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FINALISTS FOR 2001 AWARD
Four daily newspapers, a television network, and a news agency
were the finalists for the 2001 Michener Award for meritorious
public service journalism.
Nominated entries were submitted by, in alphabetical order, CBC
News, The Canadian Press, The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, ON.),
Toronto Star, The Vancouver Sun, and the Winnipeg Free Press.
The Michener Award, founded in 1970 by the late Right Honourable
Roland Michener, then Governor General, goes to a news organization.
The Award is heavily influenced by the results generated by the
entries submitted for the competition. Consideration is also given
to the resources available to the news organization.
The 2001 Michener Award finalists:
CBC News, The National: Trail of a Terrorist provided a
detailed story of the life in Canada of convicted terrorist Ahmed
Ressam. The Algerian came to Montreal, was allowed to apply for
refugee status, lived on welfare, obtained a false Canadian
passport, travelled to Afghanistan for terrorist training and
returned to Montreal. All this before he was eventually arrested by
United States Customs trying to enter the U.S. with equipment to
bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the Millennium. Former
Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said Ressam could not be deported
because the Canadian government could not get "travel
papers" for him. The documentary had significant impact in
Canada and the United States.
The Canadian Press: The national news agency entered a series
of stories on conditions in womenıs prisons. CP reporters
interviewed prisoners, staff, advocates, and experts at prisons in
four provinces. Five years after the critical report of Justice
Louise Arbour on the treatment of women offenders, series
found some of the main recommendations were not implemented. Maximum
security inmates, some with mental problems, were being held in
long-term isolation in menıs prisons. In some respects conditions
had deteriorated. After the series ran in newspapers across the
country, advocacy groups launched a human rights challenge,
protesting the conditions of women in security. Other media picked
up the story. Improvements in the conditions have been noted.
The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo) : The newspaper entered a
continuing investigation into too-good-to-be-true lease financing
for a Waterloo city park that produced major ramifications in
Ontario. The Record submitted 11 news reports, 12 editorials and an
editorial cartoon published between May 11 and December 29, 2001.
The financing deal with MFP Financial Services Ltd, claimed a 4.7
per cent interest rate. Acting out of journalistic curiosity, the
paper began to investigate. It uncovered misuse of public funds that
extended well beyond Waterloo. The stories have resulted in audits,
municipal investigations and multi-million dollar lawsuits against
MFP Financial Services Ltd. The Ontario government has drafted new
legislation to protect municipal taxpayers.
The Toronto Star: Medical Secrets was the theme of a series
about a lax Ontario medical regulatory system that failed to hold
doctors accountable for practices harmful to patients. Finding no
database existed of disciplinary cases since 1994, the paper created
one. There was significant public response. Complaints against
doctors were handled routinely by the College of
Physicians and Surgeons behind closed doors unless they resulted in
discipline. One doctorıs licence was never revoked after two
disciplinary actions involving the deaths of two patients. Another
doctor was allowed to continue to practice, despite numerous
complaints documented by the Star. A class-action lawsuit has been
launched against the doctor. The series resulted in a shakeup at the
College of Physicians and Surgeons. The established its own database
of disciplinary cases. The Ontario government launched a legislative
review with a view to improved transparency and accountability.
The Vancouver Sun: The newspaper entered an 11-part series
published between September and November 2001 about the
disappearance of women from Vancouverıs east side. The reports
raised the number of women, missing and presumed murdered, from 27
to 45. They described laxness in the Vancouver police departmentıs
investigation and disclosure practices, the lack of a compatible
computerized database on sexual predators, and deficiencies in the
storage of DNA. The series resulted in the establishment of a joint
RCMP-Vancouver Police Task Force, with additional staff and
resources.
For the first time the police met with the families of the missing
women.
Winnipeg Free Press was chosen for two entries, each a series
about the plight of children on Winnipeg streets. One tackled child
prostitution, a growing problem that has been generally ignored or
unrecognized. In the four-part series, the children, police, school
employees and advocates were interviewed. The result was a police
sweep of child prostitutes and johns, plans for the cityıs first
safe house, and a move to increase the age of consent. The other
series concentrated on young people involved in drug dealing,
panhandling and squeegee activity. The stories shed light on the
kidsı backgrounds and why they are on the streets.. The series
presented a prescription for remedial action by families and
agencies charged with helping them.
The judges for the 2001 Michener Award:
Senator Joan Fraser, former editor, The Gazette, Montreal; David
Humphreys (chair), former managing editor, The Albertan and The
Ottawa Journal; Arch MacKenzie, former Ottawa Bureau Chief, The
Canadian Press and The Toronto Star; Duncan McMonagle, former
editor-in-chief, Winnipeg Free Press; René Roseberry, former news
editor, Le Nouvelliste, Trois Rivières and President of the Grands
Prix des Hebdos du Quebec.
The judges for the 2002 Michener-Deacon Fellowship:
Clinton Archibald, associate professor of public policy and
management, Faculty of Administration, University of Ottawa; Lindsay
Crysler, adjunct faculty member, school of journalism, University of
Kingıs College, Halifax; former managing editor The Gazette,
Montreal; former director, journalism department, Concordia
University, Montreal; Claire Helman, former film-maker, National
Film Board; former public affairs broadcaster, CBC Radio; former
lecturer in communications at a Japanese University; Jodi White
(chair), former producer, CBC Radio; Chief Operations Officer,
Earnscliffe Strategy Group,
Ottawa.
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