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La Presse wins 2003 Michener Award for reporting on social issues
Ottawa, Thursday, April 15, 2004. Montreal daily La Presse
was the winner of the this year's Michener Award for meritorious
public service in journalism. The newspaper was honoured for two
series of reports on social
issues affecting the elderly in long term care centres and patients at a Montreal hospital.
The newspaper was among six finalists
honoured in a ceremony at Rideau Hall - home to Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.
Philippe Cantin, vice-president and deputy editor of La Presse,
accepted the award from Her Excellency on behalf of his newspaper. Citations of Merit
were presented to five other news organizations (see entry
descriptions below). Prior to the presentation of the awards, the Governor
General said that freedom of speech and a free press were the
hallmarks of a healthy democracy and added that "at its best, journalism
gives a voice to the powerless, brings those who are marginalized
into the wider conversation, and often leads to the righting of
social wrongs." (the full text)
Pierre Bergeron, President of the Michener Awards Foundation,
said the judges had a particularly difficult time this year
narrowing the field down to six finalists and
selecting only one of the six finalists as the winner because of the
high calibre of the entries. While the judges awarded merit
citations, they decided against designating any one entry as the
runner-up.
Cecil Rosner |
Long time Canadian journalist Cecil Rosner is the recipient of the 2004 Michener-Deacon Fellowship.
Mr. Rosner is bureau chief for CBC English
Television News in Manitoba and also senior producer for CBC
News: Disclosure. He has been with CBC for the past 14 years
and contributed to CBC News teams that won Michener Awards in 1991
and 2000. He plans to write and research a book about the history of
investigative journalism in Canada.
Full story.
The first series of stories by La Presse drew a shocking
portrait of care provided to the elderly in residential and
long-term care centres (CHLSDs) that made readers shudder and
resulted in public protest. The second series of articles raised
awareness about the wrongful treatment of patients at
Saint-Charles-Borromée hospital in Montreal: threats, mocking, and
scornful, violent and sexual comments by employees. The publication of these
series, to which
editorials and columns were added, raised the public’s awareness
about the fate of the elderly and people with decreasing
independence and led to a major debate on this issue in Quebec.
La Presse shed light on hidden situations that otherwise
would never have been made public. The reports by investigative
journalist André Noël forced the authorities to act quickly to
correct the situation. The Saint-Charles-Borromée
hospital was effectively placed in trusteeship and Quebec's minister
of health announced the establishment of a task force to review the
complaint system. And the health department now conducts surprise inspections
at residential and long-term care centres. The Human Rights
Commission opened 125 cases to investigate health facilities in
Quebec suspected of assault against and financial exploitation of
the elderly and people with disabilities.
Prior to the award ceremonies, the Governor General presented
letters patent for a new heraldic badge to members of the Michener Awards Foundation executive.
The badge which borrows the strong blue and gold colors from the
Michener coat of arms displays the motto 'VERITAS ANCILLA LIBERTATIS'
(Truth in the Service of Freedom) and crossed quills representing
print journalism and a lightning bolt for broadcast and other forms
of electronic journalism.
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Pierre Bergeron -
President
Michener Awards Foundation
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Pierre Bergeron presented the first
Michener Award medallion
to the Governor General in recognition of her support for the
Michener program and for public service journalism. Mr. Bergeron
explained to the awards audience that the Foundation board felt that
journalists contributing directly to the nominated finalist entries
and to the award winning entry deserved recognition. The Michener
Award itself goes to
the media organization. As a result, the Foundation commissioned
award medallions to be presented to the journalists responsible for
the winning entry and award pins for all the other finalists.
In
announcing the creation of the Foundation's
new heraldic badge with its motto - 'Truth in the Service of Freedom'
- Mr. Bergeron said that Canadian journalism is in very good health judging
by the quantity and quality of this year's entries from across the
country.
He added that "honouring those who put 'truth in the service of
freedom' could not sum up in a better way the work of our news
organizations in our local, provincial, and national communities.
The events of the last year have emphasized the importance of media
as the watchdogs of good governance. It is with that spirit in mind
that we will also recognize the investigative work of these
professionals by giving the winners a medallion as a tribute to
their excellence in reporting". The Michener Award
finalists were selected from among 57 entries representing news
organizations, large and small, from across Canada.
Citations of Merit were awarded to:
CBC News (Saskatoon),
for reports that proved the Saskatoon police, despite denials, had
been dropping aboriginals outside the city since the 1970s.
Four years ago Darrell Knight, an aboriginal man, alleged
that Saskatoon police officers abandoned him in a field outside the
city in freezing weather. Since then the CBC News team has made a
major contribution to justice in three cases that came to light
following Knight’s allegations that were initially denied. Two
deaths that occurred in 2000 rekindled interest in a third, that of
Neil Stonechild, who died 10 years earlier. An inquiry into the
Stonechild death is continuing. For three years CBC News
systematically, thoroughly and effectively investigated every lead
and broke a series of stories developed from information supplied by
sources. In June 2003 the Saskatoon police chief admitted the
allegations were true and apologized for insisting for three years
that the cases were isolated incidents.
Winnipeg Free Press, for an investigation into the 10-year-old
murder conviction of James Patrick Driskell. The investigation
uncovered new evidence in the case and cast doubt on the integrity
of the work of the police and prosecution. Driskell called the Free
Press in 1999 in a desperate bid to overturn the 1991 murder
conviction. Nearly four years later, in March 2003, the paper
published the results of a painstaking investigation that eliminated
or weakened nearly every piece of evidence used to convict Driskell.
The Free Press persevered against constant pressure, obstacles, and
criticism by the provincial government and Winnipeg police. The
federal justice department opened a full investigation and the Manitoba government
launched an inquiry. Driskell was released on bail when the judge decided that, based
on the evidence produced by the Free Press, it would be unconstitutional to keep
Driskell
imprisoned.
The Toronto Star, for two entries that exposed abuses against
vulnerable citizens and produced remedial action. One was an
investigation into conditions in Ontario nursing homes. The Star
assembled and analyzed databases of government information. The
result was evidence of widespread neglect, mistreatment and abuse of
tenants of the homes. The Ontario government instituted surprise
random inspections and a toll-free hotline for reporting of
concerns. The other series examined Toronto apartment inspection
records and interviewed dozens of tenants in low-income housing. The
reports disclosed unsanitary, squalid living conditions. The Ontario
government has responded with a new disclosure system for
inspections, including the posting of inspection results on a web
site.
The Globe and Mail, for two series published in Report on
Business. Building on a previous series, Board Games, published in
2003, looked at the quality of corporate governance of hundreds of
large companies and has played a major role in the significant reform of
the way major corporations are administered and controlled. A second entry reported the full range of risks to
investors who buy income trusts. The series raised the questionable
quality of some businesses that are marketed to ordinary investors
as income trusts. It measured progress in improvements and disclosed
areas of weakness such as conflicts of interest among directors and
abuse of stock options. As a result, auditing standards and tax laws
governing trusts have been reviewed. The Canadian Securities
Administrators have introduced new guidelines for the industry.
The National Post, for a campaign launched in August of 2003
to support 23,000 war widows who were denied a widows’ benefit by
government regulations. The regulations allowed the benefit only to
widows already receiving assistance or whose husbands died after May
12, 2003. That meant the widows whose husbands had already died were
excluded. In a major feature the Post highlighted the plight of 20
elderly widows across Canada, clearly demonstrating hardship and the
need for the assistance. As a result the Standing Committee on
Veterans Affairs called unanimously for the benefit to be extended.
Just before Remembrance Day 2003, the government reversed its
position and extended the benefit to excluded widows.
Award Night Photo Gallery
Representatives accepting Citations of Merit on behalf of their respective news organizations
(click on photos to enlarge)
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The Globe and Mail |
Winnipeg Free Press |
Toronto Star |
Judges for the 2003 Michener Award:
David Humphreys (chair), former managing editor, The Albertan
(Calgary) and The Ottawa Journal and Europe correspondent, FP
Publications; Arch MacKenzie, former Ottawa Bureau Chief, The
Canadian Press and The Toronto Star; Dr. Catherine McKercher, former
Washington correspondent, The Canadian Press, associate professor of
journalism and communications, Carleton University; Duncan
McMonagle, former senior editor, The Globe and Mail, and 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 distinction between the Michener and other media awards is
primarily the emphasis on the degree of arm's-length public benefit
that is generated. Journalistic excellence alone is not enough. Other
criteria include the resources available to the news
organization an effort to level the playing field for small, medium, and large applicants.
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