How did we find that story?

By David Studer
Director of Journalistic Standards and Practices, CBC News

Sometimes good journalism comes down to a combination of a lot of hard work... and one bright idea.

For about a week at the beginning of May, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford seemed to have gone missing. He'd announced that he was headed for rehab for his notorious problems with alcohol. Then he left Toronto, made a brief stop in Chicago, and seemingly vanished.

Was he in rehab? Was he in Canada? In North America? No one who knew was saying. But Toronto reporters, social media, and his colleagues at City Hall were buzzing... with theories... and news of "sightings". The case of the "missing mayor" had become yet another big Rob Ford story.

CBC News investigative reporter Dave Seglins proposed that his editors give him some time and some backup to chase the story. Greenlighting this assignment wasn't automatic. Yes, given Mr. Ford's position and notoriety, and his repeated empty promises to clean up his act, there was no doubt that the answer to the question "where's the mayor?" would be of real public interest.

But if it turned out that the mayor was in treatment, as promised, there'd be other interests in play, most importantly those of Mr. Ford and other patients--whoever and wherever they were--seeking treatment for serious addictions. People who'd committed to rehab, travelled to the facility, and checked in for help, could well be harmed by a media invasion.

Keeping that balance in mind, Seglins and his colleague John Lancaster started digging in the middle of last week, putting together hunches, leads, and tips from the public about a number of different rehab facilities in a variety of locations. Over the next couple of days, they chased down some leads, discarded others, and felt they were making progress.

As they did, though, they knew that confirming--for certain--that the mayor was in a given location and receiving treatment would be difficult. Rehab facilities are understandably designed to give patients privacy and security while they receive treatment. A knock on the door, or a call to reception, weren't going to gain anything, given the confidentiality governing medical treatment. And tabloid stunts were out of the question.

As they considered this situation, Seglins was aware that back in Toronto, Mr. Ford's brother and spokesman, Toronto Councillor Doug Ford, was under pressure. He'd long been on the spot to explain his brother's behaviour, and now it was happening again.

He was fielding claims that Rob Ford wasn't in rehab at all but had been "sighted" at locations in Toronto. Considering the long and rocky track record of Rob Ford "cleanups", nothing Doug Ford said was being taken at face value. So his insistence that his brother was truly enrolled in rehab was going nowhere.

That's when Seglins had that bright idea. With the backing of his editors, he called Doug Ford. There's one sure way to settle this: put me in touch with your brother's doctor, and if he confirms what you're saying, we'll go with the story that Rob Ford is in rehab, as you've been insisting. That highly-credible CBC confirmation will inform the public on an matter of interest, and it should end the "sightings" and the buzz.

And that's what happened. Doug Ford arranged for his brother to give his treating physician limited release from the duty of patient confidentiality. That way, the doctor could talk directly to Seglins and confirm key details of Mr. Ford's treatment. The two spoke late Friday. The doctor's credentials were solid, and the information was credible.

Even then, before going with the story, Seglins took one more step. He had independently learned contact information for the facility's CEO, and although that person wasn't expecting a call, he made one and the CEO duly corroborated what Seglins had been told.

That settled things. We'd managed to get solid new information about the Ford rehab, and hadn't impinged on patients' right to peaceful, private rehabilitation.

With that, CBC tweeted first word of the story and followed that by rolling the news out across all its platforms - from mobile to desktop, from radio to television. Seglins and CBC News had found the answer to a question everyone in Toronto had been asking.