Love Canal at 50

Fifty years ago, on October 3, 1976, Michael Brown of the Niagara Gazette first broke the news of a growing concern in the LaSalle community of Niagara Falls - strange chemicals bubbling to the surface and leaking into the basements of people's homes.

Within a couple of years, this initial local beat reporting became an international story about corporate malfeasance, a failure by governmental officials to hold polluters accountable, working class organizing, and subsequent changes to the law, including the passage of The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), aka the Superfund Act.

Watchdog journalism and organizing are two parallel but related paths to hold corporations and others in power accountable - and both fields are currently facing repression.

In this panel discussion, we will feature a discussion between veteran journalists who covered the original Love Canal crisis, as well as current journalists who today cover environmental polluters, and we will dig in about the importance of watchdog and beat journalism for corporate accountability, as well as how the field has shifted in the past 50 years, for both the better and the worse.

The panel will include veteran WIVB reporter Richard Newberg, who will screen some archival interviews with Love Canal organizers and Michael Brown, and current journalists Mark Scheer, Mackenzie Shuman and Dan Telvock. Geoff Kelly will lead the questions for the panelists. Mr. Newberg's interviews are courtesy of RICH NEWBERG/MOMENTS IN TIME VIDEO, INC. and TOM VETTER/TVRE PRODUCTIONS.

This event is the first in a series that will be held over the next several years to celebrate the work of the original Love Canal organizers, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their efforts, and to examine how to build off of their work for the next 50 years. If you are interested in learning more about this effort, please visit the webpage here - https://www.cacwny.org/campaigns/love-canal-at-50-lca50/