I’ll never forget the emotional gut-check of my short coverage of the Tim Bosma murder while it was still officially a missing persons case.
Thanks to public support of my crowdfunding, I was able to livestream the police news conference during those long days in May of 2013.
The plan I implemented for the Tim Bosma missing person news conferences started in February of 2013 when the late Bernie Morelli, Chair of the Police Board, asked the Chief of Police Glenn De Caire to determine what I needed to livestream Police Board meetings.
The Board also wanted a non-restrictive license to reuse my video. I agreed to release the copyright to the Police Board in exchange for an internet connection that would be available for major press conferences in the future. In a city the size of Hamilton, it’s not a matter of if, but when tragedy will happen.
De Caire agreed, and the Police Service installed a separate internet connection – directly outgoing, separate from their network – in the Central Station boardroom.
I mapped out a policy for my journalism during a public safety emergency. I would removal all branding from my videos, and release them into the public domain to ensure other media outlets would rebroadcast the message.
That’s what I did and news outlets across Ontario and beyond were able to embed the live video.
The public domain license removes the requirement to credit my work.
A few months ago, CBC's Fifth Estate used my video in their episode on the crime, and they credited me for the video. The credit was unnecessary, and a nice professional courtesy.