Journalist honoured for lifting the lid on child vaping

A JOURNALIST from Binfield Heath has won an award.

Lucy Watkinson, who is a senior producer and reporter for BBC Health, won the award for best case study at the Medical Journalism Awards.

She collected the prize along with cameraman and editor Niall Gallagher. Editor Dominic Hughes also won the award but was not present.

The case study was about a 12-year-old girl, Sarah Griffin, from Belfast, who started vaping when she was nine and caused so much damage that she had to be put into a coma.

The judges commended the portrayal, describing it as a “powerful” case study on one of this decade’s biggest health issues.

They said: “This entry created a strong emotional reaction in the audience in a way that places itself at the heart of the ongoing debate in this area.

“If we are considering impact, this particular case study was most likely to drive awareness, behavioural change and ignite policy discussions. It stuck in the minds of the judges; we knew it instantly which is a real mark of power.”

The story, “Never start vaping, says 12-year-old girl with lung damage”, was featured on BBC Breakfast and the 1pm and 6pm news slots as well as online.

Ms Watkinson said her interest in the issue began at the end of 2022, having written articles on the issues, included revealing the high level of metal found in the vapes and how their promotion ahead of cigarettes backfired.

She said: “I became obsessed with it. I was looking at the bus stop when we were taking the kids to and from school. I knew the school had a problem with vaping but I did not really know anything about it. The private schools can afford monitors in the bathrooms but comprehensives can’t.

“I needed a serious picture of what’s in vapes and I found they contain high levels of metal. We then looked at kids who used them and I came across this girl. We obviously had difficulty trying to get parents and children to talk about their vaping habits and hers was particularly severe. There was a lot of people at the time who looked at vaping as not serious but this case study showed there was a huge problem with child vaping.

“I was following all the local and national wires on the story at that time and when this story came up with a 12-year-old girl from Belfast, I just knew it was a great case study.

“I phoned my editor and then Dominic and I flew to Belfast and the next morning we filmed with the mum and daughter and went to hospital to talk to respiratory doctors. It was a perfect storm.”

Ms Watkinson said the mother and daughter wanted to go on the record to warn off other children vaping in the hope some good would come out of the situation.

She said: “It was not until the girl was in hospital that the mum realised how addicted she was to vape — she found vapes in her teddies. I don’t think she realised the frequency she was vaping.

“It was a really difficult decision and when Dominic interviewed the mum sat around the kitchen table her mum was very upset because she didn’t know the extent. She wanted it to be a warning to other parents.

“I went to speak to Sarah in her bedroom. It was a normal 12-year-old’s bedroom but she talked about hiding vapes in her teddies and that vaping was the first thing she would do in the morning.”

The story also raised ethical questions for Mrs Watkinson. She said: “I had to ask Sarah if she realised the impact of speaking about the story and how that might make her feel and whether she would be happy with the media interest.

“After our story she was on Good Morning Britain and ITV because of how huge the severity of the case was. I knew that what she was talking about was more common than people imagine. For me, she was the one that was brave enough to.” The story was rolled out extensively by the BBC running on television, radio and online and Mrs Watkinson said this was due to the “strong interviews”.

She said: “No, I was not thinking about winning awards, I think she encapsulated all that of the work I had done around vapes. It’s really nice to be recognised for that body of work.”

Ms Watkinson, who has worked as a BBC journalist for 15 years, previously for BBC news, BBC studios, Newsnight and Panorama, said: “I felt really proud to get the award to be recognised, I worked for the BBC for 15 years on Panorama and Newsnight and then left taking a break for five years.”

She said that the time away from journalism made her realise what a “privilege” it is to be a journalist and have people share their story with her.

She said: “When I came back I wanted the BBC to cover stories around me that I felt were not being uncovered.

“I am quite nosey, I enjoy talking to people hearing their stories. I think it’s a huge privilege be a journalist, to go into people’s lives and that they trust you enough with their stories.

“I delivered a series of high impact investigations showing the effect of vaping on children’s health and the investigations were praised by the Prime Minister, cited in government policy documents and helped change the policy on vaping.

“The TikTok streams have had more than 12 million views. Headteachers wrote to parents warning of the dangers to their children’s health and now use our material in lessons.”