2016 Canadian Hillman Prize Winner
Managing editor: Cecil Rosner
Project manager: Cate Friesen
Reporters: Connie Walker, Duncan McCue
Design and Development: William Wolfe-Wylie, Richard Grasley, Michael Leschart, Michael Pereira
Researchers/Writers: Tiar Wilson, Kimberly Ivany, Martha Troian, Chantelle Bellrichard, Joanne Levasseur, Teghan Beaudette
Copy Editors: Kristy Hoffman, Donna Lee
Photo editor: Tara Lindemann
The 2016 Hillman Prize judges chose three pieces that brought to light critical new information on the subject of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada and contributed to the federal government’s decision to call an inquiry into this tragedy.
The CBC investigation into missing and murdered aboriginal women produced a unique catalogue of all the unsolved cases of missing and murdered indigenous women across Canada over the last six decades. In addition they reached out to more than 110 family members of these women, many who had never spoken before.
CBC produced an unprecedented, multi-platform series, including an interactive database of stories and photos of more than 230 women. The website was supplemented by numerous stories on local and network CBC radio and TV, including television documentaries on CBC’s The National and The Fifth Estate. The conversations and the stories prompted new leads and evidence.
Cecil Rosner is the managing editor for CBC Manitoba. He has four decades experience in Canadian print, broadcast and online journalism. He is the author of Behind the Headlines: A History of Investigative Journalism in Canada (Oxford University Press), and co-author of When Justice Fails: the David Milgaard Story (McClelland and Stewart).
Cate Friesen is the senior producer of CBC’s Aboriginal Digital Unit. In the past 15 years she has covered arts, culture, current affairs and news at CBC, for radio and online. Cate has produced feature documentaries for The Sunday Edition and Tapestry, and has launched and lead national radio shows, including Canada Live and Unreserved.
William Wolfe-Wylie is a developer at the CBC who works to acquire and visualize data, helping our journalists to tell unique stories about our world.
Michael Leschart transitioned to an interactive developer role after spending time as a reporter at a small daily newspaper on Vancouver Island, and as a business writer at an oil and gas trade publication in Calgary. This fusion of journalism and tech left him fluent in Geek, Design and Narrative – and he loves the opportunity to combine the three when creating large-scale multimedia features.
Richard Grasley is a graphic designer with the CBC News Interactives team. He puts his experience in motion graphics, broadcast design and brand development into creating online visualizations and presentations that are concise, sensitive and thought-provoking.
Michael Pereira is a developer and data journalist who creates and uses tools to find and tell stories online. Michael’s work has helped uncover and address issues in healthcare, missing and murdered indigenous women, pipeline and rail safety, government spending, real estate, Canada’s surveillance and privacy system, numerous elections, the Olympics, and breaking news events. Michael is currently an interactive editor at the Globe and Mail, previously he was an interactive developer at CBC News.
Investigative reporter Connie Walker has reported extensively on indigenous issues including missing and murdered indigenous women and the Truth & Reconciliation Commission. Connie is Cree from Treaty Four territory in Saskatchewan. She currently lives in Toronto.
Duncan McCue has been a reporter for CBC News in Vancouver for over 15 years. His news and current affairs pieces are featured on CBC’s flagship news show, The National. He’s also an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Journalism. Duncan is Anishinaabe, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in southern Ontario. He lives with his wife and two children in Vancouver.
Kimberly Ivany has experience in both local and national CBC newsrooms, as well as with CBC online and CBC’s the fifth estate where she won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Editorial Research for ‘Rate My Hospital,’ a cross-platform investigation into Canada’s healthcare system. She is currently an associate producer with the CBC’s investigative unit in Toronto.
Tiar Wilson grew up on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Manitoba and is a proud aunt to two nieces and two nephews. She has a journalism diploma from Humber College and has worked for Wawatay in Sioux Lookout, APTN National News, and CBC in Winnipeg and Yellowknife.
Martha Troian is a journalist based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She’s worked for CBC-Aboriginal, APTN National News, and contributes to a variety of media outlets across Canada. Her work includes investigative storytelling, MMIW, Indigenous politics, and covering social justice issues. Martha is a member of Obishikokaang (Lac Seul First Nation) located in northwestern Ontario.
Chantelle Bellrichard is a Vancouver-based multimedia journalist and has been working at CBC since 2012. Since then she’s been dividing her time between CBC, the UBC Graduate School of Journalism and freelance documentary projects.
Teghan Beaudette is a reporter and broadcast journalist for CBC based in Manitoba. She’s done extensive reporting on accessibility and issues that affect women.
Joanne Levasseur is producer with CBC Manitoba’s I-Team. Previous assignments include The National, Disclosure and Country Canada.
Donna Lee is a senior online news writer with CBC Manitoba and a copy editor on the MMIW project. She has worked as a radio and online journalist in Winnipeg and Yellowknife for over a decade.
Kristy Hoffman is a web reporter at CBC Manitoba, where she helped connect Canadians to missing and murdered indigenous women by editing profiles for CBC’s national database of unsolved cases. She has also worked as a national reporter for VICE and the Globe and Mail.
Tara Lindemann is an investigative reporter at CBC News The National and freelance for The Toronto Star. A true believer in the power of journalism, she seeks to address social inequities by digging deep and, in revelation, demanding accountability and transparency.