Donation Enables Emmy Award-Winning Documentary
“Journalists work their entire careers for awards of this prestige,” said Mary Lynn Young, former Director and Associate Professor, UBC Graduate School of Journalism. “Winning these awards early in their careers will give these students a tremendous leg up, and reflects the quality of both the journalism students and the faculty at UBC.”
Mindset Social Innovation Foundation Donation Enables International Reporting
The winning documentary, entitled Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground, was produced by 10 students from the International Reporting Course, led by former 60 Minutes producer and School of Journalism Director Peter Klein. The students traced the path of electronic waste around the globe to Ghana, China and India, and exposed a number of public health, human rights and national security concerns.
The International Reporting Course, which provides opportunities for students to study international reporting and to produce professional journalism on under-reported global issues, was made possible by a $1-million donation from Alison Lawton’s Mindset Social Innovation Foundation.
“The e-waste documentary is the kind of project that the vast majority of newsrooms couldn’t have done,” said Klein. “Our funding from Mindset Foundation is crucial, because we’re able to give students this opportunity to really show that you can do good journalism independently.”
Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground also received the Sigma Delta Chi Award for best documentary of the year from the Society for Professional Journalists, and it was nominated for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists.
Student Reporters Find Employment at National News Outlets
Many of the award-winning students are now employed by news organizations including Global National, CBC Radio, Postmedia News, Al Jazeera and the Toronto Star, further proof that investing in raw talent—not to mention raw footage—is worth far more than words.
