2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Homicide continues to be one of the leading causes of death for young Indigenous Women, at a rate 12 times higher than that of all other women in Canada. While the number of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG2S) continues to rise, many Canadians still see MMIWG2S as an isolated issue — not the ongoing genocide it is. The lack of media attention around MMIWG2S means many Canadians are unaware of the seriousness of the issue, resulting in a lack of pressure to keep governments accountable.

While a murdered white woman gets wall-to-wall coverage in the media, 4000 Indigenous Women have been murdered, or gone missing, in the last 30 years without any relevant coverage. One story is clear: the culture of Canada doesn’t value Indigenous Women.

The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto needed to give every Missing or Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girl the media attention they deserved, and open the nation’s eyes to the real scale of this ongoing genocide.

They created a newspaper of only cover stories — 4000 of them — to finally give these missing Women the front-page attention they’d been denied and to tell their stories as they should be told. The newspaper was the largest and heaviest ever printed. It was 4000 pages, 8.5 inches thick and weighed over 25 pounds.

Details about each story were sourced through the Truth Gatherings held for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Family and friends came to share the stories of their lost loved ones’ lives and tragic fates.

They used information from the communities to write articles about each of these Women and Girls, fully reflecting their lives and what they meant to those around them while still shedding light on the injustices they faced. Each article was crafted with time and care, written without the intention of getting views but, instead, to memorialize the lives of these beloved Women and Girls.

The art direction of the newspaper was intentionally Indigenous. Every element of every page was part of the story. The headline font included a dissolving effect to symbolize Indigenous communities dissipating as they lose their Women and Children. Pages containing portraits included a turtle shell background, referencing Women and Girls being taken across Turtle Island (North America). One page without portraits, red dresses of varying styles represented the Red Dress movement for MMIWG2S, backdropped by The Medicine Wheel
to symbolize healing.

To increase awareness, a pop-up newsstand and mass-installation of missing posters in front of the provincial government building was created and launched on The National Day of Action for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women.

4000 Cover Stories was covered by every major news network in Canada. It delivered 12,500,000 impressions in the first 24 hours (in a country of 30MM people). The client received over 48 hours of national TV coverage, and multiple features in print and radio. There are plans for the Royal Ontario Museum to preserve the newspaper as part of their permanent Indigenous collection.

Credits

Client: Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto
Executive Director: Pamela Hart
Executive Assistant: Daniela Arango

Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors Canada
Head of Creative: Glen D'Souza, Matt Hassell
Senior Art Director: Alexandra McGuirk-Penedo
Senior Copywriter: Darby Clarke
Creatives: Morgan Wroot, Seumas Slingerland, Chantal Lamont, Michael Liao
Head of Strategy: Andrew Carty
Director of Strategy: Henry Goodman
Managing Director: Julien Bissuel
Head of Business Partnerships: Tyler Kawa
Client Supervisor: Hannah Casey
Producer: Meghan Cheesbrough
Director of Content: David Quach
Senior Production Artist: Gina Mendoza

PR: Veritas Communications
President & CEO: Krista Webster
Executive Vice President, General Manager: Nina Kalos
Vice President, Group Account Director: Julia Perreira
Senior Consultant: Lauren Burnside
Account Coordinator: Tori Krafczek

Media: PHD
Client Business Lead: Michelle Mitchell

Production
Printer: Aboriginal Printing Corporation