2020 NPOY Multimedia Finalists
2020 NPOY Single Multimedia – Sponsored by Vistek
(Listed in alphabetical order)
Cowichan Valley Flood
Chad Hipolito / Independent
Jolie Jamison and her partner Jason McEwan were left homeless following the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s state of emergency. Heavy rain and severe flooding caused extensive damage to the area near Crofton, B.C., February 2, 2020.
I went out on my own to document the aftermath when I spotted Jolie and Jason in their driveway looking at the damage caused to their property. I interviewed them using my phone to capture the audio and video.
Reading the Forest
Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press
Devin, Thomas, and Murray Imrie go out on their trapline near Falcon Lake, Manitoba, January 28, 2020. Full story here.
Scotsguard, Saskatchewan
Matt Smith / Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Keith and Bev Hagen are the last two residents of Scotsguard, Saskatchewan. Although the town is often referred to as a “ghost town,” the Hagens work hard to preserve its history and to provide passersby a glimpse of what the town once was. Full story here.
Cherry Blossoms
Melissa Tait / The Globe and Mail
Toronto’s cherry blossoms reach peak bloom in an empty High Park
Although the general public was unable to bear witness this year, cherry blossom trees in Toronto are springing to life as nature provides us a spectacle like no other. The City of Toronto shut down all of High Park to force physical distancing just as its popular cherry blossoms trees reached peak bloom in May 2020. Thousands of visitors typically flood the park at this time of year, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the destination was off-limits. Full story here.
2019 NPOY Team Multimedia – Sponsored by Thomson Reuters
(Listed in alphabetical order of title)
Inside Hospitals During COVID-19
Photos and video – Evan Mitsui / CBC
Reporting and writing – Adam Miller / CBC
Editing – Anand Ram / CBC
Going it alone: The new normal inside hospitals (during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The piece blends photography and video clips with text-over-video subtitles and complements this longform digital feature.
The piece, which was shot on a single day in June inside North York General Hospital during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrates what was going on in the hospital as it reopened to backlogged non-emergency procedures.
The voice off the top is Peter Dynov, a 72-year-old cancer patient who agreed to speak with reporter Adam Miller and I before undergoing an exploratory surgery to determine the severity of his stomach cancer. COVID protocols dictated he enter the hospital without his family and the loneliness, coupled with the stress of the moment, he felt was playing out myriad times in hospitals across the country.
Manhunt Manitoba
Director, videographer, editor – Melissa Tait / The Globe and Mail
Director, editor – Timothy Moore / The Globe and Mail
Additional video – Renada D’Aliesio / The Globe and Mail
Additional video – Billy Beardy / Independent
Additional video – Bryn Lipinski / Full Circle Visuals
The manhunt for B.C. murder suspects Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod ended in August 2019 after 17 days searching the dense forests of Northern Manitoba. The search captivated the country and drew worldwide attention as the RCMP chased the shadowy teens from British Columbia to a small community near Gillam, Manitoba.
As the police released tidbits of information to an anxious public, a local trapper from Fox Lake Cree Nation worked quietly behind the scenes. He would have an impact on the search no one could imagine. Full story here.
Microplastics
Videographer, producer, editor – Deborah Baic / The Globe and Mail
Producer, editor – Patrick Dell / The Globe and Mail
Reporter and additional video – Rick Smith / The Globe and Mail
Additional photos and video – courtesy of the Rochester Institute of Technology
Additional photos and video – Sherri Mason / Penn State University
Searching for microplastics within the human body
Early in 2020, researcher and author Rick Smith decided to conduct an experiment on himself to see if he could measure an increase of microplastics in his body. He spent a number of days eating and drinking a diet filled with items that were packaged in plastic to see if the plastic might show up in his system.
The author and Executive Director of the Broadbent Institute says the lab-based tests on his stool samples are the first of their kind in North America to search for traces of the tiny plastic particles in people. Microplastics have been discovered circulating in the environment and are linked to health concerns. Full story here.
The list of all 2020 NPOY nominees.
