When Toronto Star reporter-photographer Jim Rankin submitted a Freedom of Information request for a database detailing arrests in Toronto, he knew the police wouldn't just hand over the data. There was no precedent for such an expansive request to a Canadian law enforcement agency and no database editor at the Star to help him.
Although the Star had already lost plenty of FOI battles to the Toronto police, Rankin felt that the paper's commitment to his request was strong enough to prevail this time. He had hope.
That hope was rewarded April 10 when Rankin and four other Star reporters received the Michener Award for meritorious public service journalism for their series, "Race and Crime." This year marked the first time that the award, one of the most prestigious awarded to Canadian media, recognized a computer-assisted reporting project done