University of Montana Students Wrap Up Libby Asbestos CoverageMissoula, Montana - A group of 14 journalism students from the University of Montana have concluded their capstone projects, which covered the W.R. Grace asbestos trial and the reactions to the trial in Libby. The reporting experience lasted three months, and included daily trips to the courtroom to watch the trial unfold. The students then reported the day's events on a student-run blog.
After the charges against Grace were dismissed, the students decided that it was important to travel to Libby and see how residents of the town were reacting to the verdict. Hundreds of Libby residents have died from asbestos-related illnesses like lung cancer and mesothelioma, and many more have been sickened. The asbestos-laced vermiculite mined by W.R. Grace is blamed for making so many Libby residents ill.
"Students volunteered to come up to Libby for a reaction story," said Nadia White, a journalism professor at the University of Montana. "Many of them said it was an eye-opener for them to talk to real people. For those who made that trip, it sealed their relationship with the story." White, along with law professor Andrew King-Ries, created the educational opportunity, where journalism students and law students from the university worked in tandem to provide the public with information about the trial via the blog.
"The trial offered the opportunity to focus on one topic in one controlled venue for a long time," White said. "In the end, I think it produced a set of journalists with more court experience than many seasoned journalists...I think the project produced journalists ahead of the curve of where journalism will be tomorrow."
US-based oncologists, including Stephen Rush, MD, who specializes in radiation therapy, continue to study mesothelioma cancer in an effort to find a cure. For now, patients suffering from asbestos cancer must rely on palliative mesothelioma treatment methods, including chemotherapy and radiation, to control their disease.
