Through careful and determined source work, AP reporters give an astonishing look inside private forums of doctors tasked with approving and carrying out euthanasia.
When New York-based video news editor Angie Wang and London-based medical writer Maria Cheng began investigating how Canada’s euthanasia laws were affecting vulnerable people, they were stymied by a lack of data — the government doesn’t officially collect any on the socio-economic status of people approved to die, and few details are available elsewhere.
After weeks of reporting, two sources shared a dataset presented at a closed meeting of euthanasia providers. The internal presentation showed authorities in Ontario were privately reviewing data suggesting that a disproportionate number of people being euthanized were among the poorest in the province.
Wang and Cheng also learned of confidential forums where controversial euthanasia cases were discussed. They knew the discussions would be critical to understand what they had seen in the data, but nobody was willing to provide more details. Wang and Cheng talked to sources with access to the forums over several months, but it was difficult over Zoom to establish trust about such a sensitive issue.
The story, edited by Janelle Cogan of the Top Stories Hub, revealed in astonishing detail how Canada’s euthanasia doctors were wrestling with life-and-death decisions under a law that experts in the field say is far too vague.
In the hours after publication, media in Canada and Britain raced to match it. A columnist at the Washington Post reached out to congratulate Cheng on the report, and a former senior journalist at Canada’s Globe and Mail marveled that Wang and Cheng had managed to scoop Canadian journalists on their home turf.
The story had immediate impact. Less than a day later, the Ontario coroner released some of the data cited in the AP story, along with several other reports. The story was distributed internally within Canada’s department of Justice, with government lawyers asked if the laws were too “permissive.” The Canadian news television program “The News Forum” reached out to Maria immediately for an interview.
The judges were impressed with Cheng and Wang’s persistence in landing a scoop so far from their home bases. The judges also noted the quick reaction within the Canadian government, showing the reach and effect of this work.
For their investigation that brought to light new data and voices on a sensitive and controversial topic not only in Canada but across the globe, Cheng and Wang earn this week’s Best of the AP — Second Winner.
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