Global Calgary has won the Ron Laidlaw Continuing Coverage RTDNA award for its coverage of the devastating disappearance and death of young Calgary woman Jasmine Lovett and her toddler daughter Aliyah Sanderson.
The RTDNA Canada Awards recognize the best journalists, programs, stations and news organizations in digital, television and radio across the country.
From the moment Lovett and her little girl went missing in mid-April 2019, to the heartbreaking end to a days-long search for the pair, Global Calgary brought the details of every development to its readers, viewers and listeners.
“The diligence and dedication of the Global Calgary news team helped bring context and perspective to the evolving and heartbreaking story of Jasmine Lovett’s and Aliyah Sanderson’s disappearance,” Alex Henderson, Global News’ VP of Local Stations said in a statement.
“When news is at its worst, that is when journalists must be at their best. This RTDNA National award speaks to the incredible work by the Global Calgary team to share the search for Jasmine and Aliyah and the community’s grief following their tragic deaths.”
Global News’ reporters and cameras were in-step with police investigators through the course of the double-homicide investigation, bringing detailed and current information from Robert Leeming’s Calgary home, to the search sites along the rugged, snow-covered Rocky Mountains.
As a heartbroken community searched for answers, dedicated Global News reporters kept in touch with the grieving family, tracked down and interviewed Leeming during his brief release, and were on scene as Leeming was led into the police station in handcuffs to face murder charges.
Reporters also took a deep dive into the case online, looking at the struggles searchers faced with the challenging weather and terrain, providing readers with a timeline of the case and exploring that, if Leeming — a permanent resident of Canada — were convicted of the crimes, he’d likely be deported back to the U.K.
Global News became a go-to source of information on the tragic story, as well as a trusted outlet for family members dealing with an immeasurable loss.
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