Recognizing quality journalism

Did anyone hear CBC Radio Noon today? Much of it was themed around the Zachary Turner murder case, opening with a riveting interview with Elliot Leyton, who was on the committee appointed by the Child and Youth Advocate to investigate how the murder of little Zachary was permitted to happen. Leyton laid it on the line and was not shy about apportioning blame. That was followed by the Crosstalk call-in show, with David Bagby as special guest. Bagby spoke about his new book, "Dance With the Devil" (the devil being Dr. Shirley Turner). You can truly hear Bagby's anger when he talks about this case - anger that simmers close to the surface even now. It was difficut to listen to this program without having your emotions yanked from anger to grief to compassion to outright shock... such as when Bagby said that his only regret is not killing Shirley Turner while he had the chance. You don't hear radio like this every day, and I congratulate Anne Budgell and the crew on putting together such an unforgettable show. (You can hear it by going to the CBC Radio Noon archive.)

While on the the tragic story of Zachary Turner, congratulations are also in order for Chris O'Neill Yates of CBC Here & Now, who is nominated for an Atlantic Journalism Award for her continuing coverage of the Turner case. Chris's coverage of this story was indeed probing and relentless (in a good kind of way) and I congratulate her on the nomination. Incidentally, Chris is also nominated for an award in the Enterprise category for her stories on the Dr. Chandra case.

There are numerous other nominations for local journalists, including Dennis Mulloy, VOCM (spot news); CBC Radio newsroom (spot news); Glenn Payette, Here & Now (spot news); Pam Pardy-Ghent, The Independent (feature writing); Susan Rendell, The Independent (feature writing); Chris Brookes and the rest of Battery Radio (feature writing, radio); David Cochrane, Here & Now (feature writing, television); Rob Antle, Saltscapes (profile writing); Deanne Fleet, Here & Now (sports reporting); Angela Antle, CBC Radio (arts reporting); and Ryan Cleary, The Independent (commentary).

Congratulations to all, and good luck at the awards ceremony, which takes place May 12 in Halifax. To read the full release, click here.