Two investigative journalists
to speak about Libby’s asbestos

By Josi Carlson
J-School Web Reporter

Award-winning investigative journalists Paul Brodeur and Andrew Schneider, who have both written extensively on the hazards of asbestos, will be at the University of Montana Journalism School from April 29 through May 1, sharing their knowledge and expertise with students.

Schneider and Brodeur will be featured speakers at “Stories from Libby and Beyond: The People and Politics of Asbestos,” a public symposium at the University Center on May 1 from 1 to 5 p.m. They will also speak to journalism classes.

“These are nationally famous investigators,” said journalism professor Dennis Swibold. “It’s a great opportunity for students to gain a lot of knowledge from premier journalists.”

Schneider is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who brought national attention to the asbestos exposure problem in Libby. His 1999 articles for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer led to his recent book with David McCumber, “An Air That Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana, Uncovered a National Scandal.”

Brodeur, a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine for many years, has been a pioneer in writing about the hazards of asbestos. He wrote a series of articles and four books on the effects of asbestos, including “Expendable Americans” and “Outrageous Misconduct: The Asbestos Industry on Trial.” He won the National Magazine Award in 1973, as well as the AAAS-Westinghouse Science Journalism Award for magazine writing in 1975.

Libby is a community in northern Montana that has seen first-hand the ravages of asbestos. Libby residents have claimed that for over 30 years the vermiculite mine owned and operated by W.R. Grace & Co. knowingly exposed residents to a toxic form of asbestos. Hundreds of people have died and been affected by asbestos-related illnesses in Libby. The W.R. Grace mine was shut down in 1990, but the Environmental Protection Agency continues to research its effects on the citizens of Libby.

Since July 2001 Schneider has been the deputy assistant managing editor for investigations at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

As part of their trip to Missoula, Brodeur and Schneider will share their investigative experiences with journalism students. On April 29, Schneider will meet with Swibold’s 2 p.m. Investigations class, talking about his work.

Kathleen Best, Schneider’s wife and the assistant managing editor for local news at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, will meet with professor Teresa Tamura’s News Editing II class, and any other interested students, at 2 p.m. April 29 in the J-school library. She will cover her experience as an editor working with reporters on breaking news stories.

On April 30 at noon in the J-School library, Brodeur and Schneider will talk about their reporting and investigative techniques.

"It’s a rare opportunity to get two big names like that in one room,” Swibold said. “Students will get to talk to two guys who are at the top of their craft.”

The May 1 symposium featuring Brodeur and Schneider is part of “Landscape of Asbestos: Libby and Beyond,” an effort to raise awareness about asbestos issues. The effort is organized by UM faculty members and the Missoula Art Museum. This will begin a three-month stint of exhibits, films and lectures at the museum, UM and in Libby.

Steve Schwarze, assistant professor of communication studies and one of the organizers, said the theme of the conference is the problems in Libby, as well as the broader context of the major asbestos problems around the world.

A number of panelists will join Brodeur and Schneider in a discussion at the symposium. They include Gayla Benefield, a Libby resident and president of the Lincoln County Asbestos Victims’ Relief Organization; Jim Fite, executive director of the White Lung Association; Colleen Lux, former UM graduate student who wrote her thesis on the Libby Community Advisory Group and has worked with asbestos victims in Australia; and Bill Ravanesi, artist and activist, who created the exhibit at the Missoula Art Museum.

“It’s really an incredible group of people,” Schwarze said. “Their collective knowledge on asbestos issues is remarkable.”

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