Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

In AP interview, #MeToo leadership speaks to marginalized voices

delivered an all-formats package based on the first joint interview with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and the organization’s new CEO Dani Ayers. They told Stafford that the movement’s original intent was to focus on marginalized voices and experiences, and that people have failed to acknowledge that the #MeToo movement was started and led by Black women and people of color.The multiformat project included Ruark’s portraits of Burke in Baltimore, and Bazemore’s images of Ayers in Atlanta. New York video producer Vanessa Alvarez created a video piece from the interview and file footage of some key #MeToo moments.https://bit.ly/35drj1ihttps://bit.ly/2FQQyhu

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP coverage of refugees in Sudan opens a window into Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict

The thousands of refugees spilling over the border into Sudan from Ethiopia’s Tigray region are some of the only firsthand witnesses to a worsening conflict that remains out of reach for most of the world’s media. Crossing a remote desert area, they recount ethnic-targeted killings, many fleeing at a moment’s notice and leaving loved ones behind amid an offensive by the Ethiopian government against Tigray separatists. 

Video journalist Fay Abuelgasim and photographer Nariman el-Mofty have put individual faces on the complex story since arriving at the Sudan-Ethiopia border area nearly two weeks ago. Along with reporters Sam Magdy in Cairo and Cara Anna in Nairobi, their work has revealed the human toll of a conflict to which access remains tightly restricted, even as the United Nations warns of possible war crimes. AP clients have recognized the work with strong play.

For their determined, resourceful and revealing work to document the individual struggles of an escalating refugee crisis, Abuelgasim, el-Mofty, Anna and Magdy earn AP’s Best of the Week award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Dedicated, resourceful reporting sheds light on Ethiopia conflict

has applied relentless drive, journalistic smarts and competitive spirit in her coverage of the conflict between Ethiopia’s federal government and its rebellious Tigray region. A year after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has vowed a “final and crucial” military offensive against Tigray.The story is largely opaque: It has few facts, no death tolls reported, no troop numbers and only hazy social media suggestions of massacres perpetrated in places not found on Google. There is, however, a sea of propaganda and angry words of recrimination from both sides. Through tireless reporting from Kenya, making hundreds of calls to officials, diplomats, aid agencies, diaspora and analysts, through astutely monitoring videos, talking to stringers and parsing through hours of propaganda, Anna has built up a picture of the conflict that, while still a work in progress, is the sharpest and clearest picture available anywhere.https://bit.ly/38RO3HQhttps://bit.ly/3kI89q9https://bit.ly/2IPU11g

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP journalists shadow George Floyd’s brother on Election Day

spent a chunk of Election Day documenting George Floyd’s brother in New York.With racial justice a central issue in the election, race and ethnicity reporter Morrison thought it fitting to tell a story through the lens of someone who lost a loved one to police violence. He had met Terrence Floyd, the younger sibling of George Floyd, in Minneapolis over the summer at the spot where a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes. Terrence, who lives in New York, agreed to let Morrison shadow him exclusively as he rode around the city in an SUV calling on a loudspeaker for people to vote, and later while waiting for election results at a watch party. At one point Terrence chanted “Don't forget to vote!” in rhythm with musicians outside a Brooklyn museum, a moment captured by Morrison, photographer Franklin and video journalist Shaffrey.https://bit.ly/38FgXe2https://bit.ly/3kqmQyb

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Dogged reporting, spycraft expose Texas attorney general scandal

used source work, non-public documents and a technique borrowed from spycraft to connect recent criminal allegations against the Texas attorney general to the conservative Republican’s previously unreported extramarital affair.In late September, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top deputies accused him of criminally abusing his office to help a wealthy donor. Bleiberg spent weeks building sources in his aggressive pursuit of answers to what was behind these explosive, but unspecified, allegations.Those efforts paid off last week when Bleiberg was able to obtain a private transcript of real estate developer Nate Paul acknowledging that the attorney general recommended he hire a woman whom Paxton was rumored to have had an affair with. The sensitive document was picked up at a “dead drop” – a prearranged drop spot – by Austin reporter Paul Weber.Bleiberg then worked sources he’d developed while breaking earlier stories to identify people whom the attorney general may have told about his affair. His relentless outreach ultimately turned up two people with firsthand accounts of Paxton acknowledging the affair in 2018.The reporting allowed AP to draw back the curtain on one of America’s most prominent conservative legal crusaders and break major news on a highly competitive story. It revealed a relationship that’s almost certainly at the center of an ongoing federal public corruption probe. https://bit.ly/2UnuZc1

Best of the Week — First Winner

As families respond to the crisis, AP reveals desperate state of Venezuelan COVID treatment

Venezuela was one of the least-prepared countries in the world to fight the coronavirus. But it has arguably succeeded on one front: suppressing news of the virus’s true impact on its people. The country has acknowledged only 814 COVID deaths. But this Caracas-based all-formats AP team scored a breakthrough, telling the actual story in a country where contradicting the government’s official narrative can lead to detention.

Documenting two women working to ensure the survival of their fathers, the AP journalists delivered a hard-won, startling and exclusive look at the bleak state of health care and the plight of relatives who risk their own lives to care for loved ones in the COVID-19 wing of a rundown public hospital.

For their determination and courage to report this story and expose Venezuela’s ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Smith, Cubillos and Arraez earn AP’s Best of the Week honors.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP rides with Spanish police enforcing virus curfew

took readers and viewers on a nighttime police crackdown against violators of the city’s curfew, intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Ride-alongs are rare in Spain and no other media has had such access to document the police sweep of late-night partygoers. Morenatti and Brito gained exclusive access as Catalonia's regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, enforced the 10 p.m. curfew. The pair shared their images and notes with Wilson, who crafted a colorful text story.Photos and video of police chasing and detaining youth in narrow alleys were widely used both in Spain and abroad, giving AP clients unmatched coverage.https://bit.ly/3jWsGa4https://bit.ly/2Gw9ORN

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP breaks news with interview of Spanish soccer league president

interviewed Spanish league president Javier Tebas following a surprise announcement by outgoing Barcelona team president Josep Bartomeu promoting the idea of a European Super League to be played only by elite clubs. The league would compete against the Champions League and could hurt domestic leagues and smaller clubs. Tebas is the most outspoken critic of the Super League idea in Europe.The day after the embattled Barcelona president dropped the surprising announcement, Madrid sports writer Azzoni landed the first exclusive interview with the Spanish league president. Tebas added fuel to the discussion by saying that Bartomeu was being directed by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, whom he called the architect of the idea. The interview was picked up by nearly all Spanish dailies, including Marca, AS, Mundo Deportivo and El País, and was also cited in sports shows. https://bit.ly/3eruEhz

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP analysis: Most arrested in US protests aren’t leftist radicals

set out to determine who had actually been arrested in the protests that have rocked the U.S. since the killing of George Floyd in May. They scrutinized the arrest records of every person charged in federal court with protest-related crimes, delivering an important accountability story that showed the Trump administration’s claims of leftist-incited violence during racial unrest were overblown. The trio read through thousands of pages of court documents and sifted through 286 federal cases where people were charged with federal crimes of violence. They found only one mention of antifa and very few cases of organized extremism.They also called dozens of lawyers, activists and sources to determine what was going on behind the numbers, finding an effort by the Department of Justice to pursue cases that normally would be handled in the state systems, and exaggeration by the president of the danger posed to the public. The team’s reporting undercut claims that left-wing extremists were running rampant in American cities. On a busy news day, the story received outstanding play online and in print. https://bit.ly/2HMltwl

Best of the States

AP breaks news on the opioid epidemic and Purdue Pharma, with focus on victims

AP reporters from three different teams broke distinctive, significant stories on the continuing drug overdose crisis in the U.S., which has been overshadowed this year by the coronavirus pandemic:

— A state-level report showing that overdose deaths are on pace to reach an all-time high this year, and that overdoses increased after the virus began spreading in the U.S.— An accountability story on President Donald Trump’s handling of the opioid crisis, and how the issue has been overlooked in the presidential race.— A major scoop on a settlement between the federal government and Purdue Pharma, complete with details of criminal charges and the $8 billion settlement. 

But the depth of coverage didn’t end with the major news beats. All three stories put victims at the center of the reporting. 

For revealing stories that broke news and provided a powerful reminder of an ongoing epidemic that has contributed to the deaths of more than 470,000 Americans, Mike Stobbe, Adrian Sainz, Farnoush Amiri, Geoff Mulvihill, Meghan Hoyer and Michael Balsamo win this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: How the legacy of Chisholm, others led to Harris’ nomination

landed an exclusive interview with civil rights figure Hazel Dukes on Rep. Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 run for the Democratic presidential nomination, a first for a Black woman. Dukes, who seconded Chisholm’s nomination, set the tone for Stafford’s multiformat piece, offering an exclusive window into how Chisholm’s legacy folded into the historic vice presidential nomination of Kamala Harris.The timing of the story and Stafford’s inclusion of other key, relevant voices helped set up AP’s coverage of Harris’ remarks to the Democratic convention and elevated the voices of Black women during the DNC. The piece was accompanied by “Inspiring Women,” a video that Stafford narrated.https://bit.ly/2EwQTFlhttps://bit.ly/3hATPPC

Best of the States

Amid heightened racial tensions, ‘Looking for America’ series examines ‘sundown towns’

Many white Americans have likely never heard of “sundown towns,” where Black people were once forbidden after dark. So Tim Sullivan, Noreen Nasir and Maye-E Wong visited one such town, Vienna, Illinois, on the second stop in AP’s “Looking for America” series, to see how it is faring in a year marked by racial protests.

While there is no longer a rule against Black people in Vienna after sunset, the habit persists for many out of fear and tradition. With deep reporting and compelling visuals, the AP team captured a lingering racial divide that is obvious to some people but virtually invisible to others. 

For a probing but nuanced package that speaks to a thread of systemic racism, the all-formats team of Sullivan, Nasir and Wong earns this week’s Best of the States award.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP documents international child labor as families put children to work during pandemic

When Mexico announced in August that its 30 million students would start the school year using a combination of internet and television-based distance learning, many poor families chose to send their children to work to help survive the pandemic’s economic toll. 

With tens of millions of out-of-school children worldwide, AP decided to look at this sad phenomenon on a broad level, from Latin America, where children hammered away inside amber mines or labored in brick kilns, to Kenya where girls had been forced into prostitution while others broke rocks in a quarry. 

For their important and compelling work, the team of Maria Verza, Eduardo Verdugo, Alexis Triboulard, Carlos Valdez, Juan Karita, Carlos Guerrero, William Costa, Jorge Saenz, Tom Odula, Brian Inganga, Sheikh Saaliq and Dario Lopez wins AP’s Best of the Week award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Families push to reopen cases of Black men killed by police

pivoted off the nationwide protests against racial injustice to reveal that families around the country are pushing authorities to reinvestigate police killings of Black men in which no officers were charged.Lavoie had developed a relationship over two years with the family of a man who was killed in 2018 by Richmond, Virginia, police during a mental health crisis. When nightly protests began in Richmond after George Floyd’s killing, she noticed that protesters made reopening the local investigation one of their top demands for reform. Additional reporting found at least a dozen calls to reinvestigate such cases around the country. Lavoie focused on three of those in different states, with victims of different backgrounds who were killed under different circumstances. Over the course of two months she convinced the families to talk about their loved ones and their efforts to persuade prosecutors to reopen closed investigations. https://bit.ly/36ZC36d

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP exposes palm oil labor abuses linked to the world’s top brands, major banks

While covering the Rohingya crisis, investigative reporters Robin McDowell and Margie Mason knew tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Myanmar were vulnerable to exploitation. They suspected desperate men were being tricked or sold into the massive palm oil industry that supplies some of America’s most iconic food and cosmetic brands.

Working with photographers Gemunu Amarasinghe and Binsar Bakkara, they vividly documented the horrors some workers in Malyasia and Indonesia face. Workers spoke of brutal conditions including child labor, outright slavery and allegations of rape.

Reaction was swift, with the  U.S. government saying it would block shipments from a major Malaysian producer mentioned in the story.

For exposing abuses affecting tens of thousands of workers in a global industry that manufactures a vast array of products we buy and use daily, McDowell, Mason, Amarasinghe and Bakkara win AP’s Best of the Week award.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP investigates medical care at immigrant detention facility after explosive allegations

The allegations were explosive: A nurse at an immigration detention facility in rural Georgia said a gynecologist she called “the uterus collector” performed mass hysterectomies without detainees’ consent. 

Reaction was fast and furious, but the AP treated the unsubstantiated allegations cautiously. Immigration reporter Nomaan Merchant dug into the story amid intense competition, reaching out to sources, doctors and a detainee who had surgery performed without her consent. 

While his review did not find evidence of mass hysterectomies, Merchant revealed a growing pattern of women not consenting to procedures that potentially jeopardized their ability to have children. Three days later, the AP was first to report that the doctor would no longer treat immigrant detainees.   

For impressive work that broke new ground on a highly charged story, Merchant wins AP’s Best of the Week award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive analysis of 300 federal arrests leads to DOJ scoops

analyzed hundreds of federal arrest records to determine how U.S. Department of Justice officials are handling protester arrests nationwide. The Trump administration has used the arrests to argue there is extreme violence in some cities. The AP team combed through arrest records and created a database of some 300 arrests – some were serious, but others raised questions about their validity. Others were not related to left-wing violence at all, but rather right-wing or racist acts against the demonstrators themselves.The Only-on-AP examination was followed hours later with a pair of scoops by Balsamo – that the Justice Department had eyed possibly charging Portland officials with crimes, and that federal prosecutors had put together a memo on how to charge Americans with sedition.https://bit.ly/3kEavqqhttps://bit.ly/35ZsJia

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Profile examines Sharpton’s presence in a new era of activism

delivered an exclusive multiformat profile about how the man who helped popularize the 1980s cry, “No justice, no peace,” has put himself at the center of a new wave of activism, in a new millennium. The package captured the complex qualities that make up Sharpton, who is revered by activists he has helped groom and families of countless victims of police and vigilante violence, but who has fierce critics, too. The profile, examining both his triumphs and his missteps, helped set up AP’s coverage of the March on Washington later in the week.https://bit.ly/34YcAsQhttps://bit.ly/3hTWioi

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Resourceful work breaks news on deadly Portland protest

teamed up to break news on the violent Portland, Oregon, protests that ended with the death of a man affiliated with Patriot Prayer, a Northwest right-wing organization. In the confusion after the fatal shooting it wasn't immediately clear what had happened or who the dead person was. Through sourcing and determined reporting, Flaccus was able to confirm key details and provide context on the ongoing violence. Using Bronstein’s photos and eyewitness account, Flaccus confirmed the victim was wearing a Patriot Prayer hat, then used her sourcing within that organization to be first to accurately report the victim’s name, while other media initially misidentified him.https://bit.ly/2Z1pfYdhttps://bit.ly/34YKi1a

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

A year in the making: Exclusive AP interview with Placido Domingo

scored a coveted exclusive: an all-formats interview with Placido Domingo. Barry spent a year convincing Domingo’s team that the singer should sit down and talk to the news agency that broke the story about investigations and sexual misconduct allegations against him. When Domingo’s team finally agreed, Barry was able to negotiate access for photos and video to cover not just the interview, but the concert on the eve of the interview, which for cultural events in Italy is not always the case.Barry conducted the interview in English and Italian, keeping her composure even when her line of questioning prompted Domingo’s family to “swarm” her. The story received wide play with news outlets directly crediting the AP’s interview and previous reporting. Some non-AP customers, including the BBC, were forced to credit the AP in their stories on the interview and Domingo’s denial of abusing power.https://bit.ly/34CurW0https://bit.ly/3ltJKGG