Price produced the documentary, which focuses on the practice of diving into water he described in a recent interview with the Dayton Daily News as having the consistency of “a chocolate milkshake … It’s dangerous because it’s unstable, especially dealing with the tide. The water is moving.”
After the documentary aired, the Philippine parliament banned underwater mining, citing the NewsHour piece.
The News & Documentary Emmy Awards were announced Monday, Sept. 28, in New York City; Price, however, was en route from Indonesia when he learned the news.
“I knew they were going to be announced Monday,” Price said. “I flew 9 hours from Jakarta to Tokyo, then 12 hours from Tokyo to Dallas. When I got to Dallas I started following the Twitter feed and they kept announcing category after category, and my wife, Debbie, and I were texting back and forth.
“I got on the plane and continued following the feed until the flight attendant was standing over me and giving me a look that said, ‘You will turn off your phone right now.’ An hour into the flight I realized I could get Internet. The Twitter feed was going crazy, then Debbie’s message popped up saying, ‘You won!’ ”
How does it feel to win a national Emmy?
“I’m ecstatic!” Price said. “What’s so satisfying is that (the documentary) directly impacted Philippine legislation that’s going to save a lot of lives. This is an instance when journalism truly impacts lives. That’s what I live to do.”
Price was in Indonesia as part of a two-year project to document the health effects of global pollution. The project is funded by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, with support from two other organizations, Pure Earth and Green Cross International.
“One in seven deaths in the world can be attributed to pollution,” Price said. “We’re going to explore the effects of pollution from things we take for granted.”
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