for breaking the news that the U.S. Department of Education was refusing to reconsider its rejection of applications for grants to help young people from poor families prepare for college. The grants had been rejected because of minor clerical errors. https://www.apnews.com/a3f7f6be546d4b31bc306f9d77f...
for revealing that Detroit would be by far the toughest city to count, based on APâs exclusive data analysis of the difficulties facing the U.S. Census Bureau in 2020. The teamâs multiformat package explained why the city in transition poses such a formidable challenge. https://bit.ly/2EsNGmDhttps://bit.ly/2Z73k0D
With school districts nationwide wrestling with tough decisions on reopening amid the pandemic, South Carolina reporter Jeffrey Collins wanted to show that process at work.
When several districts rebuffed his efforts at behind-the-scene access, Collins took another approach. He started reporting by watching a school boardâs meetings online, taking voluminous notes. Demonstrating a thorough understanding of what the district was facing, he was finally granted in-person access to the districtâs meetings and discussions for a revealing all-formats package.
For finding a way to delve into a local school boardâs deliberations, and providing insight into conversations happening nationally, Collins wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
for checking up on Hasbroâs claim that it would introduce a Rey character to its âStar Warsâ Monopoly game. Her reporting appears to have prompted Hasbro to finally make the Rey figurine available in U.S. stores. http://abcn.ws/2u5bdE1
for using the arrest and deportation of a prominent Irishman in Boston as a hook for a larger story on how the Trump administration is cracking down with increasing frequency on Europeans living illegally in the U.S. http://abcn.ws/2vDdSnW
Statehouse reporters know to follow the money, that to hold government accountable we need to know where taxpayer money goes and how it is used. Nevada temporary legislative reporter Alison Noon did just that recently and helped bring about a promised change in policy that will make the workings of the state capital more transparent.
Noon first began reporting a story that rural health clinics offering family planning services to low-income women had slashed services and were turning women away for lack of funding after federal grant money dried up.
In the course of her reporting, Noon learned the programâs federal funding had been cut after a scathing federal review that showed widespread mismanagement and poor medical practices at the rural clinics. That highly critical federal report went unmentioned when the programâs administrator sought additional state funds during the legislative session.
Noon set out to learn why. She found Nevada did not require state administrators to share the results of such federal reviews with anyone â not the governor, not department heads, not state auditors. Her reporting led to a recently proposed requirement that such reviews be shared with Nevada auditors.
For her unmatched APNewsBreak, Noon wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
led an AP team producing a visually rich, deeply reported package examining a vast expansion of natural gas facilities in coastal Southwest Louisiana that is escalating greenhouse gas emissions, raising global temperatures, fueling extreme weather and imperiling communities.Reporting from coastal Southwest Louisiana, energy reporter Bussewitz and national multiformat journalist Irvine captured the lives of families hurt by extreme weather linked to a build-out of liquefied natural gas export terminals. But the two went further: They depicted an urgent concern: Where once it looked as if the nation might soon shift away from fossil fuel industries, a reversal has occurred. The U.S. has become the worldâs largest exporter of LNG, with worrisome consequences for Gulf Coast residents and the planetâs climate.A few news organizations, mostly local or niche environmental publications, have reported previously on this issue, but none have had the depth and range of AP's package, with its data, visuals and reporting on human impact.Read more
wanted to explore how people on different sides of the political gulf in the U.S. view the election and transfer of power.They found two Maryland residents who represent polar political opposites: one a Trump Republican who has two TVs tuned to conservative media; the other a staunch Democrat eager for the inauguration of Joe Biden. Both are members of a program designed to bridge the nationâs extraordinary political divide.The AP team followed as the pair navigated the turbulent transition between administrations, careful to report fairly while not making their divergent positions equivalent â the journalists made it clear that the facts establish Bidenâs win and do not support claims of a stolen election. The all-formats package attracted attention and yes, sparked heated discussion online. https://bit.ly/3ckElj2https://bit.ly/2Yn9r19
fittingly beat the competition with news of the biggest impact yet from their two-year investigation of beatings and cover-ups by the Louisiana State Police: The U.S. Justice Department is launching a sweeping civil rights probe of the agency to see if there is a pattern of excessive force and racial discrimination.Based on their deep sourcing, Mustian and Bleiberg were able to exclusively report the federal âpattern-or-practiceâ investigation as a news alert about an hour before the official announcement in Baton Rouge. It marked the first such action against a statewide law enforcement agency in more than two decades. All the examples cited by the assistant attorney general as justitification for the probe came from a string of AP scoops that exposed (often with video) beatings of mostly Black men and the Louisiana agencyâs instinct to protect troopers rather than investigate them.Read more
for tracing a little-noticed surge in Brazilians crossing into the U.S. Leveraging APâs footprint from Brazil to Texas to Boston, the deeply reported story documented an astonishing number of Brazilians pouring through El Paso. Hundreds of them had ridden with a single cab driver who Attanasio found by canvassing taxi stands at border bridges, while in Boston, Marcelo found a recently-arrived mechanic, adding texture to the story. https://bit.ly/2PG3jh7
delivered a bold, smart story exploring how this pivotal presidential election became a referendum on the future of race relations in America.Stafford, a race and ethnicity journalist, gathered a range of local and national voices to examine how the U.S. is being forced to confront systemic racism in an election year in which the coronavirus pandemic, economic uncertainty and police brutality have converged. One of those voices was that of Omari Barksdale, a Black man who was impacted by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. And more personally, he lost his sister to COVID. Detroit photographer Sancya met with Barksdale and captured him in strong portraits that complemented the text story.Stafford also landed interviews with some notable national figures, including civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton who said the âsoul of the nationâ was âat risk.â https://bit.ly/3p4Kwf5
Republicans in Wisconsin had pledged that no eligible voter would be disenfranchised when they passed a strict voter ID law in 2011. After it was used for the first time last year in a presidential election, a group of AP reporters sought to put that promise to the test.
Weeks of research and source work led them to a retired Milwaukee resident who had voted for years and brought to the polls her Social Security card, Medicare card and county-issued bus pass with photo ID; a Navy veteran whose Illinois driver's license was good enough to board a plane and open checking account; an 85-year-old man who had voted in the same small town for years; and a recent college graduate who went to the polls with her three forms of identification â her student ID, copies of her lease and utility bill, and her ID from her home state of Ohio.
In the end, all were turned away or had to cast provisional ballots that were never counted.
For exposing the practical effects of the ID law on Wisconsin citizens, the team of Cassidy, Moreno and Antlfinger wins this week's Best of the States award.
Since the pandemic took hold in America, myriad stories have covered the broad economic impact of millions laid off or underemployed. But few have captured how the chilling trickle-down effect is changing lives.
Enter Kelli Kennedy. The Florida reporter produced a compelling, poignant story on one man's struggle with the devastating effects of the coronavirus shutdowns. Orlando resident Jeff Lello lost his waiter job, ended up homeless and briefly lived in a tent in the woods.
The story was among APâs most-read of the week, drawing feedback from readers, colleagues and even politicians.
For a stark narrative of unemployment wrought by the pandemic, Kennedyâs story wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
for raising questions about discrepancies in Democratic U.S. House candidate Rob Quistâs financial disclosures that forced him to amend those filings to declare another $57,000 in income. http://apne.ws/2ptqs9r
for first spotting news in a single line in a state Medicaid waiver form, and then chasing down and chronicling in text and video how prisons in the U.S. are experimenting with $1,000-per-shot Vivitrol injections to keeps inmate from falling back into addictions, even without iron-clad medical evidence that they work. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/prisons-fight-opioids-...
for being first to identify the man who had arranged shipment of a giant rabbit that died after flying United from Britain to the U.S. http://apne.ws/2p1kWfz
for breaking news that appeals by two contractors had delayed until November construction of prototypes for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. http://cnb.cx/2wexLDb http://bit.ly/2v62lyM
Mark Pratt, a breaking news staffer in Boston, has written several stories exploring the complicated past of Theodor Seuss Geisel — Dr. Seuss. The company that preserves and protects the authorâs legacy knew it could trust him.
So Dr. Seuss Enterprises gave Pratt early word on a story that would become a global bestseller for AP, generating off-the-charts customer use for three days and eventually becoming the single most-used AP story of 2021 to date: The company was ceasing publication and sales of six Seuss books because of their offensive imagery.
Prattâs story instantly rocketed to the very top of a hectic news cycle, touching off a firestorm of commentary and conservative claims of âcancel culture.â The piece exceeded 2.5 million pageviews — catapulting it past the Capitol insurrection coverage in terms of customer use and clicks.
For nurturing trust with a newsmaker that yielded an AP exclusive still resonating with customers and news consumers, Pratt wins APâs Best of the Week award.
landed a scoop with impact: Voting reform groups were preparing constitutional challenges against the candidacy of GOP members of Congress who supported the Jan. 6 uprising or attempts to overturn President Joe Bidenâs win.Just days after the Jan. 6 anniversary, Robertson, AP Raleigh, North Carolina, statehouse reporter, received a tip from an advocacy group that its first target would be Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., challenging his candidacy in 2022 by citing a portion of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, originally used to bar Confederates who took up arms during the Civil War. Other members of Congress who have supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election would be subject to similar challenges.Robertson conducted interviews and used his connections with a former state Supreme Court attorney to ensure he got immediate word of the complaint being filed with the State Board of Elections. His story, written in advance, moved within minutes of the confirmation, quickly amassing an impressive 176,000 social media views. It was credited in media outlets from Raleighâs News & Observer to People magazine, and was cited in a Washington Post opinion piece.The story drew more attention after a producer for âThe Rachel Maddow Showâ emailed it to a colleague while accidentally copying Cawthornâs office, prompting the conservative congressman to lash out at MSNBC. https://aplink.news/8xa
A mentally disabled Louisiana man walked free last week after 20 years in prison for a killing his attorneys say he didn't commit. But New Orleans reporter Janet McConnaughey questioned why his plea agreement blames him for obstructing justice.
Corey Williams was a 16-year-old who still sucked his thumb, often wet himself and had been hospitalized for extreme lead poisoning when Shreveport, Louisiana, police brought him in for questioning in 1998 about a shooting that killed a pizza deliveryman.
For hours, he said he was innocent. Finally, Williams told police he did it and wanted to go home and lie down.
Two decades later, with doubts swirling around his murder conviction and the case submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court for review, Williams accepted a plea agreement, pleading guilty to manslaughter and obstructing justice.
McConnaughey asked the district attorney's office for documentation outlining the plea deal. There it was: Williams said heâd obstructed justice by removing evidence from the crime scene and by providing âa false inculpatory statement to police." Williamsâ signature was in inch-high printing, with big circles over the iâs.
McConnaugheyâs story received strong use by AP customers. For pursuing the underlying details and shining a light on a deal that set Williams free â but only after putting the blame on himself for a false confession â McConnaughey wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
