassy Narrows, as well as the city of BORN and the original Code Red In a country that believes equal access in Ontario through the Niday Perinatal they account for more than 80 per cent of Thunder Bay. Steve Buist has established himself as one of Canada’s top investigative journalists. In project to health care is one of its fundamental pil- Database. all Ontario births. The BORN series combines sharp inves- March 2011, he was named the winner of the http://www.thespec.com/topic/codered lars, the sad reality is that there is nothing Data for approximately 535,000 births Birth and maternal health outcomes tigative reporting with keen analysis tied together with the touching narratives of inaugural 2011 Canadian Hillman Prize for equal about the range of health and social over the four-year period for the entire could then be compared to StatsCan social the Spectator’s original Code Red series. Buist Niday Perinatal Database people from across the province. outcomes for mothers and babies across province were turned over to Neil John- and economic data at both the municipal has won three National Newspaper Awards and http://childhealthnetwork.com/chn/Peri- Ontario. ston, a faculty member in McMaster Uni- and neighbourhood levels. The series also includes an impres- he’s also been nominated another four times natalDatabaseProject.php Want proof? Look no further than the versity’s Department of Medicine, who is Our exclusive analysis shows that sive array of original innovative graphics for NNAs. results uncovered in the Hamilton Specta- also associated with the Firestone Institute neighbourhoods and communities with produced by Spectator graphics designer This year marked the third time he has been Born Ontario tor’s groundbreaking series titled BORN: for Respiratory Health and St. Joseph’s low income and poor education suffer dev- Dean Tweed, as well as six, high-quality named the country’s Investigative Journalist of http://www.bornontario.ca/ A Code Red Project. Healthcare. astating effects when it comes to rates of videos and two compelling slideshow the Year by the Canadian Association of Jour- nalists, and on three occasions he has been BORN expands on the findings of the He also runs the Ontario Physician teen mothers, low birth weight babies and presentations. named Ontario’s Journalist of the Year. Ontario Physician Human Resources Spectator’s landmark Code Red series, Human Resources Data Centre for the early prenatal care. To broaden BORN’s scope, the series Data Centre was also published as a three-part special Teri Pecoskie is a reporter and a videogra- published in 2010, and broadens the focus province’s health ministry. The result is a high-quality, 22-page pher with a professional background in bio- https://www.ophrdc.org//Home.aspx to a provincial level. Johnston collaborated as well on The series that raised serious questions about project by dozens of other members of medical and theoretical ethics. Last year, she Code Red helped change the course of Spectator’s Code Red series. He assisted how little progress has been made in Ontario’s Metroland newspapers. was a finalist in the novice reporting category McMaster University Centre for Spa- Hamilton by highlighting the important on a pro bono basis and maintained exclu- Ontario for more than a decade when The Spectator provided specially-tai- at the Ontario Newspaper Awards. tial Analysis connections between poverty and poor sive control of the raw data. it comes to improving certain birth and lored statistics to each member newspaper Buist and Pecoskie’s BORN series has http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/cspa/ health, right down to the level of the city’s Patrick DeLuca, another Code Red col- maternal health markers. so they could provide readers with stories also won awards from the Registered Nurses neighbourhoods laborator, once again provided statistical BORN also shows that the outcomes specific to their communities. Association of Ontario and rerceived a joint award from the Society of Obstetricians and 2006 Census data products Now, the Spectator’s BORN project analysis and mapping expertise for the are appalling on Ontario’s native reserves, BORN and the original Code Red Gynaecologists of Canada and the Canadian http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census- hopes to help change outcomes for moth- new project. DeLuca is a member of Mc- particularly those isolated in the far north. project are, arguably, the most important projects ever produced by the Spectator Foundation for Women’s Health. recensement/2006/dp-pd/index-eng.cfm 17 MEDIA

FALL 2012 18 CAJ Award Winner Human rights reporting

CBC Radio One/Dispatches - The eyes of Rosa and Antonio - Alison Crawford

It took 35 years, but Antonio Savone and Rosa Gomez finally saw the men who tortured them in an Argentinan jail brought to justice

f all the stories I’ve done in my 16 been two weeks since he learned his for- pay. In the end, we cobbled together a Oyears at the CBC, I am proudest mer tormentors were on trial. He’d been plan where I would file a documentary for of this documentary. I still can’t believe perusing coverage in Mendoza’s online Dispatches, a longish news piece for The Antonio Savone and Rosa Gomez agreed newspaper. Staring out of his computer World This Weekend and an article with to let me, a stranger, be present for their screen was a pair of eyes he hadn’t seen video and photos for cbc.ca. emotional reunion and the final stage of since 1976, eyes that belonged to another The second challenge was translation their 35-year quest for justice. political prisoner, a woman Antonio used and interpretation. I speak a little Span- I first learned about Savone and Gomez to hear being raped every night in the cell ish, but not enough to pull off this kind while chatting with Toronto lawyer Lorne across the hall. Rosa Gomez had already of project. Waldman and Savone acted Waldman about some everyday story I was testified. Her story resulted in the first as translators. Back in Canada, CBC working on from the CBC’s parliamentary arrests for sexual violence at the D2 secret producer Mariel Borelli provided a more

RELIVING THE PAINFUL PAST: Rosa Gomez had already testified. Her story resulted in the first arrests for sexual violence at the D2 It’s estimated that almost of all Mendoza’s disappeared went secret prison. Antonio Savone was the only person alive who could corroborate her evidence.

through what’s known as “D2,” the sub-basement of the city’s down- PHOTO CREDIT: ALISON CRAWFORD/CBC town police station. That’s where police took Savone after snatching FINALY, JUSTICE: Eduardo Smaha, in the foreground, sits in court. He was one him off the street in front of his house around noon on June 14, 1976. of several men accused of setting up and running Mendoza’s D2 clandestine detention centre. Smaha signed the original order to detain Antonio Savone in 1976.

PHOTO CREDIT: ALISON CRAWFORD/CBC

bureau. He told me he was thinking about prison. It turned out that Savone was the accurate translation. She also performed a travelling to Argentina to help a long-time only person alive who could corroborate note-perfect voice-over for all of Gomez’ friend who felt he needed support when her evidence. clips in the documentary. and Rosa’s stories with the scene of their confession back in 1976 skipped the coun- me that he feels very close to her and that he took the stand in Mendoza, at the trial It was a once-in-a-career story. Yet it My final challenge was how to present physical reunion. try and is claiming refugee status in Chile. she is now “a part of my life.” of several men responsible for his illegal presented many challenges, the biggest be- the details of what happened to Savone Five defendants were convicted of Since my story aired, Savone has been You can read, watch and listen to the arrest, detention and torture in 1976. The ing money for travel. I worked the phones and Gomez without disturbing our listen- crimes ranging from kidnap to torture contacted by a novelist and filmmaker story at: state was trying a group of men who set with then Dispatches host Rick MacInnes- ers to the point they would turn off the and murder. Four received life sentences, interested in documenting his life story. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/sto- up and ran a notorious secret prison (D2) Rae (CBC has since cancelled the show radio. I believe I achieved that good including the man who murdered Gomez’s Visual artist Ewa Scheer also contacted ry/2011/03/09/pol-argentina-reunion.html during the murderous military dictatorship as part of its budget cuts) for more than a balance by including some graphic details, husband. Savone with the idea of sketching his eyes in the 1970s. week, hounding every show or department but then focussing on how certain situa- A fifth got twelve years and another and Rosa’s eyes. Antonio Savone was still trying to wrap that had a budget for this type of project. tions made them feel. I also chose to give was acquitted. Unfortunately for Savone, Since their reunion, Savone says he Alison Crawford is a national reporter in his mind around testifying. It had only I waived all my overtime and two days’ listeners a breather by separating Antonio the prosecutor who signed off on his false speaks with Gomez all the time. He told CBC’s parliamentary bureau.

19 MEDIA FALL 2012 20 CAJ Award Winner CAJ/Marketwire computer-asssited reporting

QMI Agency – On mange bien à Terrebonne – Eating Well in Terre-

bonne - Andrew McIntosh and Kinia Adamczyk From Outerwear to Underwear - “Du Veston au Caleçon’’: This story revealed that the two top manag- ers of the city had enjoyed more than $16,000 worth of clothes, billing taxpayers even for their own boxer Andrew McIntosh explains how digging through re- shorts, as part of allowances included in their employ- ceipts and making freedom-of-information claims led to ment package. stories about waste and abuse of taxpayers’ money

hat began as a tip from an confi- Terrebonne City Hall. Several months were spent gather- dential source turned into a QMI ing, tabulating and analyzing five, thick unaccountable and excessive spenders. W Big appetite: ‘“Un café bien three-part series examining excessive Part Two , DU VESTON AU binders of restaurant receipts and expense We appeared on both TVA Nouvelles, branché”: Readers learned that restaurant spending, questionable clothing CALEÇONS, (From Outerwear to claim documents – remember, there were the LCN all-news cable station and on ma- that one restaurant where the allowances and other perks enjoyed by Underwear)’’ revealed that the two top more than 1,890 meal receipts – under jor radio stations in Montreal and Quebec two top city bureaucrats dined managers of the City of Terrebonne, a fast- managers of the city had enjoyed more multiple Quebec Access to Information City to discuss our findings. many times and spent $8,000 in growing city and suburb located north than $16,000 worth of clothes, billing Act requests. The binders were featured The city managers were mocked and taxpayers’ money was a café- of Montreal. The series was published taxpayers even for their own boxer shorts, as a Photo in Part 1 to visually highlight their spending practices were derided on bistro owned by the daughter of on Oct.3, Oct. 4, and Oct. 11, 2011, in Le as part of allowances included in their em- the enormity of the dining out. the airwaves and more questions were Terrebonne’s Mayor, Jean-Marc Journal de Montréal, Canoe and on the ployment package. Taxpayers had no idea raised in Quebec City. Robitaille, a former Tory member website of TVA Nouvelles. about such clothing allowances, which COMPUTER-ASSISTED REPORT- Mayor Robitaille vowed swift ac- of Parliament. The series caused an immediate sensa- were questionable. ING tion, promising an overhaul of the city’s tion in Terrebonne and across Quebec, Terrebonne’s officials told us their QMI’s investigative unit produced three expense claim practices to ensure manag- with political reaction generated locally, clothing allowances were standard at databases. ers were required to disclose who they ate but also inside and outside Quebec’s Na- many cities and invited QMI reporters to For the restaurant spending pieces, we with and what city business was discussed. tional Assembly. The bureaucrats whose check. QMI’s investigation found that entered information about more than 1,892 The clothing allowances would be excessive spending was exposed were their claims were false. Nobody had such meals into our own spreadsheet, including abolished. And the supply of a Ford F-150 lambasted on radio stations. perks at other Quebec cities. We were told date, restaurant name and location, diners’ truck to the City Manager would be The investigation revealed a startling that such perks were unheard of -- and name(s) when available, what was eaten, discontinued under revisions to his city pattern of abusive restaurant spending by entirely inappropriate. and amount spent. employment contract. the city’s top 14 managers. The quality of records varied from That news was celebrated by Terrebonne Part Three, headlined ‘’A Truck and person to person. The expense claim taxpayers; some had started to ruminate In the Part One story, ‘’City Man- Gas for Terrebonne’s City Manager,’’ forms we obtained were sometimes hardly publicly about withholding tax payments popular restaurants visited by the manag- quickly grasp the issue at stake and see agers Well Fed in Terrebonne,’’ we revealed how Terrebonne’s city manager legible. Some were written by hand, others in protest. ers, where they had spent the most money, how Terrebonne general manager Denis reported that city bosses dined out on the was provided an expensive Ford F-150 were typed up. There were inconsistencies Without the QMI Agency computer-as- and which were the most expensive meals. Lévesque used public funds. taxpayers’ tab a stunning 1,892 times in truck and all the gas he needed for his in the records. Expense claim reports and sisted restaurant spending investigation, it All data that helped us zero in on the res- A third database analyzed gas purchases three years, racking up $123,000 in bills. personal use on weekends and holidays, in receipts were all mixed up and missing is clear that Terrebonne managers’ abusive taurant that we discovered was owned by by the city managers. Eating out and sticking taxpayers the bill addition to official city business. Personal documentation when they were disclosed. dining out on the public tab would have the mayor’s daughter. was the rule, not the exception. use included pulling his larger camper This made our work more challenging, continued unchecked. Lastly, we used our data to create a THE IMPACT OF THE SERIES: A companion story, “Un Café bien trailer on his month-long summer holi- forcing us to take several steps to ensure Google map so readers could visualize the PUBLIC OUTRAGE AND CHANGES Branché,” revealed that one restaurant days. accuracy through numerous fact-checking Andrew McIntosh is Investigations Desk Editor frequency of the visits and the proximity Reaction to the QMI series was swift. where the two top city bureaucrats dined sessions. at the QMI Agency and Kinia Adamczyk is a of the managers’ favourite restaurants to Furious Terrebonne taxpayers flooded many times and spent $8,000 in taxpayers’ CHALLENGES QMI used the data to reveal that Ter- reporter-researcher in QMI’s investigative unit. their city hall offices. city hall and social media networks like money, was a café-bistro owned by the The investigative and CAR reporting rebonne city officials rarely disclosed who For the second story, we also created Facebook with angry complaints and calls daughter of Terrebonne’s Mayor, Jean- that went into this project went well- they dined with, or what official business Story link databases to see when and where manag- for a spending crackdown. Marc Robitaille, a former Tory member of beyond routine daily work. The series was was discussed during all their meals, or Terrebonne: des repas de cadres dans un ers were clothes-shopping, and what they Quebec’s municipal affairs minister Parliament. the result of months of digging, develop- even what they ate or drank. City manag- café bien branché? were buying. Laurent Lessard urged taxpayers to ask News graphics and maps were used ing and using confidential sources inside ers studiously avoided submitting detailed http://argent.canoe.ca/lca/affaires/que- A graphic artist used our data to design some pointed questions of the city and its to show who the big spenders were and the city administration as well as a series restaurant bills, making it impossible to bec/archives/2011/10/20111003-064822. a nifty overlay graphic to accompany elected leaders, while opposition MNA’s which restaurants they frequented most. of Quebec Access to Information Act know if the expenses were legitimate. html the text and photos, allowing readers to denounced city bureaucrats and leaders as The eateries were all a stone’s throw from requests. Our data helped us identify the most 21 MEDIA FALL 2012 22 CAJ Award Winner Print Feature THE TRUTH HURTS: Residential school survivor Kim Good, of the Snuneymuxw First Na- tion near Nanaimo, B.C., wipes away tears as she listens to Truth Montreal Gazette - Residential schools: Survivors share the pain -Andrew and Reconciliation Commission Chair, Justice Murray Sinclair re- lease the commission’s interim report during a news conference in Stobo Sniderman Vancouver, B.C., on Friday February 24, 2012.

PHOTO CREDITS: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Andrew Stobo Sniderman explains how, on a whim, he ended up bearing witness to stories of pain and suffering of First Nations peoples who survived Canada’s residen- tial schools

t seemed like I was doing everything still alive. Now the former students would ing in the North are jaw-droppingly expen- Ibackwards: I picked my subject finally be sharing their stories. sive. After a fifty dollar lunch at a hotel, I before I had a story, and I wrote before A few days after Wilson’s speech, I chuckle-sighed and decided I had to figure getting paid. In the end, I produced my called the TRC headquarters and said I out an alternative. This was a problem best feature ever and even managed to wanted to write something about its work. easily resolved by northern hospitality. In “A NEW FUTURE”: break even. “We have a spare seat on the plane with each community we visited, I would talk In 1928, a government official predicted Canada would end its In the spring of 2011, I attended a the commissioners,” a press officer said. with locals and soon find myself invited to “Indian problem” within two generations. This screenshot from speech by Marie Wilson, one of the com- “We are leaving in five days. Meet us in spend the night. a 1955 CBC Newsmagazine broadcast depicted life in the class- missioner’s of Canada’s Truth and Recon- Yellowknife.” So I did, and off we went On my first night in Cambridge Bay, I room. Decades later, aboriginal people began to share their sto- ciliation Commission (TRC), which was on a week-long tour of Nunavut and the stayed with a kind woman named Helen ries and demand acknowledgement of — and compensation for then traveling across Canada to gather tes- Northwest Territories. Tologanak who served me bannock and — their stolen childhoods. timony of Aboriginal people who attended Very few “southern” reporters were tak- tea. She told me stories about her son, residential schools. It seemed terribly ing the time to attend the TRC’s hearings Julian. He had died the year before after PHOTO CREDIT: CBC Newsmagazine important, so I decided this was something in the North. I was the only journalist fol- he jumped out of a commercial airplane at I wanted to learn and write about. lowing the commission except for a group an altitude of over 7,000 meters. I slept in Residential schools were places where of CBC North reporters I met at an event his old room, in his old bed. The next day, the Canadian government tried to turn in Yellowknife. Being a solitary journal- Helen gave testimony about her experi- Aboriginal students into English-speaking ist is a good feeling, partly because you ence with residential schools. Christians. They were run by clergy and don’t feel rushed by the competition, and The hearings were often very difficult have become virtually synonymous with partly because you know you’re covering to attend. There some hopeful stories acts of abuse and cultural assimilation. something neglected. of recovery and forgiveness, but mostly The last one closed in 1996, and about I was subsisting on a freelancer’s bud- you’d hear terrible tales of abuse. I tried to 80,000 survivors of residential schools are get—that is, a shoestring. Food and lodg- listen as carefully as I could, to empathize as much as I could bear. Every hour or When I returned to Montreal I gathered mony. And just like that, I got the biggest so I would duck out and try to get some my notebooks and decided that the survi- audience I’ve ever had for the best story fresh air. I’d try to call home when I had vors told their stories better than I could. I’ve ever written. signal in an effort to dissipate the sadness That’s when the first and best portion of To others I’d say: if you have the luxury creeping in. Sometimes the mental health my article, a collage of their statements, of time, you don’t need a detailed plan. On my first night in Cambridge Bay, I stayed with a kind woman workers taking care of the survivors would took shape. The best thing I did as a writer Just dive in and you’ll always find a buyer come chat, you know, just to see how was to get out of the way. for good work. named Helen Tologanak who served me bannock and tea... The next things were going. Next, I emailed all the major papers I took notes, copious notes (by hand, in Canada pitching the story. I had never Andrew Stobo Sniderman is a freelance jour- day, Helen gave testimony about her experience with residential gasp!). It was only near the end of the published anything in a newspaper, so I nalist who has written for Maclean’s, Maison- trip that I decided the shape the narrative wasn’t sure what to expect. The Montreal neuve, This, the Montreal Gazette, London’s schools. around the storytellers and one of the com- Gazette quickly took me up on the offer, Sunday Times and The New York Times. His missioners, Wilton Littlechild, who had and asked for an additional 1,500 word writing, including the award-winning story, is also attended a residential school. article to accompany the collated testi- collected at www.stobo.ca.

23 MEDIA FALL 2012 24 CAJ Award Winner Open radio news/current affairs

CBC Edmonton - Crown Conduct - Charles Rusnell and Grant Gelinas

An Alberta Crown prosecutor misled the court about the extent of a Mountie’s assault on a prisoner

ur story, Crown Conduct, exposed ing hearing because the Crown prosecutor town where they occurred to Fort Sas- Ohow an Alberta Crown prosecu- told the court he could not get machine to katchewan. The Crown neglected to allow tor misled the court about the extent of a play. But we confirmed from court staff the victims to provide victim-impact state- Mountie’s assault on a prisoner, and how that it had been working that day. ments, as is their legal right. Finally, we that province’s double standard applied to Through the victim’s lawyer, we learned the prosecutor dropped the second the prosecution of certain police officers. obtained the video of the assault and the assault charge against the Mountie without The investigation began with a tip transcript from the sentencing hearing. notifying the victim. from a criminal defence lawyer. He had When we cross-referenced the prosecu- The day after we confronted the Crown witnessed the sentencing of an RCMP tor’s description of the assault with what prosecutor, he resigned, citing personal officer for assault in Fort Saskatchewan, a was captured on the video, we knew reasons. He is now the subject of an in- small satellite city outside Edmonton. The justice had not been served in a full and vestigation by the Law Society of Alberta. Assault Video Capture” CAPTURED ON TAPE: In his defence of the Mountie charged with officer assaulted a prisoner in the detach- transparent way. The Crown prosecutor After we sought an interview with the assault, the Crown prosecutor left out the most important part of the incident: two elbow ment. Based on his experience, the lawyer left out the most serious part of the assault RCMP, the Mountie who had committed smashes to the victim’s head while he was held, defenceless, by another officer. thought it odd the officer had even been – two elbow smashes to the victim’s head two assaults was removed from service charged, given the comparatively harmless while he was held, defenceless, by another and placed on desk duty. He was subse- nature of the assault the Crown prosecutor officer. quently disciplined and transferred to a described to the court. Or so it seemed. The Crown prosecutor did not respond traffic unit. We found the lawyer of the victim. He to several interview requests. So we staked Both assault victims are now suing the had been charged with drunk driving. The out his office and confronted him. RCMP and Alberta Justice. A third victim mation law to obtain that evidence. That is ample, we had the assault victim read from booth. We did numerous takes on some charge had been dropped and the victim There were more troubling revelations: of an alleged assault by the same Mountie how his lawyer got the assault video. the court transcript, and then had him react sections of the script, which included was now preparing to sue the police of- The RCMP put the accused Mountie has come forward and has also launched a - Refuse to allow justice officials to to what the prosecutor told the court. We some rewriting to make the performance ficer for assault. From the defence lawyer, back on the street despite the fact he had lawsuit. stonewall. Alberta Justice insisted the shot the assault victim, an oil rig worker, more conversational. It took time, but, we learned there was a police video of the assaulted another prisoner less than three Tips for doing similar stories matter had been reviewed and nothing starting his truck with the radio turned up again, it paid off in the long run. assault. By obtaining the court record, we months after the first assault. And, with- - Be aware that if evidence is not inappropriate had taken place. loud and driving away in order to capture also learned the video had not been en- out notifying either of the victims, the entered as an exhibit in court , the victim - As many of us in broadcast move to- those pictures. Most importantly, that Charles Rusnell and Grant Gelinas are tered as evidence in the officer’s sentenc- Crown moved both assault cases from the or lawyer can still use a freedom-of-infor- ward working on all platforms, it is critical sound of the truck provided the opening to plan the production of the investigation to our radio documentary. Planning takes award-winning investigative reporters and in advance to ensure you get everything time, but it pays off in the long run. producers. you need for online, radio and television, - Make time for performance. Although Their unit at CBC Edmonton produces When we cross-referenced the prosecutor’s description of the even though, strictly speaking, this was a I have many years experience as a print stories on all platforms including radio radio award. This piece was storyboarded investigative reporter, I am still relatively news, radio current affairs, online text assault with what was captured on the video, we knew justice had not for TV, and we also did extensive plan- new to broadcast. So to ensure I did the stories, and television. Crown Conduct is ning, and consultation with the camera- best possible job on voicing the script, a located at: http://www.cbc.ca/news/cana- been served in a full and transparent way. man, to get the sound and narrative we radio current affairs producer, Adrienne da/edmonton/story/2011/06/20/edmonton- needed for a radio documentary. For ex- Lamb, worked with me in the recording rcmp-crown-prosecutor.html

25 MEDIA FALL 2012 26 CAJ Award Winner Regional television WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?: If the questionable donations went to Ray Danyluk’s pick for header, then he stood a better chance of staying in cabinet. A Wild Rose candidate defeated Danyluck CBC Edmonton - Pork-barrell politics - in the subsequent election that, to the surprise of pundits, pollsters and journalists, returned the Conservatives to power Charles Rusnell and Grant Gelinas with a healthy majority. PHOTO CREDIT: CBC

heard our story. for hours to send teams, at taxpayer expense, to Although a microcosm, the story opened he didn’t work in order to cover the cost of the Tory golf fundraiser. So on Twitter, I A CBC investigation exposed how, for years, municipalities, post-secondary insti- a floodgate. The president of the Conser- political donations he made on behalf of suggested the public do a Google search vative riding association in St. Paul – Lac the university. of “Alberta and Conservative and party tutions and other organizations had been making illegal political donations to the La Biche subsequently told us that, from After our first story broke, the chief and golf and fundraiser” to see what they ruling Conservative party in Alberta that one golf tournament alone, the asso- electoral officer launched an investigation. might find. ciation had to return money to 11 organi- At last count, he has opened about 80 files People all over the province did just zations banned from making donations. and has so far issued 28 fines. that, and found evidence of illegal dona- CBC investigation exposed how, send a team of four, at taxpayer expense, to say it had been a mistake and that it Dozens of illegal donations, and so- The scandal became an issue in the pro- tions to golf fundraisers and more. Afor years, municipalities, post- to Danyluk’s annual golf fundraiser, which wouldn’t happen again. To the contrary, secondary institutions and other organiza- doubled as an event to recruit supporters he was defiant. He told us attending Tory tions had been making illegal political for one of the two leadership contenders. fundraisers at public expense couldn’t donations to the ruling Conservative party Boisvert’s dual roles as town adminis- be illegal because it had been a common in Alberta. trator and riding association treasurer told practice for years, not just for his town, MONEY AND POLITICS: be- It started with an email leaked to us dur- us he had to have known, or should have but many municipalities. Now we knew it gins her victory speech after winning the ing the provincial Conservative leadership known, it was illegal under provincial was a widespread practice. Alberta Conservative leadership race as race. Ron Boisvert, the administrator of St. election laws for St. Paul to donate money With the documents in hand, and the runner-up (left) and former Paul, a small town in northeastern Alberta, to a political party. mayor on camera giving us far more than premier leave the stage. A St. had sent the email to dozens of people, We considered filing a freedom-of-in- we could have ever hoped for, all we Paul, Alta., town official is being criticized including all the town’s employees, and formation request with the town to obtain needed was some objective context and for using his office to solicit votes for Red- ford and Horner. pork-barrel politics was rampant in Alberta after more than 40 years PHOTO CREDIT: CBC of one-party rule.

many contractors who relied on the town documents verifying that the mayor, a cou- analysis. for business. ple councillors and Boisvert had attended A political scientist at the University of licitations, surfaced across the province. vincial election, and figured prominently We also kept the story rolling by filing Boisvert effectively directed them to the fundraiser. But we decided to simply Alberta, and an expert in municipal gover- Opposition party researchers uncovered in the first sitting of the legislature. The a raft of freedom-of-information requests buy a Conservative membership and vote ask for the documents first. A pleasant nance with more than 30 years experience, illegal donations from towns, municipali- electoral law is being reviewed and the They’re still yielding exclusive stories, al- for one of two contenders for its leader- clerk dutifully sent us photocopies of the both told us Boisvert’s email, and the ties, school boards, even a government Tory government has promised changes. lowing us to own the story we first broke. ship with whom their local MLA, Ray tournament invitation, minutes from the mayor’s comments, confirmed what oppo- department. Three-term St. Paul – Lac La Biche Danyluk, was aligned. town council meeting at which the spend- sition parties had long alleged: pork-barrel We followed our original story with MLA Ray Danyluk lost the election. Pork barrell-politics is located at: If one of the two became leader, Dany- ing was approved, a cancelled cheque, politics was rampant in Alberta after more one that showed the Tory party had been TIPS http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon- luk would remain in cabinet. And why was even a requisition which included hand- than 40 years of one-party rule. illegally soliciting donations from banned Everyone works with less nowadays. Be ton/story/2011/10/12/edmonton-leader- it critical for Danyluk to remain in cabi- written instructions to send the cheque to At CBC Edmonton, the investigative organizations. alert to stories that lend themselves to a ship-porkbarrel-politics.html net? Straight up, Boisvert said it was so St. Boisvert, who, as it turned out, was one of unit produces content for all platforms for Another story, based on documents rolling investigation, in which you get up Paul could continue receiving government the fundraiser’s organizers. each investigation. The story rolled out obtained through freedom of information, the first story as soon as possible, and then Charles Rusnell and Grant Gelinas are funding. With those documents, we had irrefut- early in the morning across the province detailed how post-secondary institutions do follows as time and resources allow. award-winning investigative reporters and A Google search revealed Boisvert was able proof the town had made an illegal on both radio news and current affairs, across the province had routinely made We kept the story rolling in several producers. not just the town administrator, he was donation. As luck would have it, St. and on the web. By the time we aired our illegal donations to the Tories for years. ways. The first was to use crowdsourcing Their unit at CBC Edmonton produces also treasurer of the local Tory riding asso- Paul’s mayor was attending a conference TV piece at 5 p.m., four other examples We recently broke a story about how a to get the public to do our legwork for us. stories on all platforms including radio ciation. We also soon discovered St. Paul in Edmonton at a hotel a block from CBC. of illegal donations by municipalities had prominent Tory lawyer, the son of a for- We knew from what the St. Paul mayor news, radio current affairs, online text council, at Boisvert’s urging, had voted to We expected the mayor to backtrack, been posted on Twitter by people who had mer premier, had billed the University of told us that other municipalities had voted stories, and television. 27 MEDIA FALL 2012 28 CAJ Award Winner Open television (less than five minutes) THE WOMAN AT THE CENTRE OF THE CONTROVERSY: Michele McPherson stands next to the Hyundai Sonata Bruce Carson APTN - Bruce Carsons - Kenneth Jackson and Jorge Barrera either leased or purchased for her. PHOTO CREDIT: Photo provided to Kenneth Jackson

Ken Jackson (left) explains how he used his sex-trade industry contacts for APTN’s story about the prime minister’s former top advisor IN HER OTHER LIFE: Before the tell the guy on the phone to meet me Carson was a senior advisor in Prime Who could I trust? Bruce Carson controversy became nation- I at the gas station across the road from Minister’s Office from 2006 to 2008, and I wanted to, not only sell the story, but, al news, Michele McPherson was better Collins Bay Institution. is presumed innocent until proven guilty. even more importantly, I wanted to work known as Leanna VIP, escort for hire. This will be the drop. The matter is now before the courts. it. I wasn’t just going to hand it off. It’s a crisp, dark February evening in The Mounties began their investigation I had known Jorge Barrera for several Kingston, Ontario, just after five o’clock. when the Prime Minister’s Office called years and we always wanted to work a As I pull in, I see the man parked where the police to investigate a political staffer, story together. across one of the emails where Carson and was wearing jeans. He had a small, We really needed to think of all the angles. he said he’d be. I go to on the other side. one of their own. Carson may had been He was working at the Aboriginal said he spoke to Prime Minister Stephen carry-on bag. But, in the end, we didn’t have much My fiancée is in the car, as we had just out of office for a couple years, but he’s Peoples Television Network; I was a free Harper about a cabinet shuffle in August After spending about 15 minutes on his choice. About 10 minutes after sending left the gym. a Conservative as a summer day is long. agent with a story in a box. 2010, a day before it was made public. phone, he walked over to rent a car even that fateful email, we got a response from I’ve never met him before. I don’t want He’d be given a cushy job as director of The Carson story was of a well-connect- It wasn’t long before I had a deal with though he had leased or purchased two Christine McPherson; yes, Michele’s to take any chances. the Canadian School of Energy and Envi- ed man trying to use to his contacts in the APTN to work the story with my friend. vehicles for McPherson, a black Mercedes mother, saying they’d love to meet. Owner I walk towards him. He’s talking on his ronment in 2008, but he didn’t really sink federal government to land lucrative water We had emails that provided a paper SUV and a Hyundai Sonata. Patrick Hill would be there, too, as well as mobile phone through a bluetooth ear- his teeth into the Calgary, and Conserva- contracts on First Nations reserves with trail from about the beginning of July The car he rented was a white Chevy Mr. Bruce Carson. piece. tive think-tank, until the following year. long-standing and severe water-quality 2010 to the middle of October. It was now Cobalt. We were floored. I wave and say hello. He motions for me That’s because in 2009, Prime Minister problems. March 2011. It was raining, and with one car, a “Carson is going to come too?” I asked to come closer. Stephen Harper called him back to help Carson was trying to land contracts We needed to fill in the gap. handful of other excuses, the slow-moving Barrera. “It’s in the back,” he says, opening the briefly in the PMO. for an Ottawa company that sells water Initially, we over-thought the entire Carson evaded us. “Yep.” vehicle’s sliding door. filtration-systems. But, really, he was story. Deflated, we headed back to APTN’s “Wow.” There it is. I see it immediately, sitting Getting the scoop from a sex- doing it for love. By that I mean, we thought we needed office in the World Exchange Plaza in In that interview, Carson would confirm on a child booster seat, a small box taped trade source to almost go undercover to get what we downtown Ottawa. most of what we already knew, and then completely in duct tape. When I got an email from an old source Following the email trail needed. We couldn’t have been more Then Barrera did what he does best. He some, and without us asking him. He reaches in and hands it to me. on February 15, 2011, saying they had a He was engaged to 22-year-old Michele wrong. began poking around the Internet. We had He introduced McPherson into the I say thanks and don’t stick around. potential story, I quickly called the person. McPherson, also known as Leanna- Ultimately, we wanted to catch Carson already pulled a bunch of stuff that added interview saying he was only doing it for When I get back to my car, I rip the box I was a freelancer living in Kingston, VIP, her working name as a popular with McPherson. Connect them. to the story, but somehow missed a Face- his girlfriend, and then he named her. He open. separated only weeks from my former job Ottawa escort. Carson spent his week in Calgary. On book page made by the company, H20 said he spoke to Harper on a regular basis, I reach in and quickly read a bit. as the crime reporter at the Ottawa Sun. She was friends with the owner of the weekends he flew back to Ottawa for busi- Global Group, also known as H20 Water along with his cabinet. “Holy shit,” I say to my soon-to-be “How do the words ‘escort, pimp, senior water company. They all worked out a ness -- and to be with McPherson. He Professionals (H2O Pros). It appeared that It was bureaucracy that was holding up wife. policy advisor to Harper, native affairs deal where she’d receive a cut of the prof- always stayed at the Chateau Laurier, a it was just made. the company getting contracts. Inside, are dozens of emails, bank re- and government contracts” sound for a its from potential contracts. high-end hotel. In its description, the company said it Federal public servants were making it cords -- pieces of the Bruce Carson story. Kenneth Jackson headline?’” the person The aboriginal angle was obvious, plus We called the hotel on a Saturday and was interested in providing clean drinking difficult. writing the email asked. Barrera covered federal politics. He was asked for Carson. water in first nations’ communities. He then agreed to do another interview Calling in the RCMP to investi- The person had deep connections in Ot- an ordinary, decent reporter, and a friend. “I’m sorry but he’s not in yet,” replied Barrera then had the idea of just at the office of the company. gate a former Harper advisor tawa’s sex trade, something I had exclu- “I have a story but I can’t tell you about the lady on the phone. emailing the company and saying we It was then that he spoke about how he Fast-forward from that February 2011 sively covered during my time in Ottawa. it,” I said to him sitting on his couch. She said he was expected to check in want to meet and talk about the work they didn’t want to get in trouble for being a meeting in the parking lot. During the telephone conservation, I He laughed. later that day. We then checked arriv- wanted to do. lobbyist, which he said he wasn’t. In July, 2012, the RCMP charged the said I needed proof, which is why I set up I was only sort of joking. I knew I had als from Calgary to Ottawa. There was We had a lot, but we didn’t have Carson 66-year-old Carson with influence ped- the meeting with the stranger at a gas sta- something. I quickly caved and told him a a direct flight. So we went to the airport. The encounter with Carson and McPherson together. dling after an investigation that lasted tion across from murderers and thieves. bit about it. Then I pulled out the emails. Sure enough, a man looking like Carson It was a risk. I was hesitant. I didn’t She was supposed to be the face of the nearly 15 months. My first challenge was selling the story. “Holy shit,” he said when he came appeared. He walked a bit slouched over want to lose them before we even started. company, accord- Continued on page 31 29 MEDIA FALL 2012 30 CAJ Award Winner Open television (less than five minutes)

Continued from page 30 ing to a contract Carson witnessed and to give them a head’s-up for comment. In cranking up their investigation. was signed by the owners of the water today’s world, it’s the proper thing to do, We learned authorities had thousands of company, along with McPherson. and legally responsible. Carson’s emails while at Canada School We tried one last time to get McPherson Still, it was tough laying our cards on of Energy and the Environment, and were on camera. the table to a trained public relations man looking into a mystery $5,000 cheque and It was a Sunday. like Soudas. His job was deflect, not ac- whether the water company paid Carson. First, she was going to show, then cept us as friends. In addition, the Mounties were heavily wasn’t, then was. Finally, only Carson Hours later, the Prime Minister’s Office interested in McPherson’s role. showed. sent a letter to the RCMP asking them to They also wanted to know if people Up until this point, I was never really investigate Carson. Similar letters were believed Carson had contacts in the part of the interviews for fear they’d make sent to the Lobbying Commissioner and government he said he had, and if they me. I had met McPherson years earlier, Office of Conflict of Interest and Ethics believed he could help the company with and had connections to them through my Commissioner. those contacts. In other words, they were sources in the sex-trade business. We had three federal investigations, all looking at influence peddling. This time I sat down with Barrera. before we wrote a single word. We also reported Hill, the water Carson seemed impatient and tired. We had intended to do an hour-long company owner, was under investigation He was fine, though, until we brought show as part of APTN Investigates, but for fraud by the Ontario Provincial Police. up McPherson. He got agitated the first now we had to roll with what we had, and In an interview, Hill said Carson and time. quickly. McPherson destroyed his life. Then I asked my first question about That evening, we only broke the story Then, while I was writing a story on real McPherson. of the PMO calling in the authorities on estate, because I’m still a freelancer, I got He got up and called off the interview. Carson. We didn’t get into detail. an email from Barrera July 27 saying only That was when we told him everything Then all hell broke loose. Reporters “Carson’s been charged!!” in the subject we had. were trying to get in our story. We haven’t line. The camera rolled the entire time, with even had time to breathe. What separates this story from others is APTN Investigates cameraman Josh It happened, what felt like, a blink of an we didn’t report on someone else’s investi- Grummett capturing what unfolded next. eye. gation. We did our own. It was a reporter’s We expected Carson to dart for the door, The next day we broke more of the investigation. but he didn’t. story. We flew by the seat of our pants, at He stuck around. APTN’s website crashed. Our times, and counted on our ability to find As we told him what he knew he began BlackBerry’s were going nuts. It was only the truth. Nothing was published that to say things like “I’m in so much shit.” a five-minute torys of what was going to wasn’t confirmed. If someone told us Then he walked into an office and was be an hour. There was much more to tell. something, it had to be backed up with a silhouette of a man by the window as he Then it reached Question Period and documents or several other witnesses. peered below to the street six floors down. flooded the halls of the House of Com- This story is far from over. We kept rolling and continued to mons. The government fell, and then The lobbying reported is said to be confront him. It was our due diligence as Harper won a majority. “unprecedented” and also expected to reporters to give the man a fair shake. look at Carson’s involvement in oil, as He admitted to witnessing the contract In hindsight he played a big part in the Conservative and writing the email about Harper, but The story went quiet, at least publicly. government’s attempt to clean up the oil said he lied when he wrote he spoke to My contract with APTN was up and Bar- sands. Harper. Carson said he spoke to someone rera was on to other stories. Looking back, That report will likely come out after the else about the shuffle. I should have written about it throughout, influence peddling court case. The interview continued for several every day if I could. Some weeks I could minutes before he eventually walked out have, but I didn’t have an employer. Kenneth Jackson is a freelance reporter. and into the parking garage to his rented There’s plenty that was never published. You can reach him at kennethbrianjack- Cobalt. Our published work really is just a small [email protected] or @afixedaddress. portion of what we uncovered and what I Confronting the Prime Minis- continued to. Related links: ter’s Office But, Carson barely made the news until APTN’s Carson affair investigation, Three days later we set up a meeting Barrera and I hooked up again this past uncut with Harper’s former chief spokesman April. http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/03/23/ Dimitri Soudas. We also had an obligation We had information the RCMP was season-finale-carson/ 31 MEDIA FALL 2012 32 A PUBLIC FACE OF THE RCMP: CAJ Award Winner Scoop Catherine Galliford became a key RCMP spokesperson on the miss- ing-women file. Here, she is pic- CBC Vancouver - Broken Mounties - Natalie Clancy and Manjula Dufresne tured on October 6, 2004, holding up a new poster released by the Missing Women Task force in Van- couver.

PHOTO CREDIT: Chuck Stoody/The Canadian Press When former Mountie Catherine Galliford went public with claims of sexual harassment, says Natalie Clancy (left), others followed

hen we first interviewed Cath- described as a culture of bullying. Fear- when Bob Paulson took office, he did Werine Galliford, we had no idea ing reprisal, they allowed us to film and so promising that ending the harassment she was about to open the floodgates on a record their voices as long as we hid their exposed by CBC would be his top priority. scandal that would dominate newscasts for identities. Many of the RCMP officers who contacted months. We searched court records and found us are now among more than 100 officers Our investigation into sexual harass- several lawsuits involving sexual mis- waiting to join a lawsuit filed against BC’s ment in the RCMP began November 7th, conduct in the RCMP. Within two weeks justice Minister and Canada’s Attorney 2011, with an exclusive interview with the we heard from four dozen Mounties who General. THE PUBLIC FACE OF A DIFFERENT KIND OF BATTLE: corporal who was once one of Canada’s claimed their workplace is toxic. Seven years after the missing women’s news confer- highest profile RCMP spokespeople. After CBC National Radio reporter Greg Seeking justice ence (above), Catherine Galliford opens up during her weeks of persistence and two cancella- Rasmussen joined our team because the The suit alleges systemic, gender-based only television interview with Natalie Clancy. She may tions, we finally earned Catherine Gal- demand for follow-up stories was grow- workplace harassment. It was filed on be- never be well enough to work again. liford’s trust, agreeing to her first and only ing. Some officers reported being sexually half of Janet Merlo who spoke exclusively television interview to explain why she assaulted on the job. We aired several to us about the allegations in the statement PHOTO CREDIT: CBC NEWS had been off-duty sick for four years. news stories, on a daily basis, as we kept of claim. Lawyers are now applying to The story led newscasts on local televi- delving deeper into this issue. Catherine have the suit certified as a class action, sion, The National, CBC Radio and CBC. Galliford eventually launched a lawsuit so others can join. After watching our he admitted to having sex with subordi- for new legislation to help him weed out sources who suffer from this disorder. ca. By the next day, every major news against her employer. It is not clear if she original report, Merlo and other former nates, drinking and exposing himself on the “bad apples” in the RCMP. Always seek corroboration to any al- organization was following her shocking will ever be well enough to work again. female officers started a Facebook group the job. More officers continue to contact us legations. There are complainants who account of sexual harassment throughout During our research to determine the to support Catherine Galliford. Eventually, in May of 2012 Canada’s and launch complaints and we continue to contacted us who we did not interview her career, including during her time as extent of the problem, we found one That Facebook group formed the Public Safety Minister Vic Toews an- investigate this story. because we could not verify their cred- spokesperson for the RCMP in the Air In- particularly alarming case involving four foundation of what would soon become a nounced changes to the Police Act to Our advice for any journalist on a story ibility. The most difficult aspect of this dia investigation, and later on the Pickton Alberta officers who claimed a senior un- group of complainants in the class action modernize the discipline process for those like this is to be patient when a source is investigation is the fact that many of the serial killer investigation. dercover officer, Robert Blundell, sexually lawsuit. “I have heard some horror stories most serious allegations involved a female “If I had a dime for every time one of assaulted them on the job. from women who have been pushed officer alone with her boss. my bosses asked me to sit on his knee, I’d Krista Carle decided to speak out about almost to the brink of suicide, yet had We were able to verify patterns of be- be on a yacht in the Bahamas right now”, her own experience that left her with nowhere to turn,” Merlo told us. haviour. And as one MP said “They can’t she told us. PTSD and unable to work. According The lawyers handling the class action all be lying.” Galliford suffers from post-traumatic to a statement of claim in the Alberta publicly credited us for drawing their at- “If I had a dime for every time one of my boss- You can find the stories at:http://www. stress disorder (PTSD) and agoraphobia. officers’ case – they alleged their com- tention to the case. cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/11/07/bc- She shook with nerves during the inter- plaints of sexual misconduct were covered Just nine days after our first story aired, es asked me to sit on his knee, I’d be on a yacht rcmp-harassment-galiford.html view. Within moments of the report airing, up. Blundell’s punishment was merely a the Chair of the Commission for Public Natalie Clancy is an Investigative we quickly learned Galliford was not lost day of leave. We shared our files and Complaints Against the RCMP launched in the Bahamas right now.” Reporter based in Vancouver. The award alone in accusing the force of systemic sources with our colleagues at the fifth an extraordinary Chair-initiated inquiry, in the scoop category was her 3rd CAJ sexual harassment. For days after, we were estate and helped them delve deeper into that is still underway on the conduct of - Catherine Galliford award. Natalie files local and national overwhelmed at the number of officers this particular case. RCMP members in handling allegations of stories for CBC Radio and Television. calling or emailing us. We arranged to The opposition raised the allegations we harassment within the workplace. Manjula Dufresne is a national TV news attend a support group for RCMP officers uncovered in the House of Commons. The More disturbing examples of the RC- producer based in Vancouver. She has lead by a police psychologist. We learned Public Safety Minister promised a sweep- MP’s outdated discipline system surfaced guilty of sexual misconduct in the RCMP. struggling with the idea of being a whistle- been with the CBC for 24 years. many female and male officers were not ing investigation. recently, such as the transfer of Don Ray He did this after the RCMP Commis- blower. Also, we had to consult experts on Natalie and Manjula were also finalists afraid of the dangerous work. Instead, The government delayed the appoint- from Edmonton to after sioner wrote a letter to pleading PTSD, to help understand how it affects for the 2012 Michener Award. they feared their bosses and what they ment of a new RCMP Commissioner and 33 MEDIA FALL 2012 34 CAJ Award Winner CWA Canada/CAJ labour reporting GOOD BYE TO A WAY OF LIFE: Unidentified fac- tory employees work on Ford Crown Victoria vehicles on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at the Huffington Post Canada - Income inequality and the decline of unions - Rachel Mendleson now-shuttered Ford Assembly Plant in St. Thom- as, Ontario.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Canadian Press/Dave Chidley

Rachel Mendleson traveled to St. Thomas, Ontario, where she documented workers’ struggle to find decent-paying jobs after Ford closed its assembly plant. In this write- SMILING THROUGH THE UNCERTAINTY: There up, Mendleson explores a broader and increasingly important question: What impact are some days for Ron Drouillard when it’s dif- ficult to muster a smile, but it’s important to does the disintegration of organized labour have on Canada’s growing income gap? carry on for his daughters, eight-year-old Mayah and five-year-old Serena (far right)

he first time I drove past the Ford this trend, and explain to readers how we the series launch, and the deadline was TMotor Co. assembly plant in St. got here, and where we might be headed. fast-approaching. Still, when McGee told Thomas, Ontario, after the last Crown The first step was to qualify the link. me about how the workers and the com- Victoria rolled off the line in 2011, I was Most of the labour experts I interviewed munity were faring in the aftermath of the struck by the eerie emptiness of the park- maintained that there was a relationship plant closure, I knew I had to make the the largest auto makers in Canada and the will speed up interviews, and make it forward-looking, “where are we going?” ing lot. Stretching for what seemed like between income inequality and the decline trip to St. Thomas. Thankfully, my editors U.S.) were hiring because it was the best easier to identify novel insights and find- conclusion. Bringing the story back to the miles in all directions, the unoccupied of unions. However, I felt that hard num- agreed. job that community had to offer. ings. character you opened with always makes a of asphalt along Highway 4 somehow bers would make the piece much stronger. I met McGee and a handful of other These candid conversations were crucial Some advice nice bookend. Rachel Mendleson is a business reporter embodied the impact the closure had on Eventually, I found a Harvard University workers at the “action centre,” the service to the piece, and I want to thank McGee, Tracking down the appropriate experts Drouillard and the other workers for their is key. Start by simply making a few cold- with HuffPost Canada. She has previously the community in a way that no statistic study that attributed between one-fifth and that the union and the government set worked for Canadian Business and Maclean’s, could. one-third of the growth in inequality in the up to ease the transition following the willingness to share their stories. calls, or contacting experts in related fields But when it came to publication, the as well as Dose and the Halifax Daily News. So a few months later, when we were U.S. to decline of organized labour. Mean- closure. that you’ve interviewed before, and then The story was part of HuffPost’s ongo- copy itself was only one part of the equa- working on the first features forMind The while, in Canada, a University of British Having grown up in the area, many of get them to do some of the heavy-lifting ing ‘Mind The Gap’ series, which explores Gap, our series chronicling the causes Columbia economist had calculated that the former auto workers were the sons and tion. for you. If they’re not the best person Canada’s income divide. and implications of Canada’s growing the erosion of unions was responsible for daughters of autoworkers, and were strug- In addition to editing the story, Daniel to speak on the subject, chances are the income divide, I immediately thought of between one-fifth of the growth in income gling to come to terms with a suddenly- Tencer constructed a slideshow and graph- expert knows who is. Links to the story and series: St. Thomas. inequality among men. uncertain future, and the prospect of ics to illustrate the pertinent data, and In addition to the experts, once you fig- http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/12/12/canada- The idea for the series — which was While I hoped these numbers would lower-paying jobs that guaranteed an end engaged readers with an online poll and ure out who the “real people” will be, try social media. income-inequality-decline-unions-middle-class- born out of many brainstorming sessions give the piece weight, I knew that it would to the solidly middle-class existence to to interview them in person, preferably in jobs_n_1139136.html with business editor Daniel Tencer, senior have a much better chance of resonating which they had grown accustomed. Freelance videographer Graham Runci- a setting that relates to the story. This will http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/12/05/income- news editor Brodie Fenlon and managing with readers if I found compelling charac- The gulf between expectations and man accompanied me to St. Thomas, and allow you to add colour to the piece, and inequality-calgary-pitfalls-growth_n_1128260. html?utm_hp_ref=mind-the-gap editor Kenny Yum — was to blend hard ters through which to tell it. reality that had opened up for those who’d put together an original video that cap- be more likely to encourage the person to tured the emotion of the workers — and http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/11/21/ data and expert opinion with the experi- been raised to believe in the promise of open up. canada-income-inequality-house-prices_n_1101655. the emptiness of that parking lot. ences of real people to show how the People behind the numbers landing a union gig was also palpable in In terms of the actual writing, with html?ref=mind-the-gap growing income gap is affecting Canadi- my discussions with Ron Drouillard, a Stories like this take time. I was very in-depth stories like this structure is http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/30/income- My first call was to Dennis McGee, inequality-study-one-per-cent_n_1554555.html?utm_ ans from all walks of life. fourth-generation autoworker I tracked fortunate to be able to take a break from everything. A fail-safe approach is to open the president of Canadian Auto Workers the daily grind, and devote about a month hp_ref=mind-the-gap We decided to focus one of the more down in Windsor, Ontario, who was al- with a character who allows you to set the http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/12/01/ Union Local 1520, which represents the to researching and writing several in-depth in-depth features on the link between in- 1,000 workers who lost their jobs when ready living with the uncertainty. stage and address the kind of “where we canada-income-inequality-trickle-down-tax- features for the series. policy_n_1120856.html?utm_hp_ref=mind-the-gap come inequality and the decline of unions, the St. Thomas plant closed. At the time Drouillard, who lost his job in 2007, are now” present-day tension that is your It pays to carve out a bit of time, espe- justification for writing the piece. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/11/28/canada- which research has identified as a signifi- we spoke, I was working on a number recalled how his high school principal had income-inequality-health-risk_n_1109923.html?utm_ cially at the beginning, to dig up relevant Then move into a historical “how did cant factor in the erosion of the middle of Mind The Gap features in advance of encouraged him to drop out when the Big hp_ref=mind-the-gap class. I wanted to show the human side of Three (Chrysler, Ford and General Motors, news stories and academic studies. This we get here?” section, followed by a 35 MEDIA FALL 2012 36 CAJ Award Winner Magazine I couldn’t prove who had been behind the sabotage and physical threats. But over the course of several months, I learned which com- Maisonneuve Magazine - Getting Plowed - Selena Ross panies are responsible for the industry’s jacked-up profits.

Montreal’s snow-removal business is dirty and corrupt. People were afraid to talk to Selena Ross

rganized crime in Quebec had banks booby-trapped with cement, and patterns were suspicious. When I called Obeen getting plenty of press when many other kinds of damage and violence. one of those companies, the individual I pitched this story in winter 2011. But The piece examined what this damage who answered said in pretty clear terms snowplowing had been overlooked, like costs. City employees spoke about the fa- that he had been instructed how to bid. many small public works industries. tigue that comes with turning a blind eye, I couldn’t prove who had been behind From the start, the idea lent itself to every day, to bid-rigging. We exposed the the sabotage and physical threats. But over Canada jokes, but snow removal was also city’s failure to investigate major red flags the course of several months, I learned well-suited to the kind of story that Mai- in its bidding system and to account for without a doubt which companies are sonneuve and I wanted: a serious responsible for the industry’s jacked- look at how collusion sustains up profits. itself in Quebec, using rewards That process—learning who to and threats. blame—was nerve-wracking, only As a full-time freelancer at the because I needed at the same time time, I was always working on to learn who to trust in order to keep pitches. One of my ideas was to reporting. I rarely write about crime, look at why snowplows had run let alone organized crime. I turned to over and killed so many Montreal a couple of more seasoned investiga- pedestrians in the past few years. tive reporters to get tips on how to assistant, a McGill student. So we had a these omissions were among my biggest only ones who knew the actual names of It took me a while to find my do it safely, and then proceeded very posse of two. Anthony Lecossois’ eyes and regrets. I also wish we had had a bigger my sources. first source in the industry. When cautiously. ears were invaluable. team, more time, more everything. In November, 10 months after my pitch, I finally sat down with him, he I felt casually threatened only Being afraid of the people I was cover- But in the end, Maisonneuve took a I called some sources to verify details for breezily mentioned firebombs, once, when an interview got tense: ing was a new and uncomfortable feeling, chance on the piece and supported me our fact-checker. Before I hung up with getting his tires slashed and get- “I don’t want to mention what kind especially in my home city. Luckily, a through it, despite being a tiny publication. one guy, he took me by surprise by getting ting threatened with having his of jobs I’ve had or have. Know what trove of past great organized crime report- It’s definitely possible to do investigative quite emotional. He said something to throat slashed. I mean?” said one man, after several ing by Quebec journalists was around to reporting without many resources, espe- the effect of, “I hope this makes a differ- To him, after decades in the minutes on the phone. “We’ll meet inspire me. (Editor’s Note: in the Fall of cially if you can borrow other journalists’ ence, because I’m sick of doing business industry, this seemed so normal up in person if you want to talk about 2000, Media wrote about Michel Auger’s expertise. It also helps to have a good and like this.” He said he was so glad it was that he didn’t think twice about that kind of stuff.” survival of an assassination attempt, committed editor. going to be printed—a nice end to a long, describing it to a journalist, and I never did meet him in person, presumed at the time to be the work of the In cases where I hadn’t recorded my uncertain process. he didn’t even ask to be off the but the first time I met other sources mobsters the Montreal crime reporter had interviews, I called back my sources and Selena Ross is a reporter at The Chronicle record. (Later, however, he did. face-to-face, I always chatted them covered for more than 30 years.) asked them lists of fact-checking questions Herald, Halifax’s daily. She also freelances for For safety reasons, all my sources up with innocuous questions about while recording the call. magazines and occasionally for the Associated from within the industry weren’t driver safety, then trusted my in- This meant the magazine’s fact-checker Press. Originally from Ottawa, Selena spent six identified in any way.) that system’s results. stincts and slowly built relationships from The challenges years in Montreal before leaving for the East never spoke directly to my anonymous The story was difficult to report. In Evidence came from several thousand there. It was hard to write the piece without Eoast in 2011. sources, but at least they heard all of the the end, I learned how a few companies pages of contract records from the city I visited them at their garages and being able to name names, describe char- sources’ voices and which were kept You can read Getting Ploughed at: manage to control others’ profits and boost archives. Once the information from the shops, and even rode shotgun in a grader acters, or set scenes that were often very straight with the use of fake initials. My http://maisonneuve.org/pressroom/article/2012/ their own: by punishing them for com- contracts was in Excel, patterns jumped for several hours one night. For a few trips colourful. Because they would have added editor and perhaps the publisher were the apr/18/getting-plowed/ petitive behaviour with bankruptcy, snow out, showing companies whose bid/win to meet new people I brought a reporting a lot for readers, including credibility, 37 MEDIA FALL 2012 38 searching media archives, we found nearly Scouts Canada finally responded. For the 80 cases where active or one-time scout first time in the organization’s history, it CAJ Award Winner Open television (greater than five minutes) leaders had abused children. When it came publically apologized to the victims. Steve to victims, our findings were far more Kent, Scouts Canada’s Chief Commis- the fifth estate -Scout’s Honour - Timothy Sawa, Diana Swain, Angela Gilbert surprising. sioner, made the apology in a YouTube Our research showed more than 300 broadcast posted to their website. Canadian children had been victimized Kent also promised to release victims by active Scouts leaders since the 1950s. from their confidentiality agreements, We found out later, this was only scratch- launched a review of their records and Timothy Sawa explains how the details about years ing the surface, but it was the first time formed a committee that would evaluate of sexual abuse within Scouts Canada were buried in in Canada anybody had ever attempted to their screening procedures. quantify the scope of sexual abuse in the Scouts Canada also revealed, for the a “Confidential List” Boy Scouts in the organization’s 100-year first time, how many men they had re- history. corded in their Confidential Files who had We also learned, through the course of been accused of abusing children as Scout It was January of last year when a mem- been building a fund to pay for lawsuits dians referenced? One lawyer eventually our research, and through speaking with leaders. ber of the CBCs investigative team no- related to sexual abuse. And finally, and agreed to turn over his entire archive of several confidential sources, that Scouts The number was far higher than we ticed something in the news in the United most importantly, they confirmed they files. Canada had secured confidentiality clauses imagined and were able to determine from States. According to several lawsuits, the kept what they called a ‘Confidential List’ It turned up several Canadian connec- in a number of civil settlements. It’s a our record searching. The total: 350. When Boy Scouts of America had been keeping of Scout leaders who had abused children. tions. A U.S. journalist who had written controversial tactic that was used in abuse considering an abuser on average abuses at something called ‘The Perversion Files’. However, it was what they wouldn’t dis- a book about abuse in the Boy Scouts of cases and eventually abandoned by the least 10 victims, the scope of the problem It was a secret list of U.S. Scout lead- cuss that would propel us forward. They America also agreed to help. He had boxes Catholic Church. was finally becoming clear. ers accused of sexually assaulting young wouldn’t tell us how many names were of old ‘Perversion Files’ in his garage And with the case of Richard Turley, we ADDRESSING THE PAST: Scouts Canada Scouts also acknowledged for the first boys. The problem was, in many cases on their list, how many cases of abuse from his research. At our request, he were able to determine that a) Scouts in Chief Commissioner Steve Kent speaks time that some allegations of abuse had police and parents weren’t notified and they had encountered, how many lawsuits combed through them looking for any Ca- the U.S. and Canada never reported him to with the media about a review of his or- not been properly reported to police. They the incidents were kept quiet. The files they had faced and/or settled or how much nadian connections. In the end, he found the police, b) in both cases they had asked ganization during a news conference in Ot- also said they were currently in the pro- also revealed the shocking scope of the money they had paid out in settlements. one. That’s when we first heard the name him to quietly resign and c) because of tawa, Monday June 25, 2012. cess of referring historical cases of abuse problem. Over the years, there had been an And they would tell us very little about Richard Turley. that, he was able to easily cross the border to police forces across the country. epidemic of abuse inside the Boy Scouts how their ‘Confidential List’ was main- The case of Richard Turley joining and re-joining scouts making for PHOTO CREDIT: THE CANADIAN PRESS/ And, we got feedback from various of America and the general public largely tained and managed. The next eight months were spent many needless victims of sexual abuse. Adrian Wyld lawyers we had been in touch with during had no idea. After talking with Scouts Canada, we painstakingly piecing together the case of Next, we needed to find Richard Turley. our research. One lawyer said 19 brand It all begged the question: Has there were no closer in understanding the scope Richard Turley. Our team scrutinized his Also not an easy task given his desire to new victims of abuse had contacted him been a problem with sexual abuse inside of the problem or its handling of the prob- stay under the radar. But in the end, clues seeking legal representation. Five of those time in Canada and the U.S. Dozens (if Impact Scouts Canada and, if so, how has the lem, so we decided we’d have to find out not more than 100) people were contacted on Facebook, civil records searches and he referred to the police. Two of those Following the broadcast of our stories, Canadian organization dealt with it? another way. – each one contributing a small piece of hundreds of phone calls lead us to Red were under police investigation and in abuse in Scouts Canada was a topic of The CBCs Investigative Unit and As any journalist working in Canada the puzzle that was beginning to grow. Deer, Alberta, where we approached him one case, criminal charges had been laid. discussion across the country and around the CBCs the fifth estate teamed up to knows, there is no easy way to search for Given the cross-border nature of the with our questions. You’ll find the story at:http://www.cbc. the world. investigate something that no media in criminal or civil cases in Canada when Richard Turley case, we decided a U.S. And finally, we needed to get an official ca/news/canada/story/2011/10/20/scouts- Media everywhere followed the story. Canada had ever looked at. A year later your goal is to search the entire country. media partner would be appropriate. The perspective from Scouts Canada. In our turley-pedophile-list.html More than 100 newspaper and online we aired the results: an hour-long televi- So we did something we’ve never done L.A. Times was keen to get involved and earlier conversations they were keen to Postscript articles have been written since the launch sion documentary and dozens of radio, TV before. We built a database of every court- helped us chase down California leads. talk with us on camera, but when the time Following our investigation Scouts of our story. and online news stories airing across our house in Canada (there are hundreds) and Of course, Turley’s victims had to be came, they had changed their mind. That’s Canada hired KPMG to conduct an inter- There were also a handful of editorials network. began contacting each and every one of located, contacted and asked to come when an ‘unscheduled interview’ was nal audit of their Confidential Files. The that followed our stories. It all lead to an unprecedented apology them (both criminal and civil) and begging forward and tell their stories. Not an easy planned with Scouts Canada CEO Janet goal of the audit was to find out if Scouts We also received more than 1000 com- to victims, a sweeping review of polices court clerks to help us search their ar- or enjoyable process for them, or us, but Yale in the Scouts Canada parking lot in Canada had properly handled allegations ments on our online comment boards at and records and even criminal charges. chives. Some were helpful, some weren’t. a crucial part none-the-less. Some were Ottawa. of abuse made in the past. CBC, and 150 emails from viewers and Story development Some searches were very expensive. Some very difficult to track down and retelling The end result of all of our work was listeners. Some were critical of our stories. We decided our initial focus should be were free. In some instances, we had to their stories was difficult and painful. We two hour-long fifth estate documentaries The Team: Reporting Diana Swain Scouts Canada does so much good, they two-fold. Since portions of the American dispatch people to the courthouse to do the also had to launch several court motions and dozens of national news-length stories (TV), (Radio); Produc- rightly pointed out, why raise such a pain- files had been disclosed to a few select search in person. We also scoured media in B.C. in order to release Turley’s victims airing on radio, television and online. The ing, Timothy Sawa; Associate Producers, ful topic? lawyers and journalists in the United and other public records and archives from the criminal trial publication bans LA Times also published simultaneously Angela Gilbert, Annie Burns-Pieper, Stacy But many others said they also had been States, we wanted to know if there were across the country. covering their identities. The judge even- and CBC regional locations broadcast sto- Cardigan Smith, Interns; Lily Boisson, Sa- abused as a young scout and wanted to any Canadians in those files. We also In the end, we spent months on the tually agreed to release the bans, but it was ries that looked at confidentiality clauses mantha Lash, Online; Amber Hildebrant; thank us for what we had done. wanted to try and get at, as best we could, phone and thousands of dollars piecing another expensive and time-consuming in civil cases settled in their broadcast LA Times, Jason Felch, Kim Christensen; One thing was clear, an issue that wasn’t the scope of the problem in Canada. together this puzzle. process. areas. Executive Producer: the fifth estate, Jim being talked about at all before, was now Our first call was to Scouts Canada Simultaneously, we were in touch with In the end, however, the story was com- It was one of the largest coordinated Williamson, Senior Producer: the fifth making headlines around the world. itself. They described their process for various lawyers, victims and journalists in ing into focus. roll-outs of an investigative project in estate, Mare Caloz; Senior Producer: Weeks after our documentary aired, weeding out pedophiles both historical the United States. Could we get access to In our efforts to determine the scope of recent CBC history. Investigative Unit, Harvey Cashore and current day. They also told us they had the U.S. files to see if there are any Cana- the issue by contacting courthouses and 39 MEDIA FALL 2012 40 CAJ Award Winner Photojournalism SPEAK UP, PLEASE!: Mohammad Mohyeddin struggles to hear a ques- tion. He recently celebrated his 105th birthday and, perhaps more importantly, his 75th wedding The Toronto Star - portfolio entry - Steve Russell anniversary. His wife, Ashraf, is 95. October 2, 2011 STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

GIVE ME SOME SUGAR: Sugar, a mix between pitbull and shih szu, or as her owner jokes “ a bull shit”, could use some rest. Hundreds of owners took their dogs to see the dog whisperer, Cesar Millan, for the launch of his line of dog ac- cessories in Toronto.

June 17, 2011 STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

OOPS: Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer gives up the winning goal in a shoot-out. The 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals knocks them out of the playoffs -- yet again!

April 5, 2011 STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

A PRECARIOUS RESTING SPOT: A grasshopper perches on the barrel of a “freedom fighter’s” rifle, as the battle to depose Muammar Gaddafi enters a critical juncture in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. TEARFUL PLEA: August 25, 2011 STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO Ellen Skinner makes an emotional appeal to wit- STAR nesses and the murderers of her son, Christopher. He was assaulted by two people in a dark SUV, run over and left dead.

October 18, 2011 STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

41 MEDIA FALL 2012 42 NNA Award Winner Explanatory work The polymer used is extremely difficult The Globe and Mail - The story behind Canada’s currency overhaul - Grant Robertson to make and next to impossible to buy. Grant Robertson explains how an RCMP raid that never made the headlines forced the Bank of Canada to switch from paper to plastic By controlling the supply of material, money you can choke off counterfeiting.

hen the Bank of Canada an- sue into the light, an explanatory piece can available. Wnounced it was overhauling the be similarly revelatory by connecting dots country’s currency, the move from paper in a way that hasn’t been done before. Serious concerns about funny money bills to polymer money was one of those The two best examples I’ve seen of this For the currency story, we knew the rare stories that is relevant to almost are Gary Dimmock and Lee Greenberg’s Bank of Canada had concerns over the everyone. Even as digital transactions 2002 piece for the Ottawa Citizen called security of the country’s money, since proliferate, most Canadians still handle “Conspiracy of Chances,” and Stephanie the topic kept coming up in interviews. central banks were growing concerned fect fake paper bills. connecting dots: The Bank of Canada’s cash every day. Nolen’s piece for The Globe and Mail in However, we didn’t know the extent of the about Canada’s counterfeiting rates. There It was the moment that changed every- decision to spend heavily to redesign our But it also cried out for an explanation. 2009 titled “If India is Booming, Why problem since it’s not really something the was international pressure on Canada to thing, and ultimately led to the currency money came amid concerns about fake At a cost of more than $300 million, the are its Children Still Starving?” Both Bank likes to make public. clean up its act. overhaul. That said, we still didn’t know money, some of them raised by other switch to money made from thin sheets of are great examples of explanatory journal- Thankfully, there are reams of data But counterfeit rates had been rising what made plastic money significantly countries, and was heavily influenced by a plastic is the biggest and most expensive ism. available in its annual report, which was since the 1990s. And polymer money, more secure. Why couldn’t the forgers, massive counterfeit bust that never made change to our currency since Canada be- By stitching together a series of seem- a good starting place. Want to know how which is believed to be more difficult to who are extremely resourceful, simply headlines. Canadians will all be carrying gan printing its bills in colour. Years from ingly unrelated events, Dimmock and many five dollar bills are in circulation counterfeit than paper, had been around work with a new medium? polymer money soon, not because it’s for years. We still didn’t know the de- Australian chemist David Solomon, who prettier or more durable, but because the finitive moment that caused the Bank of invented polymer money to fix his coun- material is difficult to reproduce. The Bank of Canada’s decision to spend heavily to redesign our mon- Canada’s paper money, with its rainbow of colours and picturesque ey came amid concerns about fake money, some of them raised by drawings, had become one of the most forged currencies in the G20. other countries, and was heavily influenced by a massive counterfeit bust that never made headlines. Canada to suddenly change strategy and try’s counterfeiting epidemic, explained: Like the 20 or more other countries now abandon paper money for good. The polymer used is extremely difficult to using polymer money around the world, Separate interviews were conducted make and next to impossible to buy. By Canada is investing in a modern version of now, someone might be inclined to ask: Greenberg showed how the death of a at any given time? Such figures, along with the RCMP’s counterfeit unit, who controlling the supply of material, you can the mulberry forest. Who decided this anyway? young mother wading in a local river with hundreds of other pages of fineprint told of a little-known case in 2004 where substantially choke off counterfeiting. Grant Robertson joined The Globe We decided to approach the story as an could ultimately be tied to the province’s data, are available, provided you have the police outside Ottawa pulled over a car A bit of archival research showed us that and Mail as a business reporter in 2005 explanatory project, rather than a straigh- ill-conceived deregulation of the power patience to sift through it. carrying a bag full of fake $20 bills. No this idea has been tried throughout history. after five years as a business writer at the tahead news feature, figuring the events industry years earlier. Similarly, Nolen’s The rates of counterfeit money found one thought much of it at the time, but the When China invented paper money in the . and machinations that led to the decision story used statistics paired with damning across the country are also closely tracked. replicas were the most sophisticated the 13th century, its rulers decided on paper were the most interesting part. The great anecdotes to show that child malnutrition In those numbers, we found high rates of unit had ever seen. from mulberry trees as the source, since it You can read the story at: http://www. thing about explanatory reporting is that it in the Third World is actually a solvable fake money showing up in the system over Over the next few years, the detectives was harder to get. As an added measure, theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/ can often produce results similar to inves- problem, but the necessary changes are the past few decades, and dug up similar began to unravel what would be the largest they stationed guards near mulberry for- economy/currencies/funny-money-how- tigative reporting, but in a different way. either overlooked or ignored. Both articles numbers in other countries for compari- counterfeiting ring ever found in Canada, ests to protect the paper. counterfeiting-led-to-a-major-overhaul-of- While investigative reporting seeks to are remarkable in their ability to uncover son. at one point walking into a warehouse In the end, the backstory of Canada’s -money/article554632/?page=all uncover information that is kept from the something that was not known before, us- Access-to-information requests and filled with millions of dollars in nearper- currency overhaul was the result of public eye, and to thrust an important is- ing information that was for the most part interviews turned up evidence that other

43 MEDIA FALL 2012 44 SILENCED: Erika Achterholt kisses NNA Award Winner Special project her husband, August, at the Czorny Alzheimer’s Centre in Surrey, British Columbia. The father of four loved The Province - Boomerangst - Ros Guggi to talk and regale family members with his long and involved stories. Boomerangst was a provocative series on ageing that ran in The Prov- Alzheimer’s disease has silenced ince newspaper and on two websites. Ros Guggi, deputy editor and proj- him. ect leader, explains why they told the stories, and the impact they had PHOTO CREDIT: Arlen Redekop/PNG

he series started out as 14 parts, but artist, Ginger Sedlarova; photographers, feedback on our series, and ran some of it Tgrew as readers told us shocking Arlen Redekop and Ric Ernst; website in the paper. stories about the care -- or lack of care -- builder, Adam Foster; and video editor, The series ran daily for 14 days. Several their relatives had received. Dharm Makwana. stories kicked off on Page one. On our last The idea originally came from people Reporters got roughly a week to work day, we came up with 10 recommenda- at our local United Way. Seniors are a big on each segment. Most ran over four pages tions for change and got responses to those part of their mandate, and they had done in the newspaper (tabloid-sized), but some recommendations from our provincial research about the lack of services for grew to five pages. Over the entire series, health minister and from the opposition them in our region. They saw a looming we ran 75 pages of content in print. There party. We also created a form online with problem and thought it might be worth was additional material on our websites, the recommendations and invited readers death after being fed by a caregiver who a car in British Columbia than to choose a provincial government about how to sup- exploring. including videos, stories and essays to to go there and agree with ours, or create didn’t know how to respond to the situ- care home. port B.C.’s aging population.” I jumped at the chance to tackle this complement what ran in paper. their own. Each reader recommendation ation. Some staff members at the home Reaction? The series led to a community conver- project because I have personal experi- To supplement stories by our reporters, was automatically sent to the premier and “were less than forthcoming with the facts One reader said “The Boomerangst se- sation about an issue that affects us all. ence in dealing with aging parents who I approached 22 people in the community the health minister. surrounding Mr. (Eldon) Mooney’s final ries was alarming, insightful, educational, And it convinced the government to make live thousands of kilometres away. I know and asked them to write essays on various The series generated a lot of reaction. minutes, leaving management unaware relevant and thought-provoking.” Another some needed changes in how we care for what it is like to get the crisis phone call aspects of aging. One was a Canadian We heard from one reader who was con- of the correct circumstances,” a coroner called it “brilliant.” seniors. and have to race for the next plane. My senator who had written a major report vinced her 88-year-old aunt with dementia wrote later. In February, a few months after the se- You can find the Boomerangst stories sisters and I had to navigate a complicated on the issue. She wrote about the need wouldn’t have frozen to death outside We published that story on the last day ries ran, the provincial government acted at: http://www.theprovince.com/news/boo- health system to get care for our dad. for better support for unpaid caregivers. had health authorities intervened and of our series. The government minister on a number of our recommendations, merangst/index.html. As project leader, I did a lot of research, Others wrote about elder abuse, or gave agreed with her that she could no longer responsible for senior care homes stood along with those of B.C. Ombudsperson Ros Guggi,The Province`s deputy editor, reading reports and talking to people with practical advice about how to talk to your live at home. The series explored many up in the legislature and apologized. He Kim Carter, who released a report on was Boomerangst`s project leader. She has led expertise in the community. I came to the parents about going into a home. complicated questions, such as when does also said he was looking into getting an seniors’ care. several other award-winning projects in recent same conclusion as the United Way had: We also posed four questions about ag- the need for safety outweigh someone’s independent advocate for seniors, which B.C. is getting an advocate for seniors. years. that we weren’t anywhere close to ready ing to our reader panel, made up of more decision that they want to continue living was one of our key recommendations. The government also committed more In each of the last three years, The Province for the coming explosion in the number of than 700 people who signed up with us alone and at risk? Part of our series was based on freedom- seniors. The first baby boomers turned 65 and gave us their photos. These responses One of the most moving stories was the last year and the number of seniors in our were sprinkled throughout the series and case of the man who weighed 59 pounds We found it was easier to buy a car in British Columbia than to area is expected to more than double in the allowed us to bring many voices to the when he died in a motel room with a next 20 years. issues. fridge full of food at the age of 71. The choose a care home. This is a huge subject area. You could All the Boomerangst stories appeared coroner who found him is haunted still by easily do 40 parts and not cover every- at theprovince.com. We set up a stand- the sight. thing to do with aging. We finally nar- alone website called bcseniorhelp.com. “How could he get to be that way with- rowed it down to 14 parts and made some We wanted it to become a go-to place out society trying to do more than what has been nominated in the National Newspaper early decisions. Each of the parts had to be for seniors and their families looking for they did?” he asked. The coroner took a of-information requests we had made money to helping seniors live in their own Awards’ special project category, winning it anchored with human stories. They had to resources, homes, and expert advice. We real chance talking to us about a death that for records about abuses and unexpected homes and agreed that having two separate twice. delve into the issues and contain a lot of recruited 10 experts willing to answer had been swept under the carpet. deaths in senior care homes throughout acts for public and private homes made no In 2009, The Province won the category for voices. In addition to exposing problems, reader questions on everything from de- One of the most shocking stories came B.C. sense. Operation Phoenix (http://www.nna-ccj.ca/ we looked for success stories and encour- mentia to how to get home health care. We to us from a reader who had been follow- We had a great deal of difficulty getting Michael McKnight, president of the wordpress_dev/wordpress/?p=936&lang=en), aged people to suggest solutions. turned to our research library, a web editor ing the series. Her father had died in a care this information. The numbers we were United Way of the Lower Mainland, a year-long investigation into Vancouver’s We put together a team made up of: in the newsroom and others to create this home that cost some $10,000 a month. finally sent were tied to vague incident credited the series for bringing the issues poverty-stricken Downtown Eastside neigh- Project editor, John Fuller; web editor, website, as well as the resources database. They told her he died peacefully. The only categories and no further details were of our aging society to a wide audience. bourhood.The paper has also won two Jack Erik Rolfsen, reporters Sam Cooper, Readers were invited to comment on the reason she found out the truth was through released. “Boomerangst caught a lot of people’s Webster Awards for feature projects in as many Cheryl Chan, Elaine O’Connor and Jenni- stories, and to discuss the issues on both a camera she had hidden in his room. This illustrated how difficult it is for attention. Certainly (the series) was a years, and was a finalist for a Michener Award fer Saltman; columnist, Jon Ferry; graphic websites. We also asked them for their She was shocked to see he had choked to families to make informed decisions about catalyst for some of the decisions in the a care home. We found it was easier to buy in 2007.

45 MEDIA FALL 2012 46 NNA Award Winner Local reporting I knew the hardest thing to get would be someone to humanize what Sarnia Observer - Hooked: a three-part series on prescription pill abuse in Sarnia, Ontario - Shawn Jeffords I was seeing. Without that, there was no series.

Our first meeting was over coffee for made calls before and after work hours. They saw things clearly when I was With the help of a determined single mother willing to go public, Shawn over an hour-and-a-half. She bared her Finally, I nailed down the last interviews blinded by the project. Jeffords had an essential element for a three-part series about a prob- soul, detailing her life as a small-time I needed for the series. Then I spent that -Be hard on yourself and forgive your- dealer and big-time user of a variety of same time writing. self. Be committed to the work and try lem in Sarnia that few people knew existed prescription opioids. It was a shocking I sent it to my former editors in Sarnia. your best. Then when the idealized (unre- interview. I don’t think I fully appreciated We took several passes at it, tweaking and alistic) vision you had for the work doesn’t until then the depths to which people will polishing. materialize, accept that a lot of the process go to get their pills. Then it ran and I was disappointed. But is actually out of your control. Take pride I remember leaving that first interview then something else happened. in the effort, because it is substantial. he first thing I remember feeling second part. He insisted it fit. Turns out he Our courts seemed to be over-run with with a real sense of excitement, but also People read the damn thing! -The biggest battle will be with yourself. Twhen I saw the piece was disap- was right. crime resulting from acts of desperation a feeling of commitment. I felt because I received messages and reaction. The For reporters in small newsrooms, it can pointed. In retrospect, it may have been the deci- – addicts trying to get their fix. The city’s Nancy had been so open, I owed it to her paper started reporting on how local politi- be very hard to imagine doing this sort I’m embarrassed to admit that now but sion that made the series an award-winner. methadone clinic, right across the street to tell her story. cians and health officials were meeting to of project after putting in a difficult day’s it’s the truth. It’s hard to say. But to me, the whole from the paper’s office, was busy 9-5. From there I started working away at hammer out funding for a detoxification work. I can’t make that feeling go away. It Through a miscommunication dur- episode is an example of how deeply It all cried out for a deeper look. interviews whenever I could during work centre, something a number of people didn’t for me. Ultimately, I did the work ing production for the Sarnia Observer, invested we become in these large projects I knew the hardest thing to get would be hours. Not an easy task when you’re quoted in the series called for. Suddenly, for me, for Nancy Roy and because I what I considered to be a key narrative and how important it is to be flexible. someone to humanize what I was seeing, expected to pump out two stories a day. the centre was going to be built. thought people in Sarnia needed to know introduction which was to run as a lead By the time we’d reached the day of a recovering addict who would share his I was given the odd day to chase down Things were changing. about the problem. into the series, was left off the first part publication, my editorial compass was or her story. Without that, there was no leads or do some writing, but there was I was thrilled, but mostly relieved. I’d Shawn Jeffords is an award-winning re- of “Hooked”, my three-part series on knocked all out of whack. I didn’t even series. never a period of sustained time, which is spent so many times on off-days, vacations porter and photographer for the St. Catharines prescription pill abuse in the city. know if the series was any good. My edi- I reached out to the methadone clinic what you really need, especially when you or just late at night thinking of the series, Standard. He spent seven years working at the sit down to write. wondering if it would ever get done. The Sarnia Observer prior to joining the Standard newsroom. He currently reports on education Time seemed to drag on. The interviews burden was lifted. and environmental issues. and information mounted. I got discouraged. At times, I felt like the world was conspiring to keep me BETTER DAYS: Things are brighter these from finishing. days for Nancy Roy, seen here spending In reality, it spoke to the lack of time with her children. available resources at a small paper INSPIRATION: Nancy Roy says her addiction to painkillers tore her life apart and hoped and the general obstacles you en- PHOTO CREDIT: SHAWN JEFFORDS/ FOR that sharing her story of overcoming her addiction would help others. counter when wrangling the sources THE OBSERVER/ QMI AGENCY you need to round out your story. PHOTO CREDIT: SHAWN JEFFORDS/ FOR THE OBSERVER/ QMI AGENCY Then I got a new job in St. Catha- rines, Ontario. I remember sending Nancy a Facebook message. I dreaded her reply. As it was, every few months I would get a message from her, dis- couraged that the story wasn’t done and wondering if it ever would be -- fair Lessons learned questions, to be honest. If I’ve gained any perspective on the This time, as always, I assured her whole experience it’s this: Here are the links to the series: it would be finished. I had the first two -Transcribe your interviews right away. The series was to run three consecutive tors, however, knew we had something. and spoke with the lead doctor and asked pieces largely written. I composed them I regretted not doing that because it added http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDis- Saturday’s in the Observer. I remember I think I felt that disappointment so if he had anyone in mind who might be at home, on weekends and the odd night a discouraging extra step that slowed me play.aspx?e=3383716 moping the day after the first piece ran. strongly, not just because of the error, but brave enough to help. after work. down when assembling the series. http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDis- It still stuck in my craw the follow- because it had taken me two years to get Enter Nancy Roy, a single mother of Her response back was heart-breaking. -Enlist mentors who care about the play.aspx?e=3391962 ing Monday when I met with the paper’s the monster of a series off the ground. four who had been clean for six years. She pleaded with me to finish. The prob- work. I had Jack Poirier and George http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDis- assignment editor over lunch. He was I’d noticed the growing volume of news Clean, but life was far from easy. The re- lem was only getting worse, she said. Mathewson, two seasoned reporters who play.aspx?e=3399948 game to salvage the intro in some fashion releases about prescription pills turning percussions of her addiction still reverber- So, on I went. I moved to St. Catharines, have done these types of projects before. and suggested we simply tack it onto the up in raids from our local police service. ated everyday in her life. 47 MEDIA FALL 2012 48 NNAAward Winner News photography Some people thought this moment was fake, staged, or created on Getty Images - photo of a couple kissing during theVancouver Stanley Cup riots - Rich Lam the computer.

Was it real, or was it fake? After Rich Lam’s famous photo became news world-wide, the questions about the image’s authenticity dampened his elation

t was Game Seven of the NHL finals At first I thought it was someone help- the first time. Iand I was a part of the Getty Images ing another person who may have been I honestly didn’t think much of it. As team covering the playoffs. This was it. injured. I shot my pictures and stopped the clock approached midnight, I was tired Game Seven. once others gathered around the pair. In and hungry. It wasn’t until I left the recep- During the hockey game, a riot broke my mind, the moment or the scene was tion the NHL had hosted for the media did out on the streets of Vancouver. While my over. I consider that the image might be noticed main job was to shoot the hockey game, a I quickly looked at the image on the among the hundreds of photos that were piece of me also wanted to be covering the back of my camera, noticed I had a couple transmitted that night when a fellow pho- events outside. of sharp images of the two people on the tographer called it epic. I went home, had When I finished what was required of street and moved on. a shower and went to bed. It was 3 AM. me, I asked my editors if I should join the The last thing I wanted to do was stand riot coverage. I went outside and shot sev- in one place in the middle of a riot looking The reaction eral images of the mayhem and started to through my pictures. I thought to myself Five hours later my phone rang. The head back to the arena when a friend and that I had a nice image of the two people person on the other end asked if I was the colleague mentioned that the department on the street and tagged it so that my edi- photographer who took the picture of the store, The Bay, was on fire. tors would notice it after I submitted my kissing couple. Still in a sleepy daze, I had The crowd converged on the store, burn- cards. to think for minute. ing and looting, and forcing riot police Looking back at the series of images, The next question the National Public on horseback to move in. At the main the moment the couple kissed was very Radio reporter asked was how I felt to be number three on the Internet. I was blown away and at a loss for What instantly caught my eye was the once- words. After finishing the interview, I this moment was fake, staged, or created I was also reminded of the cliché “one to a good photo is that it is a fake. That is looked at my phone and noticed on the on the computer. rotten apple spoils the bunch.” Once you not good for the profession of photojour- busy street was empty -- that is, except for screen, there were more than 40 emailed This troubled me. I took it as a personal fool readers, they wonder “what’s stop- nalist. messages. That is when I first thought this slight that my credibility and ethics as a ping this person or that person from doing My only advice to any up-and-coming two people lying on the ground. would be big. news photographer were being questioned. it again?” photographer is that before you decided to There were many emails that I received That being said, I accepted that we live in Now, it seems that the reader can no “make” your picture better on the com- about the image. Some people compli- the digital age where anyone, anywhere longer appreciate a good photo for just puter, just think of not only yourself, but mented me on the beauty of the mo- can say whatever she wants and post it on that: a good photo. the profession as a whole. ment amid the destruction and senseless the Internet. We now live in an age where the con- If photojournalists stop holding true violence. Others liked the photo’s artistic It frankly got ridiculous. At one point, sumer of news doesn’t just consume the to our standards, we will no longer be intersection, riot police on foot charged brief. So brief that I didn’t even notice that merits: the lighting, framing and subject someone even suggested the woman in the news that is presented, but questions it. trusted. If we are no longer trusted, we are the crowd. People ran away. they kissed when I made the images. The matter. photo was being sexually assaulted. It is There are a number of blogs, magazines no longer needed. After the police stopped, the crowd first time I was knew they were kissing also at this point I had to reflect on why and newspapers in circulation and hope- Richard Lam is a Vancouver-based freelance re-assembed. So the police charged again. was when a colleague who was in the Nice picture, but..... this is happening. fully, news gathered and produced by photographer who is available for assignments The crowd once again dispersed. editing room told me I had a nice picture However, with all the compliments, The credibility of the photojournalist professional journalists are the ones read- wherever and whenever. What instantly caught my eye was the of the couple kissing. I wasn’t sure what His work can be seen at www.richardl- there were blog posts and comments on that we once had as chroniclers of what’s ers can trust. once-busy street was empty -- that is, ex- she was talking about, so I ran back to the amphoto.ca or reached via e-mail at rich@ Twitter and Facebook regarding the im- happening in the world, takes a big hit That is healthy, in my opinion. What is cept for two people lying on the ground. editing room and saw it on the screen for richardlamphoto.ca age’s authenticity. Some people thought when people start altering images. unhealthy is that the reader’s first response 49 MEDIA WINTER 2012 50 cable relationship turned very sour. Now I GOOD-BYE -- FOR NOW! was getting angry messages from him and NNAAward Winner Columns Goodbye kisses were always a complaint to the Ontario Press Council, bittersweet, and this one which was dismissed. The Hamilton Spectator - A Cop in Crisis - Susan Clairmont was no different on the day Still, for months I attended each and Lillian visited Ray at the every court appearance, no matter how Wellington Park Care Centre. minor, to ensure I didn’t miss anything and to show Wills and his lawyer, John Rosen, PHOTO CREDIT: Gary Yokoya- Once in a while ideas for Susan Clairmont’s columns unexpect- that I wasn’t backing off. ma, The Hamilton Spectator That perseverance paid off because the edly re-surface years after making headlines. That’s how A Cop in Wills case became known as my story, and Crisis ended up in the paper. She also discusses two other columns unsolicited tips about new developments flowed my way. the same facility. wife. One evening, en route to my son’s soc- that were also part of her submission. It was a story about aging, health care, Back in the newsroom, I followed up cer practice, I learned Wills had breached social justice and love. But it was also with emotional phone interviews with two his house arrest – a kiss of a sentence that a story I have told before. In fact, every of the Alder children (who thanked me had outraged many in the community – A COP IN CRISIS newsroom has likely told a story about for chauffeuring their mom), who worried and was back in custody. spousal separation in long-term care. their father would quite literally die of a But it was what the former high-ranking ix years ago and eight months apart, But I knew Lillian’s story would be broken heart if he wasn’t soon reunited cop did to violate his conditional sentence two respected Hamilton police of- powerful. The length of their marriage, with their mother. S that was the real story. ficers killed themselves on duty, in their the strength of their love and her ability When I phoned the Ministry of Health He went golfing. cruisers, with their service Glocks. to eloquently tell her own tale made this and Long Term Care, I learned there are Working my BlackBerry from the soccer Their deaths hit their colleagues hard worth doing. 200 couples living in separate homes in pitch, I confirmed the story with numerous and left The Hamilton Spectator news- I arranged to visit her the next day. Ontario, awaiting spousal reunification. sources and wrote another exclusive on room struggling with what we should Lillian and I sat in her room and she told Though I hadn’t asked for it, the min- deadline. report – if anything at all. me of her glorious love affair with Ray. It istry spokesperson offered a one-on-one I was the only journalist in court the Like many media organizations, we gen- SHARING ROY’S STORY: After a five-year was crucial for readers to understand this interview with Minister Deb Matthews. next day when he argued that golf is a erally don’t report on suicides. But these silence, Roy Jones’ wife, Sharon decided amazing couple to fully appreciate the I took it, even though it resulted in little necessity of life and therefore his condi- were extraordinary cases, and in the end to talk publicly about her husband’s damage done by their separation. more than platitudes, a fact readers cer- tions allow it. I wrote – sparingly and without naming suicide to shatter its stigma, especially All the while Lillian was talking, I made tainly noticed for themselves. By using Wills’ own damning words either officer – about each death. among police officers. notes not only of her words, but also of all From the local care access centre I got usually let the person I’m interviewing along with court documents I obtained, The backlash from police was imme- my observations: her appearance, her nurs- waiting list numbers for our own commu- pick the location – somewhere they feel I was able to juxtapose the career cop’s diate. Officers cancelled their subscrip- PHOTO CREDIT: Kaz Novak, The Hamilton ing home and her hand-stitched sampler nity and an idea of how long it might take most comfortable. And though I ultimately ludicrous interpretation of his conditions tions, wrote angry letters to the editor and Spectator above the bed, a detail that would later for Ray and Lillian to be reunited – any- steer the conversation where I need it to with the actual wording of the order. personally berated me for prying into what become the column’s lede. where from “a few days to three or four go, I also let it wander. It’s surprising what Any time I’m in court I request copies they considered to be a private matter. I never trust myself to remember those years.” can come from that. GOLF ESSENTIAL TO HIS WELL- of all the public documents from the case Weeks later when I wrote a thought- details. I always write them down. It’s I interviewed a fabulous lawyer named I asked Sharon why she was speaking BEING I’m covering. You may think you heard ful, informative column about the phe- important for accuracy, but also – in some Jane Meadus who advocates for the elder- publicly now. I always ask that of victims In the ongoing saga of shamed Ham- everything in court, but the papers may nomenon of “cop suicides,” the current of my more litigious columns – crucial to ly. She made the crucial point that while and survivors. It helps me understand ilton Police inspector Rick Wills, it took have dates, names, details that you weren’t Hamilton chief would not participate in have should my notes be subpoenaed. the access centres take physical health into what they hope to get out of the story and diligence to get to the column that was aware of. You may have to wait in line at an interview and chastised me for heaping At the end of our interview Lillian asked consideration when prioritizing patients, also ensures that readers know the story included in my NNA winning portfolio. a counter for them, but often a Crown at- more despair on the grieving families. if I would drive her across town to see they do not consider mental health. has been done with their full consent and I had known Wills for more than a de- torney will hand over her copy to save you Fast forward five years. I get an email Ray. I agreed. Lillian is a sharp-minded This column was equal parts reporting cooperation. Sharon was telling it in the cade and had interviewed him many times, the trouble. from Sharon Jones, the wife of Constable woman, capable of making her own deci- and storytelling. I showed readers Ray and hopes of breaking down the stigma associ- particularly when he was the head of the In the end, neither the judge nor the Roy Jones, the second officer to take his sions. Lillian’s love for each other with my de- ated with suicide, particularly for police vice-and-drugs unit. When he resigned public bought Wills’ arrogant excuse, and life. But as I was driving along with Lillian – scriptions of their hand holding and their officers. suddenly under a cloud of suspicion, I for the first time in recent memory, a Ham- She had read my original coverage and a near stranger – in my passenger seat and painful goodbye. When the column appeared on the front broke the story and was there when he ilton cop was sent to jail. was writing to thank me and ask if I would her wheelchair in my trunk, it suddenly And I told the story of a host of other page I braced myself for the hate mail. made his first court appearance after being tell Roy’s story. She was ready to talk. dawned on me that her family had no idea couples going through the same scenario I didn’t need to. The letters to the editor arrested for stealing $60,000 worth of FORCED APART I asked if she discussed this with her what we were doing. by including the provincial and local and messages that poured in this time – a money seized in drug busts. Articulate, candid and feisty 86-year-old teen-aged children. She hadn’t. I insisted Have I just kidnapped Lillian? statistics. large number from Roy’s former co-work- It was my relationship with him that Lillian Alder had me at hello. she do so before we go any further. I The surprise visit to Ray and the emo- Six months later, Ray and Lillian were ers – were to thank Sharon for sharing her won me an exclusive interview. He said She phoned me in the newsroom, intro- didn’t want her kids to be surprised by tion that came from that all became part of reunited in the same home. I was also story and shining a light on a subject that he stole the money to give to charity – a duced herself and asked if I would tell her seeing a story about their father in the the column. Because Ray was experienc- there when they celebrated their 70th an- has been shrouded in secrecy for too long. Robin Hood story that never held up in story. paper. ing confusion at that time, I was only able niversary. Lillian wore lavender and Ray Sometimes the important stories are court where he eventually pleaded guilty. She and Ray, her husband of nearly 70 Our interview was long, painful and to gather one or two quotes from him. wore white tails, a bow tie and a top hat. the toughest to tell, but if you do it with I didn’t let him away with his nonsensical years, were forced to live in separate nurs- honest. Emotional interviews like this But by carefully watching, I was able Susan Clairmont is a columnist at The Hamil- integrity you will win respect. excuse in my columns, and as my cover- ing homes because the Community Care often take several hours for me to do. I to tell readers everything they needed to ton Spectator who often writes about crime and age of his case progressed, our once-ami- Access Centre could not find them beds in know about Ray’s separation from his justice issues. 51 MEDIA FALL 2012 52 NNAAward Winner Beat reporting

The Toronto Star - Stories of ageing - Susan Pigg

Susan Pigg wrote five award-winning columns that included the story of a gay couple celebrating a 50-year partnership

eporters aren’t supposed to have you have a keen interest, and slowly build issues and even the quirky characters that Ragendas. We’re supposed to be up a roster of contacts that you can mine bring texture, depth, context and breadth BATTLING HIV/AIDS AND AGING RAPIDLY: Jim Ayerst has been living with HIV for 20 years. He’s only 64, but “accelerated ageing” objective and open‑minded. But, let’s face during summer and slow times between to your beat. makes him feel 80. He’s dealt with diabetes, asthma, an aneurysm and memory and nerve issues. it, we’re all getting older. other stories. My aim was to enlighten, entertain, And, as a baby boomer in her 50s, it’s Despite the trend away from beats, I’m inform and hopefully delight readers while hard not to take that personally. a big believer in them. They allow report- reassuring them that aging isn’t all bad. getting the word out there that I was game pilots I’d first met a decade earlier cover- front was offering circus classes for adults. That’s why, in 2010, I asked to start up a ers to stretch themselves as writers and My NNA submission was a long shot -- to write about almost anything related to ing aviation in the dark days after the Sept. It sounded like a fun summer piece, but beat on aging. My aim was not to focus so reporters and wrestle control from editors. a collection of five very different stories: aging ‑‑ just in a different way. 11 terrorist attacks came the story: Sixty? when I dropped by to take a look, I found much on the horrors of nursing homes and A beat lets you set your own agenda, HIV and aging; Air Canada pilots fighting Usually you get the word out via your Time to come down to earth. the teacher -- Kennington -- to be a far byline: health reporter, education reporter. It focused on the bitter battle between more interesting story. Not many of us can But who wants to be known as “aging junior and senior Air Canada pilots over say we’ve been married to a flame swal- Despite the trend away from beats, I’m a big believer in them. reporter”? So I stuck a tag, instead, at the union and international aviation rules that lower! end of stories: Susan Pigg focuses on force pilots out of the cockpit at 60. The final article celebrated the long They allow reporters to stretch themselves as writers and reporters issues around baby boomers and aging. But it really highlighted the much big- partnership and passion of Andy Body and That’s part of the reason a very savvy ger issue: A new generation of workers Alan Hanlon, tireless fundraisers and flam- and wrestle control from editors. staffer at Toronto’s Casey House AIDS refusing to retire as their parents did, and boyant fixtures at Toronto galas who, I’d hospice called me one day to tell me how the very real impact that’s having on the been told by The Star’s fashion writer, had failing health, as on the ups and downs of showcase your personality and deliver to stay in the cockpit past the age of 60; HIV/AIDS is now more chronic disease workplace. been together for almost five decades -- those angst‑filled years in between -- the original stories that readers won’t find a gay couple celebrating 50 years as part- than death sentence and creating signifi- The other three stories were lifestyle rare for straight couples; almost unheard middle ages. elsewhere. ners; a 60‑year‑old trapeze artist edging cant challenges for the health‑care of in the gay community. The first time I asked two years earlier, A beat is like a giant onion: You start along the tightrope of life; and a column system. A beat lets you set your own They turned out to be an I was turned down. My editor at the time out with a “laundry list” ‑‑ that shiny outer on life lessons learned from a Supertramp That phone call, followed by three extremely private pair and, while didn’t believe in beats ‑‑ in fact, newspa- skin ‑‑ of big issues you’d like to tackle concert. weeks of research and interviews agenda...and they agreed to meet me on their pers have largely been abandoning beats in (in this case, ageism, Alzheimer’s, regret, The ideas stemmed from mining with two long‑time survivors willing own turf -- over drinks at the favour of having a newsroom of general- empty nesting, the aging workforce conference agendas (because it’s almost to talk about their challenges pub- deliver original stories that Avenue Bar of the Four Seasons ists. But I’ve found that doesn’t mean etc.) then, as you peel back layer after impossible to actually get to a conference licly, resulted in the piece: When HIV Hotel -- I clearly had to a pass a you can’t carve out areas of specialization layer, story by story, you uncover the anymore), cold calls to experts on every- moves into nursing homes: readers won’t find elsewhere. test first. If they didn’t like me, ‑‑ maybe a handful of subjects in which surprises: the unusual trends; the emerging thing from Alzheimers to longevity, and ‘Accelerated aging’ sends gay men the story was dead. to care centres prematurely, often Drinks, dinner and five hours forcing them back in the closet. later, I had the makings of a rich, The upside of having covered a colourful story -- with lots of lot of beats is that you have many pictures from their travels ‑‑ of a EVERLASTING: Andy Body, 79, left and Alan Hanlon, are pic- contacts, and it’s surprisingly easy to pieces, of sorts -- one a light‑hearted look deep, enduring commitment that spanned tured in their mid-Toronto apartment. reconnect. at lessons learned from a Supertramp two continents and half a century. I’d been looking for a way to write concert; the other two profiles meant Their story was such an inspiration about ageism and read about what sounded to inspire and celebrate lives lived with that, for days after it ran, Andy and Alan PHOTO CREDIT: COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR like a perfect example: Air Canada pilots aplomb. were stopped on the streets of Toronto and who’d gone to court to challenge a rule One focused on long‑time trapeze artist toasted in restaurants by strangers. that forced them to retire at the age of 60, Marsha Kennington. She was about to Which just goes to show, there’s nothing despite the so‑called “end” of mandatory turn 60, yet was still teaching the ropes at as ageless as a love story. retirement. Harbourfront’s circus school. To read Susan`s columns, please click Out of a week of research and calls to A friend had mentioned that Harbour- here.

53 MEDIA FALL 2012 54 The Michener Award The Times Colonist - Forced Move - Lindsay Kines Lindsay Kines (second from the right) explains how a tip turned into a series of stories spanning 20 months that led to changes in the care of some of B.C.’s disabled adults. The stories forced the province to promise $40 million to improve services, announce policy changes and demote the minister of social development

t began as a simple news story. In ment was misleading the public. Group truth. Ithe summer of 2010, I received a tip homes, they said, were being shut simply The government, however, continued that a B.C. government agency providing to save money, and their loved ones forced to deny everything. “We do not do forced services to adults with developmental dis- to move against their will. I tracked down moves,” became the mantra of Community abilities was looking to save $22 million one family with the help of a long‑time Living B.C.’s communications people, its — much of it by closing group homes. source. executives and successive ministers for the The agency, Community Living B.C., A second family was referred to me by better part of a year. hoped to recover about $3 million in our an Opposition MLA. A computer search The Times Colonist kept doing daily city alone, and then use the savings to deal turned up a third family that had been news reports, however, and columnists with a growing list of people waiting for affected by a group home closure, which and editorial writers added their voices, so services. had been covered by a weekly paper in an- that eventually people with developmental There was nothing particularly con- other community. All of the families told disabilities and their families began to troversial about the story at the time. A the same story of being given little to no identify the paper with the unfolding story. number of advocates expressed concern advance warning that their sister, brother Although a relatively small publication, about the size of the cut. But they also said or daughter’s long‑time home was being we began getting calls and letters from that many people would benefit by leaving shut down. across the province from people waiting group homes and moving in with a family, In the beginning, the families were my for services. We wrote about a young man where they would have greater indepen- only sources. The non‑profit agencies or with the mental age of a six‑year‑old held FORCED MOVE: Jenny Hile (left), 19 was forced to move from her mother, Wendy Massine’s, home because budget problems at Com- dence. private companies that ran the homes re- in an adult jail because there was no place mmunity Living B.C. The Children’s Ministry funding allowed Jenny to remain at home.

“We do not do forced moves,” became the mantra of Community PHOTO/CREDIT: ADRIAN LAM/TIMES COLONIST Living B.C.’s communications people, its executives and successive stories, but the Times Colonist pursued the to get people out of group homes, and hurt of the issue, but most of the credit goes to ministers for the better part of a year. mistreatment of the developmentally dis- too many families in the process. In some the families who stood up to the govern- abled over nearly 20 months, detailing all cases, closures were reversed and services ment in defence of their loves ones. They the ways in which people were being hurt. restored. And in early 2012, the govern- were the ones who brought the issue to As the story developed, advocacy ment boosted annual funding for people light. groups and unions joined forces to bring with developmental disabilities by $40 You can read some of the stories by The story ran below the fold of page A‑4 fused to return my calls, possibly because to put him in the community. more cases to light. Other media organi- million. clicking here. on June 6, 2010 — just another budget cut they feared further government budget We told the story about a family forced zations picked up the trail in mid‑2011, In retrospect, there was nothing special story. But one line in the story triggered a cuts if they spoke out. Advocacy groups to move their 19‑year‑old daughter out of and, eventually, even the government’s about the reporting, no secret sources, no Lindsay Kines was part of the Victoria number of calls: A public relations official had yet to realize the full extent of the their home because they feared losing the own backbenchers stood in the legislature, brown paper envelopes filled with confi- Times Colonist team that won the 2011 with Community Living B.C. was quoted problem. very services that allowed them to care for echoed our reporting, demanding action. dential documents. Michener Award. as saying that only people who “volun- The same went for unions. But the her. And we wrote about a young woman Change happens It was just daily slogging that relied on It was Kines’ fourth Michener nomina- teer” to move would be affected. “We do families, it turns out, were all I needed. confined to a psychiatric ward when her The minister responsible was demoted, the power of telling human stories over tion, having been a finalist for reporting not force people to make decisions before Despite the fact that they lived in different community placement broke down. the CEO in charge departed, a series of and over again until the public started to on child welfare issues and First Nations they are ready to make them,” she said. parts of the province and had never met The strength of the coverage was its reviews was ordered, and the government pay attention and to demand action. housing conditions while at the Times That one line infuriated families, who one another, they relayed strikingly similar doggedness. Governments can sometimes finally admitted that it had pushed too hard The Times Colonist has been honoured a Colonist and for coverage of the missing in the coming days, told me that govern- accounts that, together, carried the ring of withstand a single story, or even a week of number of times recently for its coverage women case while at the Vancouver Sun. 55 MEDIA FALL 2012 56 Inside the numbers

There are more journalism-related jobs than you think

By Kelly Toughill

ould it be that job prospects for in 1987? ported journalism has held. Others are Cjournalists are not as bad as we Two things: the comparison is with a working in the niche media that have been think? time of extraordinary plenty, and the figure nurtured by the same economic forces that Statistics Canada reports that 10,900 hints at hidden job creation. are destroying mass media. This is not just people earned their living as journalists The late 1980s were a great time to be a an Internet issue; the new opportunities are in 2011. That’s just a smidge more than journalist in Canada. Newspapers scoffed not all on one side of the digital divide. worked as journalists in 1987. at anything less than a 20 per cent profit, Consider this: there are more maga- For most professions, that kind of and ad revenues were strong across all zines in Canada today than a decade ago. stagnation would be pretty bad news. The media. Newsrooms grabbed a share of According to Magazines Canada, 2,069 population grows. The economy grows that wealth, and poured it into salaries magazines were published in 2011, com- Source: Statistics Canada and your job world doesn’t. Not good. and stories. Sure, there were some signs pared to 1,692 in the year 2000. That’s an The population has grown by 27 per circulation was “soft” -- that euphemism increase of 22 per cent in the number of The number of journalists working in Canada dipped dramatically in the late 1990s, then started to grow. Some are working in smaller markets, where the economic model of ad-supported journalism has held. Others are working in the niche

media that have been nurtured by the same economic forces that are dramatically in the late 1990s, then started Those who are looking for work, hoping the skills of an editor or photographer are to grow with the opportunities created by for work or even about to start work aren’t doing quite well. Employment of editors destroying mass media. the Internet and the shift to niche media. counted, nor are those who do something and photographers more than doubled cent since 1987, but only 9 per cent more created to hide the looming crisis -- but titles available on the newsstand in print. The numbers are so perplexing that else for a living, but consider themselves from 1987 to 2011. Canadians are working as journalists. It is there was no sense of urgency. A journal- They aren’t the blockbuster titles of yore; the methodology deserves scrutiny. The journalists. So what do these statistics mean for easy to feel left behind. ist who wanted to pursue a good story the newly successful titles appeal to small number of journalists employed in Canada Not every journalist working in Canada people who want to earn a living finding, But many of us are stunned that the could usually win the time and means to groups of people with shared politics, hob- each year is not published on the Statistics is captured under classification 5123. researching and telling true stories that numbers aren’t worse. We have watched do so, and often earned enough to buy a bies, sports, faiths, problems or jobs. Canada website. You have to request that Some are found under the umbrella of matter? They mean that our identity is a river of friends and colleagues flow out house in downtown Toronto. Having more And then there are the new digital start- from the Labour Division, and then run 5122 (editors) and 5221 (photographers). increasingly defined by the quality of our newsroom doors over the last decade. jobs than we had when the traditional ups. In Halifax alone, more than a dozen the numbers from the vast data generated The categories of editor and photographer skills and the dedication of our mission, Labour Force Survey Torstar announced in 2011 that it planned news industry was roaring, is not a bad journalists make a decent living writing by the , a monthly also include a lot of people who are not not by the brands and corporations to to kill about one-sixth of the workforce thing at all. for online news sites. There is AllNovaS- probe of 56,000 households. The survey journalists. which we are tied. left after years of buy-outs, outsourcing The second reason for hope is the sheer cotia.com, SportsDirectInc.com and provides the research foundation for much The city editor at the Free They mean that even if Canada is turn- and layoffs. perplexity of the numbers. We have all . Those are just the sites with of Canada’s economic policy. In other Press would be counted in 5122, but ing away from traditional media, there is Gage CBC is cutting hundreds of jobs, the lat- watched newsrooms shrink. That is not full-time staff. Then there is Haligonia. words, it’s very solid. so, too, would a line editor of the still an appetite and appreciation for the The survey uses a framework called Canadian Dictionary est move in a perpetual dance of elimina- a mirage. There are fewer journalists caOpenfile.ca, Halifax.mediacoop.ca and others that . A photojournalist mission of journalism. Those of us who tion and attrition. Rogers, Shaw, Transcon- working in most daily newspapers, local employ professional journalists part-time. embedded with the Canadian military falls stake our livelihood on venturing into the Statistics. “Journalist” is classification under the same job classification as a wed- world to find out what’s going on, well tinental and BellMedia -- no company has television stations, national networks, wire That proliferation of experimental new the National Occupation Classification been immune. services and radio stations than a decade sites is replicated across the country. 5123. It includes 73 different jobs that ding photographer. we’re holding our own. For now, in this So what could possibly be good about ago. So if newsrooms are smaller, where The Statistics Canada figures show range from “television anchor person” It is hard to extract much information era of flux and chaos and change, that’s the fact that the same number of journal- are the journalists working? that these aren’t even the worst times for to “online chronicler.” The number of from the Labour Survey about photogra- OK. Kelly Toughill is the director of journalism at ists are working in Canada today com- Some are working in smaller markets, journalists in recent memory. The number employed journalists only reflects those phers or editors who work in journalism, the University of King’s College in Halifax. pared to 2001, and only slightly more than where the economic model of ad-sup- of journalists working in Canada dipped who are actually working as journalists. but it is easy to see that those who have

57 MEDIA FALL 2012 58 Mapping Using Fusion Tables to map parking CBC News Network is the most watched news network in Canada. A step-by-step guide

By Stuart A. Thomson

ata journalism is a Tables, a web interface Dgrowing part of most that lets you upload data newsrooms, so now is a good to the cloud and create time to learn more about visu- tables, maps and interac- alizing information. tives quickly. With more governments This step-by-step guide releasing data to the public and will give you a starting more technology being devel- point to create a simple oped to handle that data, now is map and legend using the perfect time to polish your Fusion Tables. data journalism skills. Please click here to One of the tools that’s al- obtain the tutorial, which ready very popular in data jour- can also be downloaded. nalism circles is Google Fusion

Driven by the success of

CBC News Network * audience share is up 40% Click on the following links to see examples of Stuart`s stories using Fusion Tables sustaining its position as Canada’s

Interactive Map: Explore the data behind Toronto’s working poor #1 news network.

Explore the data: Toronto bicycle collisions mapped over 25 years

Interactive: City of Toronto homicides and gang activity, 2008 to present

Perils threatening the Northern Gateway pipeline

Click on the links to access these Fusion Table tutorials

Fusion Table tutorial (MaryJo Webster, St. Paul Pioneer Press) * Source: BBM Canada 2010/11 regular season (weeks 1-31) English audience share, confi rmed data, compared with 2009/10 regular season. Quickly visualize and map a data set using Google Fusion Tables

How to make a map in Google Fusion Tables

59 MEDIA FALL 2012 60 Net Tips

When mapping events such as crime or voter turnout, you need to give readers as much information as possible

By Lucas Timmons

oogle Fusion Tables is a wonderful tool for journalists and since its launch many different news organizations have done some Ggreat things with it. One of the common complaints about Fusion Tables however, is that there is a lack of map markers. This can really limit what Fusion Tables can do for you. Click here to obtain the tutorial and here for his tutorial from the previous edition of Media.

This community resources map worked well because we updated the map as more data became available. We also took suggestions from readers for datasets to add to the map, and we leveraged the data from this map to tell stories about how far people must go to find a daycare for their kids and which new neigh- bourhoods were being ignored when it came to services. For example, by turning on the community-age layer and the library layer, readers could see how many new neighbourhoods have access to a public library. The answer? None. To find the communicy resources map online, please visit the following link: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/living-on-the-edge/index.html

This homicide map worked really well because it allowed us to see where murders were concentrated throughout the city. For example, 107th Ave. and 96th St. form a nexus of homicide in the city. It also vindicated some areas. Mill Woods, a neighbourhood in the south east of Edmonton was colloquially known as “Kill woods”. Using the heat map layer, it was easy to see that the four neighbourhoods that make up the downtown core had greater number of homicides than Mill Woods. Without the map these patterns never would have been obvious. We were able to provide readers with the ability to look at the data themselves and make their own judgement. To find the homicide map online, please visit the follow- ing link: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/homicide/map/index.html

61 MEDIA FALL 2012 62 In Newfoundland last Access to information NO ACCESS: June, Kathy Dunderdale’s govern- The dangerous diversion of faux FOI ment passed Bill 29, a law to keep cabinet and companies’ records

Open data and social media may stifle progress secret, block the information

commissioner from viewing some By Stanley Tromp documents and raise FOI fees. An

anadian journalists and the public of legal coercion. It is the foundation of Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stephen expert on international access-to- Cthey serve face a serious dilemma accountability, and without that, we really Harper’s promises of 2006 to update today: the basic choice between two paths have nothing. the grievously archaic 1982 Access to information laws said the bill would for state accountability. Lest anyone think my warning is Information to world standards remain The first path is governments’ hot new overstated, please note that this is already unfulfilled, and in all these discussions place the province lower in rank fad of voluntarily posting online data sets happening. In Newfoundland last June, for there was no mention whatsoever of FOI of information, as well its use of more so- example, the government shocked observ- law reform. than some Third World countries if it cial media such as Twitter and Facebook. ers by boldly gutting its FOI law in Bill 29 Of the town hall, Vincent Gogolek of The second path is the urgent need for to keep cabinet and companies’ records se- the B.C. Freedom of Information and passed. It did. more effective freedom-of-information cret, block the information commissioner Privacy Association (FIPA) told CBC: (FOI) laws, municipal, provincial and from viewing some documents, raise FOI “Everyone thinks it’s so cool that the min- federal statutes that give every citizen the fees, and allow ministers on their own to ister tweets, and talks about ‘crowdsourc- legal right to compel the state to release bar any FOI request they called “frivo- ing’ and other techie buzz, but it’s like the records. lous.” Then, during the debate, govern- government’s saying: ‘Look at the shiny The hard fact of life is that most govern- ment members boasted as proof that “we new gee-gaws that we have here, and ments will grant one option or the other are committed to openness” that they were ignore the smell coming from the access to panaceas may be simply too naive to real- ter was being employed by Vancouver’s Some observers believe that both sides - but rarely both. Ideally, these two routes posting ministers’ travel and expense re- information system.’ “ ize how governments can cynically use Downtown Eastside residents to locate need to bend a little; that is, FOI law their pro-transparency rhetoric for anti- homeless shelter beds available that night, advocates should not dismiss all data sets transparency ends. While such a perni- or to help them find the lowest cost or free as useless, and digital enthusiasts in turn cious indirect result might not have been food. should work to protect and improve FOI their intent, the outcome of this tragic Secondly, the online data set and social laws. I predict that, by inadvertently weakening the FOI system, the irony is the same nonetheless. media solution is not nearly so democratic As Skelton said: “FOI folks need to be I predict that, by inadvertently weaken- as its boosters claim, for one needs techni- less cynical, and open data folks need to digital activists’ efforts could make vital public records harder to ing the FOI system, the digital activists’ cal expertise to process and understand be more cynical.” efforts could make vital public records data sets, expertise that much of the public The government’s strategy may be one obtain in the future. harder to obtain in the future. A hope- lacks. of divide-and-conquer, yet I do now see ful sign is that lately a few of them seem Moreover, how many homeless can the value of some proactively released to articulate a vague feeling of missing afford iPhones and laptops? On this point, data sets and social media. something. Yet for now they seem mostly I see a class split growing between the I also stand 100 per cent behind my dazzled and dazed by new technology, techo-rich and the so-called “techno peas- conclusion that without FOI law reform, first mistaking quantity of information for ants” - which leads not to more socio- much (but not all) of the Canadian digital quality, then form for content, and finally political equality, but less. activists’ campaign is inadvertently (but would both be followed, and treated inde- cords online, as well as starting a program While some of these data sets are the means for the ends. Thirdly, as the Ottawa Citizen’s Glen not deliberately) more damaging than pendently. But, in a bait-and-switch game, to digitize and post historical deeds. interesting, they are mainly a (felicitously All that being said, I have modified my McGregor well notes on page 14: “The helpful to the open government cause. the political reality is that governments In the same vein, Ottawa announced its named) “document dump”, useful for opinion -- somewhat. open data movement has compelled some There is a positive alternative: if they will inevitably (and successfully) exploit “open data portal,” which collates 260,000 commercial data-miners or app develop- First, I came to realize that data sets governments to proactively publish elec- and their spokesperson David Eaves the concessions about the first option to government data sets on everything from ers, and a delight for trivial pursuit players released to the public are not all insubstan- tronic data, but these typically are of little focused their digital and social media ignore public demands on the second. immigration statistics to mapping co- everywhere, including, for instance, a tial. interest to journalists. . . To get the good energies on mounting campaigns to gain Over the decades, we have faced many ordinates. registry of all Canadian civil aircraft, as A B.C. government Internet designer stuff, you’ll still need to file FOI requests needed FOI law reforms, this could indeed threats to the FOI system, but this one is in The B.C. government created DataBC, a well as a history of federal ridings since related how data sets on road intersec- for electronic data.” be the greatest public service. some ways the most damaging of all, be- catalogue of 2,500 data sets. Federal Trea- Confederation. tions with the highest accident rates were Chad Skelton of the Vancouver Sun and Stanley Tromp is the freedom-of-infor- cause it convincingly poses as a resolution sury Board president Tony Clement hosted This is, overall, an absurdly shallow mapped and used by parents as a guide for other reporters have made the same point. mation caucus coordinator of the Canadi- to the problem while – though unnoticed a so-called “Twitter town hall” to discuss idea of open government, an Internet their children on which streets to avoid It seems to demonstrate that a strong FOI an Association of Journalists (CAJ), and a and indirectly – actually making it worse. using social media to make government tranquillizer spread a kilometre wide and when walking to school. law is the only guarantee for real transpar- Vancouver-based freelance journalist who The vital missing factor is the power more transparent. a millimetre deep. Promoters of Internet As well, data transmitted through Twit- ency. writes frequently about this topic. 63 MEDIA FALL 2012 64 AN ANGRY VOICE Ethics So the next time you listen to the non-deliberative commentary by Rush Limbaugh, ask yourself this: Are we, as a society, training ourselves to The emotional commitment to objective journalism emotionally accept (and support) such displays of emotion?

Impartiality and objectivity as bloodless norms is an absurd caricature

A REASONED VOICE John Dewey said that we evaluate our biases By Stephen J.A. Ward by seeing how they help us inquire correctly into, and deal fairly with, the substantive is- sues of the day.

ften, when I speak to audiences ism. Without this emotion, talk of impar- ‘Educating’ the emotions SOURCE: University of Chicago Centennial Oabout impartial, objective journal- tiality has no motivating power. One simplistic view is that the emotions Catalogues ism, my listeners are skeptical about the Does this mean that impartiality and undermine our rationality and need to be very idea. objectivity are biases? Yes, they are biases. excluded from logical thinking. Another Some say that everyone has biases, so But not all biases are equal. The bias view is just the opposite: We need to trust objectivity is a myth. Others voice another towards impartiality justifies itself by its our emotions and not be controlled by that complaint: An impartial journalist is a positive impact on journalism. It is not an old despot, reason. other perspectives, respectful disagree- Journalism and democratic ism than partisan journalism, especially a bloodless eunuch. She pretends to have unquestioning bias. A better view, espoused by philoso- ment and evidence-based claims. emotions partisan journalism that uses extreme emo- no feelings on the issue at hand; she is Also, the bias towards impartiality is a pher John Dewey, avoids both extremes. In short, we need impartial and objec- Dewey’s view of emotions has a direct tions and polarizing discourse to inform “detached” and “disinterested” -- which positive bias that works against negative, Dewey thinks that, as individuals and as a tive forms of inquiry and journalism. implication for the debate over what citizens. means she is uncaring. Who wants to be distorting biases, such as wishful thinking, society, we need to ‘educate our emotions’ Therefore, our education system and forms of journalism our democracy needs. The claim, which I have criticized in that sort of person, let alone that sort of ignoring contrary facts, and promoting so as not be controlled by them; we need other agencies should teach citizens to It implies that we need journalists and previous columns, that democracy only journalist? Journalistic eunuchs are strange stereotypes about others. to learn to integrate our emotions and rea- wisely use their emotions to enhance journalism programs that create what I call needs a robust free press exaggerates the creatures in an age of personal, multime- Impartiality in journalism means: caring soning faculties to reach more satisfying democracy. “deliberative spaces” in opposition to the value of free speech for democracy. dia journalism. enough about reaching the truth to not levels of experience and more democratic One way is to give students and citizens partisan commentators on radio and the So the next time you listen to the non- places where they can participate in delib- intolerant bloggers online. deliberative commentary by Rush Lim- erative fora. We need journalists who have educated baugh or watch “talking heads” angrily The bias towards impartiality is a positive bias that works against We need to educate our emotions so that their emotions so as to prefer deliberative attack each other on TV, ask yourself this: we value and enjoy deliberating in fair and communication; we need media spaces Are we, as a society, training ourselves negative, distorting biases, such as wishful thinking, ignoring contrary impartial ways. that allow a deliberative citizenry to exist; to emotionally accept (and support) such We need to educate our emotive habits– and we need citizens who have emotional displays of emotion? facts, and promoting stereotypes about others. that is, the emotions we favor, such as habits that favor deliberative forms of In my estimation, angry, non-deliber- anger over calmness, and how we typi- journalism. ative voices are non-democratic voices. cally respond to situations. Impartial public journalism seeks to de- The fact that they enjoy free speech as This misunderstanding ignores two prejudge the story before inquiry; to be forms of community. Whether we favor compassion or cal- velop the moral character of journalists so individuals does not make them democrats central facts: First, the ideal of impartial willing to step back critically from one’s On this view, our emotions and values lousness, or whether we prefer to deliber- that their love of evidence, verification, ac- as citizens.So where, I ask you, do we find journalism never asked journalists to be beliefs to learn from others; to follow all are essential components of good reason- ate with people or shout at them, much curacy, fairness and impartiality are strong today the deliberative media spaces that that sort of person; second, a belief in ob- of the facts wherever they lead. ing and inquiry. They are part of good depends on the culture and the media in enough to motivate their inquiries. we need? Is our culture increasingly non- jective reporting is grounded in emotions This is my notion of pragmatic objectiv- communal deliberation about issues. How- which we are immersed. We need to educate the emotions of deliberative in its media and in its broader – in an emotional commitment to the best ity in journalism. In my view, objectivity ever, the right emotions, directed in the This is not to deny value to the occa- journalists. John Dewey said that we eval- values? possible journalism. and impartiality do not require a journalist right manner, must be operating in specific sional burst of righteous anger or strong uate our biases by seeing how they help us Our hope for deliberative democracy (or any professional) to have no values, situations. emotion in democratic discourse; nor is inquire correctly into, and deal fairly with, depends, in the long run, on what social Journalism as “eros” no purposes, no cares; to have no opinions For example, when it comes to demo- it to deny the value of expressing oneself the substantive issues of the day. habits of discussion we foster in schools, No one can practice impartial journal- and to be neutral about everything. cratic deliberation among different freely. In terms of journalism, the question be- in public meetings, in institutions, and in ism without a deep and unwavering love Impartiality and objectivity as bloodless viewpoints, the best method of inquiry is Deliberative discussion is not tepid comes: Which form of journalism, overall, our newsrooms. of truth-seeking through evidence-based norms is an absurd caricature. How could not subjective ranting and unfair verbal ‘politically correct’ discussion. Between promotes the sort of journalism we need Stephen J. A. Ward is the director of the inquiry. Plato described philosophy as a such ideas have arisen? It has a lot to do warfare; nor do we want sloppy and wish- ranting and politically correct discussion, today – partial or impartial journalism? Center for Journalism Ethics at the Uni- form of love, an “eros” for wisdom. Simi- with how our culture often fails to think ful thinking to be dominate. there is lots of room for fair, inclusive and I think that, for deliberative democracy, versity of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of larly, impartial journalism is an “eros” for carefully about the emotions and their What we need is a strong emotional deliberative discussion among citizens. there is greater value in impartial journal- Journalism and Mass Communication. insightful, well-supported public journal- place in democracy. commitment to verification, openness to 65 MEDIA FALL 2012 66