Best of the Week — First Winner

Flawless source work, preparation deliver all-formats scoop on US-Russia prisoner swap

In a textbook display of outstanding source work and planning, Eric Tucker and Matthew Lee acted on a tip to score a massive scoop on a stunning U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange that happened despite heightened tensions between the countries.

In the process, the pair showed the rewards of careful, long-term source-building, a model of how to prepare in all formats to put the AP ahead of the competition the moment the news broke, and examples of how to build on a big story with smart sidebars in-cycle and a compelling follow-up story that offered new, behind-the-scenes details.

Their efforts paid off handsomely on Wednesday when Lee got the green light that the exchange had taken place, allowing AP to push out an alert and full story accompanied by photos and video, well before any Western media competitors were even aware the swap had happened.

For their exhaustive, comprehensive work that scooped everyone on the surprising swap, Tucker and Lee share AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP explores El Salvador’s strict abortion ban through the voices of women who lived it

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers overturning the constitutional right to abortion, reporter Luis Henao and video journalist Jessie Wardarski provided a compelling account of what can happen under a total abortion ban, through the testimonials of women who were raped or suffered miscarriages in El Salvador — where the country’s harsh anti-abortion law committed them to long prison terms.

Henao and Wardarski traveled to rural El Salvador to meet women willing to share on camera their harrowing stories of being imprisoned under the law. To these Salvadoran women, their plight should serve as a cautionary tale for Americans.

The AP pair also sought the views of a Catholic cardinal and a lawmaker who defended the ban on abortion. The resulting all-formats package was used by hundreds of news outlets, was widely praised by experts on the issue and generated impassioned commentary on social media.

For engaging, insightful coverage that gives voice to women who have suffered the consequences of an abortion ban, and shedding light on an issue that sharply divides opinions in the U.S. and beyond, Henao and Wardarski earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Even the competition uses AP’s interview with new Sri Lankan PM

used perseverance and preparation to land a timely, news-making interview with Sri Lanka's newly appointed prime minister. AP’s Asia team had pressed for an interview as soon as Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed prime minister for a sixth time, faced with a disastrous economic crisis that has nearly bankrupted the country.Once the interview was secured, the team strategized on how to make it stand out and break news. The careful planning paid off, delivering to a timely, news-making interview with Wickremesinghe saying that as his nation hunts desperately for fuel, he’d be willing to buy more Russian oil despite pressure to isolate Moscow.The story earned widespread international play and credits, and even a major competitor took the rare step of citing AP in its own story.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Expanding Gulf Coast gas exports raise residents’ concerns

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 world’s largest exporter of LNG, with worrisome consequences for Gulf Coast residents and the planet’s 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

Best of the Week — First Winner

Intimate AP package explores the burdens borne by young children providing essential care for parents

Health writer Tom Murphy was talking with an advocacy group for patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease about obstacles in caregiving, when he heard something arresting: Often, it’s children who provide the care.

With that spark, Murphy dug into the research and found that millions of school-aged children across the country are doing heavy-duty caregiving tasks. He and video journalist Shelby Lum then worked for weeks to ensure they could fully show what a family goes through every day. They discovered a family that was not only cooperative but compelling: The Kotiya/Pandya family welcomed Murphy, Lum and photographer Mat Otero into their Texas home where the team shadowed the family’s two young caregivers.

With that access, the trio produced a remarkably rich, engaging all-formats package that hooked readers and viewers.

For shining a delicate but bright light on the heart-wrenching reality of grade schoolers having to be as adept with a breathing machine as with Legos, the team of Murphy, Lum and Otero is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive coverage of Haitian migrants ashore in Cuba

delivered exclusive all-formats coverage as a single dilapidated vessel that set out for the United States carrying 842 Haitians landed instead on the coast of central Cuba. The migrants, who had been abandoned at sea, appeared to be the largest group yet in a swelling exodus of people fleeing widespread gang violence and instability in Haiti.Video journalist Gonzalez and photographer Espinosa captured images that showed the distress and fatigue in the faces of the migrants, some of them women with small children and even a newborn baby. Producer Duran was instrumental in working with the Cuban authorities and medical team to get unrestricted access to the migrants while feeding information and interviews to Rodriguez, who crafted the text story in Havana.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP tells stories of loss amid Haiti’s intensifying violence

have delivered a steady stream of all-formats coverage amid Haiti’s escalating violence as gangs consolidate power in the country’s capital. Despite daily kidnappings and the widespread violence, AP’s reporting continues at great personal risk. This enterprising story focuses on survivors who lost loved ones and their homes as the gangs fight each other, seizing territory in Port-au-Prince.The team on the ground reported the harrowing stories of families taking shelter in squalid conditions — many of the people initially reluctant to talk for fear of being killed — and visited one neighborhood at the center of the most recent gang war to show charred homes — some still containing the remains of people who did not escape.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Sweeping, sensitive coverage in aftermath of Buffalo shooting

led AP’s comprehensive all-formats coverage in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket. In the week that followed the racist attack, the team on the ground captured the sorrow and outrage of the city’s Black community, even as they reported on court appearances and press briefings.The team delivered sensitive and compelling enterprise pieces, including a chronicle of the victims’ last day, personal stories of grief and anger, how residents might find healing, and what the loss of the area’s only supermarket means to the fabric of the community.That work by the Buffalo team was complemented by a sweeping array of insightful stories from AP journalists around the country.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Deep reporting tells of Black Kansas teen’s in-custody death

were the first to piece together video, records and interviews for an in-depth, multiformat story outlining how a Black teen in Kansas ended up in foster care and died at a juvenile intake center after being restrained on his stomach for 40 minutes.AP had written previously about the death of Cedric “C.J.” Lofton, but Kansas City reporter Hollingsworth sensed a backstory waiting to be told. Her exhaustive reporting and Sheridan’s revealing video tell the story of a troubled youth and the disturbing confluence of events and decisions leading to his death.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

After the leak: AP analysis of Chief Justice John Roberts

used her deep knowledge of the Supreme Court to probe a question unasked amid the maelstrom following the court’s leaked draft decision on abortion: What does it say about the reign of Chief Justice John Roberts.Even as Gresko was immersed in minute-by-minute coverage following the leak, and with the added challenge of having her Supreme Court colleague out of the country, she took a thoughtful step back, talking to court insiders, former clerks and others who know Roberts and how he operates. Using her sources and past court opinions, she made the case that while this might still be nominally Roberts’ court, he is no longer its moral, or even intellectual center.Read more

Best of the Week — First Winner

Source work, reporting, exclusive data modeling put AP ahead on omicron immunity

For two years, as COVID-19 ravaged the world, AP health and science reporter Carla Johnson stayed in constant contact with disease modelers who were using careful analysis to predict what the coronavirus would do next.

This time her subject was the omicron wave — millions were infected and millions more had immunity through vaccination and/or past infection. Johnson knew those numbers might answer one of the most vexing questions of the pandemic: How much immunity had Americans developed from omicron?

Johnson leaned on her sources and asked one influential analyst to produce projections for the AP. The result was a key finding that gave the country the earliest and clearest sense yet of how the U.S. is navigating the pandemic: 73% of the country is believed to be protected from omicron.

Her deeply reported but straightforward story, explaining why future waves may be far less disruptive in the U.S., played widely with credit to AP’s exclusive reporting.

For recognizing that the data might hold answers on COVID immunity, and resourceful source work that delivered a unique projection of future infection, Johnson is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Best of the Week — First Winner

Inside a Lviv apartment building, AP team gives a glimpse of life for displaced Ukrainians

London-based news director Susie Blann wanted to tell the story of how the city of Lviv had welcomed hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who fled their homes during the Russian invasion but chose to remain in their country.

Blann, joined by photographer Nariman El-Mofty, video journalist Renata Brito and text reporter Cara Anna, looked behind the doors of one Lviv apartment block, earning the trust of people from Irpin, Kyiv and Kharkiv who had found temporary housing there and were willing to tell their stories.

The result was a remarkable presentation produced in collaboration with Natalie Castañeda, giving a deeply personal glimpse into the lives of some of the millions of people displaced by war.

For their tireless, resourceful work in demanding circumstances, the team of Blann, Anna, El-Mofty, Brito and Castañeda is the AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP team tells the poignant stories behind ‘empty spaces’ as US nears 1 million COVID deaths

A team of AP journalists collaborated on an ambitious and innovative project to capture the approaching toll of 1 million U.S. deaths from COVID: They looked for the empty spaces, then told the stories of the individuals who had filled them. And they let the voices of those left behind reveal the mosaic of loss that has forever marked the country.

In true AP fashion, the package came together with extensive coordination across departments and formats, resulting in compelling content and an immersive presentation that resonated with customers and engaged the audience. The stories emerged among the most popular on AP News throughout the weekend and will be republished when the official toll hits 1 million. But the greatest barometer of success may have come came in the words of grateful loved ones of those featured in the stories.

For bringing fresh eyes and new voice to the once-unimaginable loss that will shape the way we live for years to come, the team of Adam Geller, David Goldman, Shelby Lum, Carla K. Johnson, Heather Hollingsworth, Samantha Shotzbarger and Elise Ryan is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive AP data reveals popularity of US homeschooling

obtained data across the country to establish the continued popularity of homeschooling for American families — even as schools reopened and vaccines became widely available.Because the federal government does not have a current database of homeschooling numbers, Thompson built her own by reaching out to education departments in all 50 states for their data. She also interviewed families for their perspectives on homeschooling, and used her experience on the education beat to put the trend in the context of homeschooling regulation debates, concerns over neglected students and a broader decline of public school enrollment.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Video shows Lyoya shot in back of head by officer

teamed up with colleagues elsewhere in the country to provide multiformat coverage of the release by Grand Rapids, Michigan, police of video showing the April 4 shooting death of motorist Patrick Lyoya. Video showed Lyoya, a Black man, facing the ground when he was fatally shot in the back of the head by a police officer after a traffic stop, a brief foot chase and struggle over a stun gun.In addition to AP’s spot coverage and video analysis, distinctive enterprise in ensuing days examined a gap in the police officer’s body camera video, an explainer on what prosecutors will use to determine any charges, and how police stops of Black people are often filled with fear and anxiety and can end in deadly use of force.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Coverage of China 737 crash features exclusive video

rushed to the site of the Eastern China Airlines crash on a remote mountainside in southwest China, teaming up with colleagues in AP’s Beijing bureau to deliver nonstop coverage over several days. The work by chief photographer Ng and video producer Zhang was notable for its breadth, particularly multiple live shots and video exclusives despite the country’s restrictive reporting conditions. Reporting in all formats saw strong usage by customers and high engagement on AP’s platforms. Read more

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP’s all-formats team delivers unmatched coverage of refugees fleeing Ukraine

With hundreds of hours of live coverage, gripping portraits of people fleeing, and broad takes on the impact of the migration wave, AP’s multiformat team covering people displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has provided unrivaled coverage of Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

AP journalists posted at Ukraine’s borders and within the country have put a human face to the mass movement of refugees, mostly women and children who have left their homes traumatized and exhausted, sometimes after being trapped for days or weeks in their basements to escape bombardment.

AP’s coverage started a week before the war began at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, which just days later would become a main entry point for tens of thousands of Ukrainians. In the month since, text, photo and video journalists have worked tirelessly to capture the surge, from the stress on countries accepting the brunt of the new arrivals to the generosity shown by volunteers opening their homes to the refugees.

For chronicling the exodus of an estimated 3.5 million Ukrainians with compassion, vigor and dedication to the story, AP’s border/refugee team earns Best of the Week — First Winner.

Best of the Week — First Winner

Unmatchable coverage by AP team in Mariupol: ‘Their images are defining this war’

Rarely is the difference so stark between news organizations that subscribe to the AP and those that don’t. That’s down to the tireless efforts of AP staffers around the world who have reported, edited, planned, provisioned and advised to make our coverage of Ukraine truly stellar. And it’s especially true in the coverage of a single city that has seen some of the war’s worst horrors.AP’s Germany-based video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and freelance producer Vasilisa Stepanenko have been the only international journalists to chronicle the tragedies of Mariupol. The team was recognized with last week’s Best of the Week award, and their unflinching coverage continued, the world riveted not only by their presence, but by their stunning journalism. Amid the chaos, they have found stories so moving — and told them so compellingly — that it’s impossible to tell the broader story of Ukraine without them.Usage for the work has been extraordinary. “Their images,” wrote Nick Schifrin of PBS NewsHour, “are defining this war.”For courageous, must-have coverage from the heart of the world’s biggest story, the team of Chernov, Maloletka and Stepanenko is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Best of the Week — First Winner

As the world watches Ukraine, AP is the world’s eyes on besieged Mariupol

With the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol under siege by Russian forces, two courageous AP journalists, Germany-based video journalist Mstyslav Chernov and Kyiv photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, have been out in the streets, day in and day out, virtually alone in chronicling the city’s fall into chaos, despair and utter isolation, and the suffering of the civilian population.

Driving a van with windows blown out by explosions and filing their video and photos when they can establish communications, the pair has been the world’s only eyes on a key city that is suffering at the hands of the Russian offensive. Their images and words have riveted the world’s attention.

For harrowing reporting from a besieged city that would go unseen without their unflinching courage, we are honored to award the pair AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats sweep as AP breaks news of Supreme Court nominee

beat all the competition, breaking the news of President Joe Biden’s nominee for the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy. AP flooded the media space with content on every platform, delivering a comprehensive package that told customers and readers everything they need to know about federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, what comes next and who bears watching in the process.The initial scoop came from smart source work, and the impressive range of content that quickly followed was made possible by advance coordination across formats and departments — AP was poised with thorough preparation on each of the front-runners for the nomination. Read more