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The Fifth Estate (TV program)
Canadian investigative documentary series
Canadian investigative documentary series
| Field | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| image | The Fifth Estate (TV Series) title card.png | |
| image_alt | Wordmark logo of The Fifth Estate | |
| caption | Title card since 2017 | |
| genre | ||
| starring | {{plainlist | |
| country | Canada | |
| language | English | |
| num_seasons | 50 | |
| executive_producer | Allya Davidson | |
| producer | Emmanuel Marchand | |
| editor | Jan Silverthorne, Morna Scott-Dunne, Loretta Hicks, Christine Barclay, Anne MacRae | |
| location | Toronto | |
| camera | Ousama Farag | |
| runtime | 60 minutes | |
| company | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | |
| network | {{plainlist | |
| first_aired | ||
| last_aired | present |
- Mark Kelley
- Steven D'Souza
- Ioanna Roumeliotis
- CBC Television
- CBC News Network
The Fifth Estate is an English-language Canadian investigative documentary series that airs on the national CBC Television network.
The name is a reference to the term "Fourth Estate", and was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into original journalism. The program has been on the air since 16 September 1975, and its primary focus is on investigative journalism. The show was launched in 1975 by Ron Haggart. It has engaged in co-productions with the BBC, The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, and often with the PBS program Frontline.
The Fifth Estate is one of two television programs (with The Twilight Zone being the first) to win an Academy Award, a prize presented to theatrical films: Just Another Missing Kid, originally a The Fifth Estate episode, was released in theatres in the United States and won the 1982 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.
Every Thursday, The National airs a weekly segment that is based on the week's episode with Adrienne Arsenault introducing the segment.
Journalists
The program is currently hosted by Mark Kelley and Steven D'Souza, with Ioanna Roumeliotis slated to join the show in spring 2025, following the retirement of longtime host Bob McKeown in fall 2024.
Other past personalities associated with the show have included:
- Bob McKeown
- Theresa Burke
- Marie Caloz
- Stevie Cameron
- Harvey Cashore
- Adrienne Clarkson
- Neil Docherty
- Gillian Findlay
- Declan Hill
- Hana Gartner
- Ron Haggart
- Bob Johnstone
- Joe MacAnthony
- Linden MacIntyre
- Sheila MacVicar
- Victor Malarek
- Eric Malling
- Habiba Nosheen
- Ian Parker
- Francine Pelletier
- Sally Reardon
- Peter Reilly
- Glenn Sarty
- David Studer
- Robin Taylor
- Warner Troyer
- Anna Maria Tremonti
- Jim Williamson
- Trish Wood
Episodes
News reports aired on The Fifth Estate have included investigations into and reports about:
- 9/11 truth movement
- Death of Ashley Smith
- Airbus affair, Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber
- William Francis Melchert-Dinkel
- Airport Security
- Al-Qaeda in Europe
- Benny Hinn
- Brendan Burke
- Brandon Crisp
- Chris Benoit ("Wrestler: Fight to the Death")
- Chuckie Akenz
- Charles Manson and the Manson Family
- Scouts Canada
- Communications Security Establishment
- David Frost and Mike Danton
- École Polytechnique massacre ("Montreal Massacre – Legacy of Pain")
- Jian Ghomeshi
- Rob Ford
- Dick Cheney
- MIM-104 Patriot and its ineffectiveness during the Gulf War as a missile defense system
- Guy Paul Morin
- Suicide of Amanda Todd
- Jane and Finch
- Noor Chowdhury
- Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation ("Luck of the Draw")
- Pierre Vallières
- Polygamy in Bountiful, British Columbia
- PROFUNC
- Steven Truscott
- To Sell a War
- Tunagate
- David Russell Williams
- Mark Twitchell
- Donald Trump
- Iglesia ni Cristo
- AssangeJulian Assange
- Buffy Sainte-Marie
Season 34 (2008–09)
The 2008–09 television season was the 34th season of The Fifth Estate.
| Episode | Title | Original air date | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disappearing Act | Interview with David Reiner, a bookkeeper who turned fugitive after stealing nearly a million dollars from nonprofit day-care centres. | |
| 2 | Inside Room 222 | ||
| 3 | Shadows of Doubt | The death of Royal Military College cadet Joe Grozelle, whose disappearance in October 2003 launched a Canadian Forces National Investigation Service search. | |
| 4 | The Girl in Saskatoon (Update) | A follow-up on the unsolved murder of Alexandra Wiwcharuk, a former beauty queen in Saskatoon. | |
| 5 | After the Storm | The 2007 murder of filmmaker Helen Hill in New Orleans. | |
| 6 | Overboard (Update) | An update on the case of Laura Gainey, who was swept overboard while sailing on the Picton Castle in December 2006. | |
| 7 | The Gospel of Green | The efforts of German parliamentarian Hermann Scheer to increase his country's reliance on renewable-energy sources. | |
| 8 | Head Games | The short life expectancy of professional football players in Canada. | |
| 9 | Where the Women Went | ||
| 10 | The Chess Master | ||
| 11 | A Death in the Family | The case of Bill Mullins-Johnson, who served 12 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of his 6-year-old niece. | |
| 12 | Someone Got Away With Murder | January 21, 2009 | Double murder of Andrea Scherpf and Bernd Göricke |
| 13 | Strangers in Paradise | ||
| 14 | Collateral Damage | Two men who were implicated in the 2005 shootings of four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alberta. | |
| 15 | Powerless | ||
| 16 | Black Widow | ||
| 17 | The Code | Hockey's "unwritten law" about fighting. | |
| 18 | Top Gun | The potential dangers of video-game obsession. | |
| 19 | Staying Alive | ||
| 20 | The Elephant in the Room | The Airbus affair and Karlheinz Schreiber's dealings. | |
| 21 | A Fight to the Death | ||
| 22 | Amazing Grace | ||
| 23 | Bad Day in Barrhead | ||
| 24 | Life & Death in Kandahar | The war in Afghanistan through the eyes of the medical professionals serving at Canada's trauma centre at the Kandahar Air Base. |
Season 36 (2010–11)
The 2010–11 television season was the 36th season of The Fifth Estate.
| Episode | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enemies of the State | October 15, 2010 |
| 2 | The Confession | October 22, 2010 |
| 3 | The Fall and Rise of Theo Fleury | October 29, 2010 |
| 4 | The Life and Death of Abdinasir Dirie | November 5, 2010 |
| 5 | Behind the Wall | November 12, 2010 |
| 6 | The Girl in the Suitcase | November 19, 2010 |
| 7 | The Legacy of Brendan Burke | November 26, 2010 |
| 8 | Presumed Dead | December 3, 2010 |
| 9 | After the Earth Shook | January 7, 2011 |
| 10 | Justice for Nadia | January 14, 2011 |
| 11 | Death of the Don | January 28, 2011 |
| 12 | WikiRebels | February 4, 2011 |
| 13 | Death at the Olympics | February 11, 2011 |
| 14 | The Devil You Know | February 18, 2011 |
| 15 | You Should Have Stayed At Home | February 25, 2011 |
| 16 | Missing | March 11, 2011 |
| 17 | Getting Off Easy | March 18, 2011 |
| 18 | My Friend the Bank Robber | March 25, 2011 |
| 19 | A Question of Innocence | April 1, 2011 |
Season 37 (2011–12)
The 2011–12 television season was the 37th season of The Fifth Estate.
| Episode | Title | Original air date | CBC viewers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Truth and Lies: The Last Days of Osama bin Laden | September 9, 2011 | 599,000 |
| 2 | Swissair 111: The Untold Story | September 16, 2011 | 775,000 |
| 3 | Gatti-vs-Gatti | September 23, 2011 | 436,000 |
| 4 | Mayday | September 30, 2011 | 482,000 |
| 5 | Colonel Gadhafi: Palace of Secrets | October 7, 2011 | 577,000 |
| 6 | True Confession | October 14, 2011 | 504,000 |
| 7 | Scout's Honour | October 21, 2011 | 567,000 |
| 8 | 'Til Death Do Us Part | October 28, 2011 | 482,000 |
| 9 | Stories from the River's Edge | November 4, 2011 | 509,000 |
| 10 | Murder, he wrote | November 18, 2011 | 535,000 |
| 11 | A Cold Case | November 25, 2011 | 612,000 |
| 12 | Holiday Hell | December 2, 2011 | 722,000 |
| 13 | Behind the Line | December 9, 2011 | 568,000 |
| 14 | Escape From Justice | January 6, 2012 | 853,000 |
| 15 | Diagnosis Murder | January 13, 2012 | 646,000 |
| 16 | The Lies People Tell | January 20, 2012 | 752,000 |
| 17 | Who's Killing the Rizzutos? | January 27, 2012 | 622,000 |
| 18 | The Wreck of the Costa Concordia | February 3, 2012 | 1,317,000 |
| 19 | The House of Shafia | February 10, 2012 | 470,000 |
| 20 | The Lost Boys | February 17, 2012 | 565,000 |
| 21 | Fearless | February 24, 2012 | 298,000 |
| 22 | Fast Break | March 2, 2012 | 203,000 |
| 23 | Time Bomb | March 9, 2012 | 895,000 |
| 24 | Lost on the Ice | March 23, 2012 | 300,400 |
| 25 | Kidnapped | April 6, 2012 | 1,200,000 |
Season 38 (2012–13)
The 2012–13 television season was the 38th season of The Fifth Estate.
| Episode | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Into the Death Zone | September 12, 2012 |
| 2 | Kingston Pen: Secrets and Lies | September 21, 2012 |
| 3 | Runaway Fighter | September 28, 2012 |
| 4 | The Widow's Web | October 5, 2012 |
| 5 | The Life and Death of Gloria Taylor | October 12, 2012 |
| 6 | Whistleblowers: Moment of Truth | October 19, 2012 |
| 7 | Lost in the Struggle: The Next Chapter | October 26, 2012 |
| 8 | Lucky 7 | November 2, 2012 |
| 9 | The Elephant in the Room | November 9, 2012 |
| 10 | Left for Dead | November 16, 2012 |
| 11 | Lance Armstrong: Master of Spin | November 23, 2012 |
| 12 | Hunting Magnotta | November 30, 2012 |
| 13 | Costa Concordia: The Captain's Tale | December 7, 2012 |
| 14 | The Imperfect Spy | April 10, 2017 |
| 15 | The Last Race | January 18, 2013 |
| 16 | Death in Paradise | January 25, 2013 |
| 17 | Target bin Laden | February 1, 2013 |
| 18 | Crossfire | February 8, 2013 |
| 19 | The Unrepentant | February 22, 2013 |
| 20 | The Vanishing | March 1, 2013 |
| 21 | Second Wave | March 8, 2013 |
| 22 | Ironman | March 29, 2013 |
| 23 | Mission Improbable | April 5, 2013 |
| 24 | Rate My Hospital | April 12, 2013 |
Season 39 (2013–14)
The 2013–14 television season was the 39th season of The Fifth Estate.
| Episode | Title | Original air date | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Secrets of Sugar | October 4, 2013 | |
| 2 | Made in Bangladesh | October 11, 2013 | Textile industry in Bangladesh, triggered by the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse |
| 3 | The Murder and the Money Trail | October 18, 2013 | |
| 4 | Elephants on Board: A Journey to Remember | October 25, 2013 | PAWS sanctuary |
| 5 | The Strange World of Julian Assange | November 1, 2013 | Julian Assange |
| 6 | The Rob Ford Story | November 8, 2013 | Rob Ford, late mayor of Toronto |
| 7 | The Sextortion of Amanda Todd | November 15, 2013 | Suicide of Amanda Todd |
| 8 | The Conspiracy Files: JFK and 9/11 | November 22, 2013 | Conspiracy theories around John F. Kennedy's assassination and 9/11 |
| 9 | The Last Great Escape | November 29, 2013 | |
| 10 | Silence of the Labs | January 10, 2013 | |
| 11 | The Man Who Hears Voices | January 17, 2014 | |
| 12 | Walk the Line | January 22, 2014 | A prominent biker cop who was accused of selling secrets to the Hell's Angels |
| 13 | Voyage of the Black Dragon | January 31, 2014 | A voyage attempted by 600 Chinese migrants to sneak into Canada in 1999. |
| 14 | Rabbi of the Pure Hearts: Inside Lev Tahor | February 28, 2014 | Lev Tahor and alleged child abuse within a Jewish community. |
| 15 | The Rise and Fall of Mike Duffy | March 7, 2014 | Mike Duffy and the Canadian Senate expenses scandal |
| 16 | Return to Paradise | March 14, 2014 | Pesticides used in a tropical resort hotel room may have killed guests in Asia. |
| 17 | Dead Enough | March 21, 2014 | Canada's varying standards for declaring death affects organ transplants |
| 18 | Your Tips, Our Stories | March 28, 2014 | Stories from viewer tips: a man deceives Canadian women into supporting him financially; the Halifax death of a young blind woman is re-examined; the worst case of small-town corruption |
| 19 | Love and the Perfect Stranger | March 28, 2014 | Markus Vuorinen, a Finnish former gameshow host who promised love to at least 10 women across Canada before being arrested on assault charges |
| 20 | The Long Way Home | March 28, 2014 | The Halifax death of a young blind woman, Holly Bartlett |
| 21 | Small Town Shakedown | March 28, 2014 | The worst case of small-town corruption: Rita Crundwell stealing millions from the town coffers in Dixon, Illinois. |
Season 43 (2017–18)
The 2017–18 television season was the 43rd season of The Fifth Estate.
| Episode | Title | Broadcast Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murder in Cottage Country | September 15, 2017 | Decades-old mystery over the disappearance of 4 elderly people in the Muskoka region of Ontario |
| 2 | Pit Bulls Unleashed: Should They Be Banned | September 22, 2017 | |
| 3 | The Truth Smugglers | September 29, 2017 | People in Syria who smuggle out photographs and pages of secret official documents |
| 4 | Jagmeet Singh: The Colour of Politics | October 13, 2017 | Jagmeet Singh |
| 5 | Motherisk: Tainted Tests & Broken Families | October 20, 2017 | Motherisk |
| 6 | Via Rail Terror Plot : The Inside Man | October 27, 2017 | |
| 7 | TransCanada and Keystone XL : The Money Pipeline | November 3, 2017 | TransCanada and Keystone XL Pipelines |
| 8 | The Super Scalpersh | November 10, 2017 | A Canadian super scalper, as revealed in the Paradise Papers |
| 9 | The JFK Files: The Murder of a President | November 17, 2017 | Assassination of John F. Kennedy |
| 10 | Basil Borutski and the Wilno Murders: Circle of Fear | November 24, 2017 | An investigation into the murders of three women in Wilno, Renfrew County, Ontario, and Basil Borutski, the man on trial for those crimes. |
Season 45 (2019–20)
The 2019–20 television season is the 45th season of The Fifth Estate. (Where two episodes appear in one program, a "/" is included between the episodes.)
| Episode | Title | Broadcast Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Targeted / | September 22, 2019 | Gun lobby's fight to save assault weapons in Canada / |
| 2 | When Terror Comes Home | September 29, 2019 | Plan for de-radicalizing returning ISIS fighters |
| 3 | The Forgotten / | Stories from several women who grew up in Quebec's youth protection system / | |
| 4 | The Hood: Cops, Gangs, and a community in the crossfire | Indigenous gangs in Regina, in one of Canada's most dangerous neighbourhoods. | |
| 5 | Dear Mr. Bissonnette | Alexandre Bissonnette, the man behind the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting | |
| 6 | My Father's Killer: Murder Mystery on Cortes Island / | A man's search for his father's killer and the problematic police investigation surrounding it. / | |
| 7 | Muskoka Murders: Closing in on the Killers | The disappearance and presumed killing of four senior citizens—including Joan Lawrence, John Semple, John Crofts, and Ralph Grant—in Ontario's Muskoka cottage country | |
| 8 | Captive: Caitlan Coleman vs. Joshua Boyle | Kidnapping of Canadian-American couple Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan | |
| 9 | The List: The Search For Church Secrets / | Survivors of clergy abuse demanding that the Roman Catholic church release secret lists of credibly-accused abusers / | |
| 10 | Hockey Fight: Wives Reveal the Cost of Concussions / | The wives of retired hockey enforcers demanding change from the NHL / | |
| 11 | Passport Babies: The Growing Shadow Industry of Birth Tourism / | Birth tourism / | |
| 12 | The Autopsy Part One: What If Justice Got It Wrong? / | Autopsy results in criminal cases in Alberta that may have led to miscarriages of justice, including wrongful convictions. / | |
| 13 | How Boeing Crashed: The Inside Story of the 737 Max | The Boeing 737 MAX groundings | |
| 14 | Runaway Train: Investigating a CP Rail Crash / | January 26, 2020 | The derailment of a Canadian Pacific train into the Kicking Horse River / |
| 15 | The Priest's Confession: What the Catholic Bishops Knew / | Allegations of sexual assault among Catholic clergy in Canada / |
Season 46 (2020–21)
The 2020–21 television season is the 46th season of The Fifth Estate. (Where two episodes appear in one program, a "/" is included between the episodes.)
| Episode | Title | Broadcast Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thirteen Deadly Hours: The Nova Scotia Shooting | The April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia by a man who went on a 13-hour crime spree in which he killed 22 people | |
| 2 | Bitter Harvest: The Story of the Pandemic and the People Who Pick Our Food | Government policies for protecting farm workers that Canada imports each year from abroad to grow and harvest fruits and vegetables. | |
| The Smartest Guy in the Room: Cameron Ortis and the RCMP Secrets Scandal | How the RCMP charged Cameron Ortis, one of their own, with leaking confidential police secrets. | ||
| 4 | Nygard: The Secret Videos | The December 2020 arrest of Peter Nygard, a Canadian fashion tycoon who faced charges involving sex trafficking and racketeering. | |
| 5 | The Price WE Paid | The political WE Charity scandal involving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the WE Charity. The episode includes an interview with WE's cofounders, Craig and Marc Kielburger. | |
| 6 | Policing the Police | February 11, 2021 | How police are investigated in Canada; following the aftermath of a shooting in a small Ontario town, after one police officer shoots another. |
| 7 | Fatal Care / | A tragedy in an Ontario foster home, revealing problems in the for-profit child care system / | |
| 8 | The Missing Millions / | February 25, 2021 | A massive case of financial fraud that cost investors and pensioners millions of dollars |
| 9 | Treatment or Torture / | Canada's Oak Ridge institution, where mentally-ill prisoners are treated each other, and other human experiments were performed. / | |
| 10 | When Police Don't Knock / | The issues with a controversial police tactic known as "dynamic entry," which is used in search of drugs, guns, and suspects / | |
| 11 | The Gene Hunters / | The Toronto Police's mining of genetic genealogy to find the killer behind cold cases, some of which are over 2 decades old / |
Awards
The Fifth Estate has won many awards, including Gemini Awards—among them ten for Best Information Series—numerous domestic investigative journalism awards, many New York and Columbus awards, International Emmys, and in 2000 and 2010 the Michener Award, Canada's top journalism prize, which is open to all media and has only one annual winner. A 2003 co-production with The New York Times and PBS's Frontline was recognized with the Pulitzer, Peabody, Polk, and other awards.
The Fifth Estate is one of two television programs (with The Twilight Zone being the first) to win an Academy Award, a prize presented to theatrical films: Just Another Missing Kid, originally a The Fifth Estate episode, was released in theatres in the United States and won the 1982 Academy Award for Documentary Feature.
| Award | Year | Category | Recipient | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 1983 | Best Documentary, Features | John Zaritsky | Winner | |||
| Gemini Awards | 1998 | Best Photography in an Information Program or Series | Colin Allison | Nominee | |||
| 1999 | Best News Information Series | David Studer and Susan Teskey | Winner | ||||
| Best Photography in an Information Program or Series | Colin Allison | Nominee | |||||
| 2002 | Winner | ||||||
| 2003 | Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Kelly A. Morris | Nominee | ||||
| 2004 | Best News Information Series | David Studer and Sally Reardon | Winner | ||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | Bob McKeown | ||||||
| Best Photography in an Information Program or Series | Colin Allison | ||||||
| Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Loretta Hicks | ||||||
| Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Marie Caloz | Nominee | |||||
| Neil Docherty | |||||||
| Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Claude Vickery | ||||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | Linden MacIntyre | ||||||
| Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Leslie Steven Onody | ||||||
| Kelly A. Morris | |||||||
| Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program or Series | Joe Passeretti and Damian Kearns | ||||||
| 2005 | Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Oleh Rumak | Winner | ||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | Linden MacIntyre | ||||||
| Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Loretta Hicks | ||||||
| Best News Information Series | David Studer and Sally Reardon | Nominee | |||||
| Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Marie Caloz | ||||||
| Episode: "Sticks and Stones" | |||||||
| Kit Melamed | |||||||
| Claude Vickery | |||||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | Hana Gartner | ||||||
| Bob McKeown | |||||||
| Best Photography in an Information Program or Series | Paul Seeler | ||||||
| Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Leslie Steven Onody | ||||||
| Episode: "Do You Believe in Miracles?" | |||||||
| Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series | Bob McKeown | ||||||
| Gillian Findlay | |||||||
| 2006 | Best News Information Series | David Studer, Jane Mingay, Sally Reardon, and Jim Williamson | Winner | ||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | Linden MacIntyre | ||||||
| Best Science, Technology, Nature, Environment or Adventure Documentary Program | David Studer, Douglas Arrowsmith, Jane Mingay, and Jim Williamson | Nominee | |||||
| Best Sports Program or Series | David Studer, Caroline Harvey, Jane Mingay, and Jim Williamson | ||||||
| Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series | Gillian Findlay | ||||||
| Bob McKeown | |||||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | |||||||
| Gillian Findlay | |||||||
| 2007 | Best News Information Series | David Studer and Sally Reardon | Winner | ||||
| Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series | Gillian Findlay | ||||||
| Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Tania White | ||||||
| Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series | Hana Gartner | Nominee | |||||
| Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Catherine Annau | ||||||
| Tamar Weinstein | |||||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | Gillian Findlay | ||||||
| Best Photography in an Information Program or Series | Colin Allison and Jeff Cole | ||||||
| Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Loretta Hicks | ||||||
| Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program or Series | Larry Kent, Damian Kearns, and Joe Passaretti | ||||||
| 2008 | Best News Information Series | David Studer and Sally Reardon | Winner | ||||
| Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series | Hana Gartner | ||||||
| Best Picture Editing in an Information Program or Series | Avi Lev | ||||||
| Best Host or Interviewer in a News Information Program or Series | Gillian Findlay | Nominee | |||||
| Linden MacIntyre | |||||||
| Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Marie Caloz | ||||||
| Claude Vickery | |||||||
| Best Writing in an Information Program or Series | Gillian Findlay | ||||||
| Linden MacIntyre | |||||||
| Best Photography in an Information Program or Series | Paul Seeler | ||||||
| Best Sound in an Information/Documentary Program or Series | Joe Passaretti and Damian Kearns | ||||||
| 2010 | Best Editorial Research | Lynette Fortune (researcher) | Winner | ||||
| Canadian Screen Awards | 2013 | Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Carmen Merrifield and Claude Vickery | Winner | |||
| Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research | Angela Gilbert | ||||||
| Best Direction in a News Information Program or Series | Timothy Sawa | Nominee | |||||
| 2015 | Best News or Information Program | Tarannum Kamlani, Mark Kelley, Lysanne Louter, and Aileen McBride | Winner | ||||
| Best News or Information Series | Julian Sher and Jim Williamson | ||||||
| Best Photography in a News or Information Program, Series or Segment | John Badcock | Nominee | |||||
| Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Information Program or Series | Gillian Findlay | ||||||
| 2018 | Best Picture Editing, Documentary | Liz Rosch | Nominee | ||||
| 2019 | Barbara Sears Award for Best Visual Research | Leslie Morrison | Winner | ||||
| Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research | Timothy Sawa, Lisa Mayor, and Zander Sherman | Nominee | |||||
| Mindset Awards | Mindset Award for Workplace Mental Health Reporting | Mark Kelley (reporter), Timothy Sawa (producer), and Kimberly Ivany (associate producer) | Winner | ||||
| The Hillman Prize | 2019 Canadian Hillman Prize | Harvey Cashore, Bob McKeown, Kimberly Ivany, Aileen McBride, Saman Malik, Doug Husby, and Lisa Mayor | Winner | ||||
| Canadian Association of Journalists Awards | 2020 | title=Canadian Association of Journalists - Awards | url=https://caj.ca/Awards | access-date=2021-05-27 | website=caj.ca}} | Gillian Findlay, Linda Guerriero, Elizabeth McMillan, Lisa Mayor, and Liz Rosch | Finalist |
| JHR / CAJ Award for Human Rights Reporting | Mark Kelley, Virginia Smart, Karen Wirsig, Aileen Mcbride, and Andy Hincenbergs | ||||||
| Canadian Screen Awards | Best Picture Editing, Factual | Aileen McBride | |||||
| 2021 | Liz Rosch | Nominee |
Controversies
The Savoie scandal
In 1992, The Fifth Estate aired an expose of Inspector Claude Savoie of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, accusing him of being corrupt. On 21 December 1992, Savoie shot himself in his office at the RCMP's headquarters. Many felt that The Fifth Estate bore some responsibility for Savoie's suicide. Julian Sher of The Fifth Estate who worked on the Savoie story stated in 2022: "I didn't kill him, I didn't load the gun, I didn't put the gun to his head. He made his choices. I'm not responsible but if Dan and I had decided not to do the story, if we had not covered this stuff, would he be alive? He might have decided to kill himself when the RCMP (investigated him)...The lesson I learned from that is the consequences of our work. For many of the people we tell stories about, it's their lives and sometimes their deaths."
Libel suit
The CBC was successfully sued for libel over an episode that aired on 27 February 1996. Two doctors were interviewed for an episode about prescription drugs. Both doctors alleged their interviews were unfairly edited to give the false impression they were involved in kickbacks, cover-ups of patient deaths and other disreputable activities. Cardiologist Martin Myers asked for an apology plus $25,000, while researcher Frans Leenen asked for an apology plus $10,000. The CBC opted to fight the charges in court. The doctors ultimately prevailed. Myers was awarded $200,000, plus interest and costs, while Leenen won $950,000, plus interest and costs that could total over $2 million, a record for Canadian libel. The CBC has no libel insurance. Judges in both cases ruled that journalists at The Fifth Estate had twisted the facts and acted with malice, with one writing in his decision; "this was sensationalistic journalism of the worst sort and should serve as an embarrassment to this so-called 'flagship' investigative programme." The episode's host Trish Wood, producer Nicholas Regush, the researcher and executive producer David Studer were assessed punitive and aggravated damages.Margaret Wente (2000) Two doctors, the CBC and a judgment, The Globe and Mail, May 13, 2000; URL accessed 11 Apr 2017
Iglesia ni Cristo
The CBC and The Fifth Estate were sued in February 2019 by the Iglesia Ni Cristo after officials said one of the show's broadcasts defamed their church, calling the show "slanderous" and acting "without evidence." CBC News responded by stating they stand behind the story.
The episode in question, "Church of Secrets", which aired on 11 November 2018 and was hosted by Bob McKeown, detailed the controversies surrounding the church, including accusations of financial irregularities, kidnapping, and the murder of a Canadian man. In particular, McKeown interviewed the widow of a murder victim allegedly killed by INC members after a series of verbal altercations, as well as following the story of excommunicated ministerial worker Lowell Menorca II, who sought refugee status in Canada. The news crew also attempted for and were denied an interview with Eduardo V. Manalo after an event in Sacramento. During the attempt for an interview, their vehicle's tires were slashed, which McKeown suspected was an act of intimidation by INC, though an INC member denied the allegation.
Notes
References
References
- Sonya Bell, [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-fifth-estate "The Fifth Estate"]. ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]'', September 16, 2022.
- "The story of the fifth estate".
- (28 August 2011). "Ron Haggart, 84: Legendary journalist 'delighted in controversy'". The Toronto Star.
- Connie Thiessen, [https://broadcastdialogue.com/ioanna-roumeliotis-to-join-cbcs-the-fifth-estate/ "Ioanna Roumeliotis to join CBC’s ‘The Fifth Estate’"]. ''Broadcast Dialogue'', January 7, 2025.
- Connie Thiessen, [https://broadcastdialogue.com/bob-mckeown-to-retire-from-cbcs-the-fifth-estate/ "Bob McKeown to retire from CBC’s ‘The Fifth Estate’"]. ''Broadcast Dialogue'', November 19, 2024.
- "Emmy winner joins CBC's fifth estate". ''[[Toronto Star]]'', September 23, 2016.
- "The Strange World of Julian Assange". CBC News.
- "The Fifth Estate".
- [http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/from-the-archives/someone-got-away-with-murder cbc.ca: Someone Got Away With Murder]
- "Season 36 Episodes online". CBC News.
- "Season 37 Episodes online". CBC News.
- "Season 38 Episodes online". CBC News.
- "Into the Death Zone - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Kingston Pen: Secrets and Lies - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Runaway Fighter - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Widow's Web - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Life and Death of Gloria Taylor - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Whistleblowers: Moment of Truth - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Lost In The Struggle: The Next Chapter - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "HOW A FRAUDULENT CLAIM TO A LOTTERY TICKET CHANGED THE RULES OF THE GAME, AND MADE A GROUP OF ORDINARY GUYS MILLIONAIRES SEVEN YEARS LATER--CBC - CBC Media Centre".
- "The Elephant in the Room - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Left for Dead - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Lance Armstrong : Master of Spin - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Hunting Magnotta - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Costa Concordia: The Captain's Tale - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Imperfect Spy - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Last Race - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Target bin Laden - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Crossfire - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Unrepentant - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Vanishing - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Second Wave - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Ironman - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Mission Improbable - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Rate My Hospital - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Fifth Estate".
- "Made in Bangladesh - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Murder and the Money Trail - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Elephants on Board: A Journey to Remember - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Strange World of Julian Assange - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Rob Ford Story - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Sextortion of Amanda Todd - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Conspiracy Files: JFK and 9/11 - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Last Great Escape - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Silence of the Labs - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Man Who Hears Voices - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Walk the Line - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Voyage of the Black Dragon - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Rabbi of the Pure Hearts: Inside Lev Tahor - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Rise and Fall of Mike Duffy - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Return to Paradise - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Dead Enough - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Your Tips, Our Stories - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Love and the Perfect Stranger - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Small Town Shakedown - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Fifth Estate Season 43".
- "Murder in Cottage Country - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Pit Bulls Unleashed: Should They Be Banned? - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "The Truth Smugglers: The Disappeared in Syria - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Jagmeet Singh: The Colour of Politics - the fifth estate - CBC News".
- "Motherisk: Tainted Tests & Broken Families - The Fifth Estate".
- "Via Rail Terror Plot : The Inside Man - the Fifth Estate".
- "TransCanada and Keystone XL : The Money Pipeline - The Fifth Estate - CBC News".
- "The Super Scalpers - The Fifth Estate - CBC News".
- "The JFK Files : The Murder of a President - The Fifth Estate - CBC News".
- "Basil Borutski and the Wilno Murders: Circle of Fear - The Fifth Estate - CBC News".
- "The Fifth Estate Season 45".
- "Targeted: Inside the gun lobby's fight to save assault weapons in Canada - The Fifth Estate - CBC News".
- "Is murder in your DNA? - The Fifth Estate - CBC News".
- "When terror comes home: The plan for deradicalizing returning ISIS fighters - the Fifth Estate - CBC News".
- "The Fifth Estate Season 46".
- "Policing the Police - The Fifth Estate".
- (2021-03-09). "The Fifth Estate features Carol Sutherland during 'Black On Campus' segment".
- (January 9, 2003). "A Dangerous Business".
- "2004 Pulitzer for Public Service".
- "2003 Peabody Award".
- "2003 Peabody Award".
- Trauma, Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and. "Fifth Estate wins the 2019 Mindset Award for Workplace Mental Health Reporting".
- (2019-04-03). "2019 Canadian Hillman Prize Ceremony".
- "Canadian Association of Journalists - Awards".
- (8 November 2022). "Kings of Coke tells the tale of Montreal's infamous West End Gang". The Montreal Gazette.
- Dawkins, Glenn. 2019 February 8. "[https://www.thewhig.com/news/local-news/terrible-stain-cbc-sued-by-church-over-fifth-estate-story/wcm/2019b197-4554-47e6-8160-15c7da3ecdc0/?page=all TERRIBLE STAIN: CBC sued by church over Fifth Estate story]." ''Kingston Whig Standard''. Postmedia News. Retrieved 2021 May 27.
- "Church of Secrets - Episodes - The Fifth Estate".
- (2018-11-11). "Church of secrets". CBC.
- "How The Fifth Estate dealt with intimidation {{!".
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