Paula Todd

Paula Todd

Original nomination:

When independent journalist and author Paula Todd came across several disturbing reports last spring that Karla Homolka was teaching children somewhere in the Caribbean, Todd set about finding her. Eventually, without the support of a news organization, Todd tracked down Homolka in Gaudeloupe, now married and the mother of three young children. It was one of the biggest scoops of the year (the managing editor of the Toronto Star at the time confessed that Todd had achieved something his investigative unit had been unable to crack despite six months of effort). Todd was named the #2 newsmaker of the year by Yahoo! Canada News. Her ebook, Finding Karla, became a #1 Kindle Single bestseller and the Globe and Mail's Simon Houpt declared it "Journalism's 14,000-Word Future." Houpt noted the significance of the fact that Todd was the first writer in Canada to break news with an ebook.

Links:

Finding Karla on Amazon.ca: http://www.amazon.ca/Finding-Karla-Tracked-Discovered-ebook/dp/B008CSQQVE

Yahoo! Canada News Top Ten Newsmakers: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/2012-year-in-review–top-10-newsmakers-224047132.html

Simon Houpt article on Finding Karla:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/does-a-3-e-book-on-karla-homolka-represent-a-new-wave-of-journalism/article4372566/

"Homolka e-book a publishing breakthrough" (Toronto Star): http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/1239628–homolka-e-book-a-publishing-breakthrough

How she got the story (Maclean’s) http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/07/12/finding-and-photographing-karla-homolka/