'Banishment' piece gives province taste of what CBC reporter Bob Keating is all about
By Timothy Schafer
CBC Nelson reporter Bob Keating was recently nominated for a Jack Webster award for Excellence in Legal Journalism for his radio story Banishment, on a Nelson man ordered by the court to leave the city and not return.
Keating did, as Nelson listeners are used to, another phenomenal and insightful job reporting on the news — highlighting the injustice of the situation and forcing the court to reconsider its decision once the story was aired.
Only a rare piece of journalism is good enough to create such change in the slow and unforgiving wheels of the justice system. But Keating’s piece was just that — and good enough to be one of three nominees for the provincial award.
The Nelson Daily asked him a few questions about the story:
What was the Banishment piece you were nominated for?
It was the story of a Nelson man with mental health issues who was ‘banished’ from town. He was literally told to leave at noon and not come back.
Here is a link to the story:
and another
How did the piece come together?
I got a call from the boy’s mother from the steps of the court house.
She was distraught her son had been issued this order which I honestly didn’t believe existed. She said it, “condemned him to the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver.”
When I went down to see the order it floored me. It was like something from a Gary Cooper movie.
What caught your attention on the piece you did?
Just how ill equipped our justice system is to deal with mental health issues — yet that’s where people like Michael wind up, time and time again. It is sad.
What was the response?
The response was a reversal of the ‘banishment’ order and Michael’s guilty plea.
The court actually held a special hearing to reverse itself — to their great credit — and to the benefit of Michael.
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