TORONTO, March 18, 2019 /CNW/ - The Sidney Hillman Foundation announced today it has awarded the 9th annual Canadian Hillman Prize to CBC's The Fifth Estate for "Unbuckled: School Bus Safety." It is a sweeping investigation into the research and regulatory failures that have put millions of children at risk on their way to and from school each day.
Bob McKeown, Harvey Cashore and Kimberly Ivany spent four months exposing how equipping Canadian school buses with seatbelts could have prevented thousands of injuries and numerous deaths and how Transport Canada failed to disclose their own internal research showing seatbelts on school buses do save lives and prevent injuries. The impactful reporting revealed the safety tests used to justify not having seat belts on school buses are flawed and that the school bus industry has lobbied against installing them to keep costs down.
Judges Bonnie Brown, Tony Burman and Garvia Bailey, all distinguished Canadian journalists, selected the winner for diligently documenting a story that impacts the lives of Canadian children and their families and for prompting Transport Canada to admit for the first time that seatbelts are a good first step towards improving school bus safety.
"This investigation by The Fifth Estate shines a powerful spotlight on decades of inadequate oversight by policy makers in Canada," said Tony Burman. "This is the type of journalism that has the potential to bring about meaningful change, to be the catalyst behind a concerted effort to help make our kids safer."
The Hillman judges also recognized two entries with honourable mentions: the Toronto Star for its report "The Fix: One Peel nursing home took a gamble on fun, life and love," and "Sidewalk Toronto," by The Logic.
Moira Welsh's piece for the Toronto Star detailed the remarkable results of an experiment within an Ontario long-term care home. Traditional clinical care was transformed by efforts to promote joy, kindness and friendship, enhancing the relationships between dementia patients and staff and leading to marked improvements in health and happiness.
The Logic's Amanda Roth, Zane Schwartz, Murad Hemmadi and Sean Craig submitted a series of reports on the proposal to develop a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto's waterfront by Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc. Their reporting documented concerns and criticisms over data privacy and governance as well as high-profile resignations of key people involved in the project.
"Investigative journalism is key to any democracy. The press has a special role when it comes to holding organizations and particularly government accountable," said Alex Dagg, Canadian board member of the Sidney Hillman Foundation and Airbnb's Director of Canadian Public Policy. "At a time when newsroom budgets are shrinking, it's more important than ever that we support the reporters who serve the public interest every day."
The recipients of the 2019 Canadian Hillman Prize and Honourable Mentions will be recognized at a ceremony in Toronto on March 28, 2019.
The Sidney Hillman Foundation honours excellence in journalism in service of the common good. The U.S Hillman Prizes have been awarded annually since 1950 and the Canadian Hillman Prize since 2011.
SOURCE The Sidney Hillman Foundation
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