On March 28, 2023, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich published the latest in his regular column series for the paper, which was headlined ‘Russia’s Economy is Starting to Come Undone’. The day after the article came out, however, he was locked up in a Russian jail. The American journalist, who was based in Russia at the time, was arrested by Putin’s Federal Security Service and accused of espionage.

Over the next few months, Gershkovich’s colleagues and loved ones watched in horror as his detention proceedings played out. While the Russian state was trying to convict him for being a spy, it was clear to the rest of the world what his real crime was: journalism.

Fast-forward to March 29, 2024 – one year since Gershkovich was first detained – and the Wall Street Journal wanted to do something to mark a year of missed birthdays, holidays, family moments and, crucially, his essential reporting at the newspaper.

In partnership with Mother New York and London, the publisher continued to tell Gershkovich’s story through Missing Articles – a blank space on the front of the paper representing the articles he could no longer write.

The design was the first of its kind for the paper, with the missing articles also featured throughout its inside pages and across its digital platforms. Through the campaign, it not only amplified the conversation around his unjust detainment and the efforts to bring him home but also shared a powerful message about the importance of protecting press freedom.

“When one journalist is silenced, we are all silenced,” says the publisher. “And to fight those that would keep us in the dark, we must make even more noise. The Missing Articles did that across the world with a blank page.”

The awareness campaign received worldwide press coverage and was even featured in competitors’ papers, including the New York Times, Washington Post and the Guardian. The Wall Street Journal saw its highest-ever digital subscription rate shortly afterwards and, most importantly, within six months Gershkovich safely returned home to the US, where he began reporting once again.

Credits:
Grand Prix for Design, Print Design
Entrant: Mother
Creative Agency: Mother
Production Agency: eg+
Dow Jones CEO: Almar Latour
The Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief: Emma Tucker
The Wall Street Journal CMO: Sherry Weiss