for securing exclusive, all-format access to the under-construction Trump golf course in Dubai, and reporting the political, economic and security implications of the club opening just weeks after the U.S. inauguration: https://apnews.com/da3e4d047aaa44e8b1b40âŠ
for exclusive reporting that Chinese officials questioned U.S. assertions that China is the top source country for synthetic opioids, and, in a separate story, for taking readers inside a DEA lab and letting them witness the discovery of a new synthetic opioid. http://apne.ws/2i8u4Lm http://apne.ws/2hbt6hv
Police videos of officers shooting unarmed black men have sparked angry protests in Chicago, Sacramento and other U.S. cities. But APâs Ryan Foley wondered: Is it the norm for departments to release footage from body-worn and dashboard cameras?
Foley, based in Iowa City, Iowa, a member of APâs state government team, investigated and found that many departments routinely deny public access to their videos of officer-involved shootings and other uses of force.
Foley filed open records requests related to roughly 20 recent use-of-force incidents in a dozen states. His letters were met with denial after denial as police departments routinely cited a broad exemption to state open records laws: They claimed that releasing the video would undermine an ongoing investigation. But critics say the exemption is often misapplied to keep embarrassing or compromising video footage from public view.
To tell the story visually, Central Region video journalist Noreen Nasir dug through APâs archives to highlight the moments and emotions that followed the deaths of unarmed black men, including the fatal police shooting of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. She also interviewed a woman in North Dakota whose brother died after being shot in the back of the head during a struggle with police, adding a crucial perspective to the video.
At the same time, Panagiotis Mouzakis, multimedia animation producer in London, used the many denial letters Foley had collected to create a video graphic that was incorporated into Nasirâs video, and Beat Team visuals editor Alina Hartounian developed a social plan that helped the package find a huge audience.
For shining a light on how police departments continue to withhold visual evidence and for devising creative ways to illustrate the story, Foley, Nassir and Mouzakis share this weekâs Best of the States award.
for overcoming major bureaucratic and logistical hurdles to produce the ninth installment in the âWhat Can Be Savedâ series: an immersive look at Sanjiangyuan, Chinaâs first proposed national park, in one of the most pristine areas of the Tibetan plateau.https://bit.ly/348cPybhttps://bit.ly/2OvkGza
Video journalist Mstyslav Chernov and freelance photographer Evgeniy Maloletka used their extraordinary access to western Ukrainian hospitals to produce powerful images of medical workers desperately treating COVID-19 patients despite a medical system in crisis. They also visited one hospitalâs makeshift morgue and a cemetery where families grieved over lost loved ones. Chernov had driven 2,500 kilometers (1,600 miles) across three countries, then worked tirelessly to earn the trust of medics who eventually gave him and Maloletka rare access to document the dire situation. The play was impressive among AP customers and across media in Ukraine. One foundation even reached out to the pathologist who had set up an outdoor morgue, supplying the medic with protective gear, disinfectants and a tent.https://bit.ly/2LmvBKuhttps://bit.ly/2WsZdvWhttps://bit.ly/2WwwUNb
leveraged years of source building and evenhanded reporting on opioid litigation in the U.S., securing rare access in all formats to an unprecedented federal court hearing in the most high-profile opioids case in the U.S.In the virtual hearing, people who had become addicted to opioids, and the parents of children lost to addiction, would finally confront members of the family that owned Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin. Mulvihill overcame federal court restrictions to get full access to the Zoom link for the hearing, and he leaned on his relationship with victimsâ attorneys to have a multiformat team at a law firm as victims made emotional statements to members of the Sackler family. Read more
were the only journalists invited aboard a U.S. Navy reconnaissance flight over the South China Sea and Chinaâs island outposts in the region. While Favila made photos and video of the Chinese military facilities built on man-made islands â and recorded audio of the warnings the aircraft received from China â Gomez landed an exclusive interview with Adm. John C. Aquilino U.S. Indo-Pacific commander.With the war in Ukraine raising concern over other potential international conflicts, Aquilino told AP that China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea and has armed them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment, and fighter jets. He said the increasingly aggressive moves threaten all nations operating nearby. Read more
set out to explore the abortion rights resistance â dedicated advocates for abortion access who are grappling with what is expected to be a wave of women seeking abortions as the U.S. Supreme Court takes aim at Roe v. Wade and states tighten restrictions, pushing pregnant people farther from home â some hundreds of miles away.After interviewing more than a dozen people, the pair reported for all-formats on a woman with a Midwest coalition providing âpractical supportâ for women seeking abortions. Galofaro and Irvine spent days on her Missouri farm, shadowing Alison Dreith as she fielded calls on a hotline used by women desperate for help.And a companion story revealed the deeply religious employees of an Alabama abortion clinic who have no trouble reconciling their work with their religion, breaking preconceptions about the religious divide over abortion.Both stories won wide use and high reader engagement, prompting praise for balanced, nuanced coverage.Read more
The world had been waiting for this moment: the start of a clinical study searching for a vaccine for the new coronavirus â but no one knew when exactly the first shots would be given. AP reporters in Washington, D.C., learned where and when it would take place, laying the groundwork for an all-formats team to witness the start of the experiment in Seattle.
The result: AP was the only news organization present, sending updates in real time as the first participants received an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The newsroom at APâs New York headquarters erupted in cheers when the exclusive crossed the wire; text, photos and video swept play worldwide.
For ensuring AP was the only news organization in the room at a critical juncture of the coronavirus pandemic response, and for delivering distinctive journalism to customers worldwide, the team of Lauran Neergaard, Ted Warren, Carla K. Johnson, Michael Ciaglo, Federica Narancio and Marshall Ritzel wins APâs Best of the Week award.
Two of the most challenging aspects of covering the ongoing abortion story in the U.S. are getting inside abortion clinics and telling the stories of women who have decided to end their pregnancies. So it was significant when two AP journalists gained exclusive access to a pair of abortion clinics â and to a woman who allowed them to follow her through the entire abortion process.
Medical writer Lindsey Tanner used her sources to find a clinic in Ohio sending patients to Indiana, where tighter abortion restrictions were still weeks away. She and video journalist Patrick Orsagos saw both clinics in operation, and they documented âwith sensitivity and candor â patient Monica Eberhartâs experience, from her morning routine to the clinic room during her abortion. The resulting package delicately wove together Eberhartâs story with others who are navigating the ever-changing state laws on abortion.
For access and reporting that bought a rare and timely perspective to the issue of abortion, Tanner and Orsagos earn APâs Best of the Week â First Winner honors.
gained rare access to Syria's sprawling al-Hol camp, their work shedding light on tens of thousands of forgotten kids languishing without any real opportunities or education beyond the ideology of the Islamic State group communicated to them by their mothers.In video, photos and text, the story revealed the lives of children at the camp â which houses families of IS and IS sympathizers âand their exposure to the influence of IS, including children waving black IS flags, metal-like swords and gesturing in the form of beheadings. The story received wide play and was cited by Syria experts and academics as evidence of the perils of leaving al-Holâs kids to their fate, and why foreign countries need to take responsibility for their nationals and repatriate them.https://aplink.news/ar0https://aplink.video/4ze
reported from the ground, the water and from the air to document the impact of climate change and land loss on the vanishing island breeding grounds of Louisianaâs brown pelicans, as well as the people and other wildlife that depend on this coastal ecosystem.After obtaining permission to visit the off-limits barrier islands, the all-formats trio revealed in words and striking visuals the effects of erosion and sea level rise on the coastal habitat and Louisianaâs saltwater marshes, and what remains to be lost: Louisianaâs state bird, the brown pelican, brought back over decades from the edge of extinction.Read more
Hundreds of migrants try each day to cross the Darien Gap â a thick jungle between Colombia and Panama traversed by many ultimately seeking the U.S. border â yet journalists rarely observe more than the first few steps of the journey.
But after days of negotiations with locals who participate in a human-trafficking network, the Bogota-based all-formats team of correspondent Astrid SuĂĄrez, photographer Fernando Vergara and video journalist Marko Ălvarez were given exclusive access to the first hour of a treacherous six-day journey. That single hour was enough to tell the stories of migrants willing to risk their lives in a jungle teeming with threats, from raging rivers to gangs targeting migrants for theft and sexual assault.
For a stark all-formats portrait of desperation and determination in the depths of the jungle, SuĂĄrez, Vergara and Ălvarez earn APâs Best of the Week â First Winner.
After eight years on the White House beat, APâs Julie Pace is a leader among correspondents in fighting for access to the president and his advisers, and over those years she routinely has resisted any efforts to exclude the press unreasonably from news events or obscure the presidentâs schedule.
On Friday, she recognized instantly that what was happening at the White House was anything but routine: a first-in-memory, invitation-only daily briefing by the presidential press secretary from which other news organizations were excluded. Her spot-on instinct to walk out put The Associated Press at the forefront of the fight for access and openness.
Paceâs quick decision reverberated across Washington and the country â and earns the Beat of the Week.
From a fetid bridge underpass frequented by addicts, to a police station, to a grim drug detoxification ward, this all-formats package driven by powerful visuals takes a stunning look at Afghanistanâs drug underworld and the severe treatment of heavy drug users by the Taliban. The work also bears witness to APâs robust reporting from Afghanistan, which has continued unabated since the Taliban takeover.
Video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Felipe Dana and correspondent Samya Kullab, all currently on assignment in Kabul, gained rare access to this especially bleak segment of Afghan life, earning the trust of street addicts and, through a combination of persistence and luck, documenting Taliban detention of users, all amid a difficult and dangerous environment for journalists.For a rare exclusive that sets a high standard for coverage while shedding light on a harsh reality in Afghanistan, the team of Chernov, Dana and Kullab is APâs Best of the Week â First Winner.
To explore the pandemicâs devastating toll on childrenâs mental health, APâs Paris team gained extraordinary access to the psychiatric unit at Franceâs busiest pediatric hospital.
Paris correspondent John Leicester worked for months to build trust with hospital authorities and workers. Once inside, Leicester, photographer Christophe Ena and video journalist Nicolas Garriga discreetly documented activity in the unit while protecting the privacy of the young patients. Told notably through the story of an 11-year-old who starved himself so severely that he required emergency care, the package showed how the mental health of children is affected under the weight of lockdowns, curfews, family upheavals and school closures.
The resulting all-formats package — including evidence of the problem in other parts of the world — was widely used by AP customers.
For a sustained effort to gain access, and sensitive, revealing coverage on this issue touching children and families globally, the trio of Leicester, Ena and Garriga earns APâs Best of the Week award.
As the ranks of dioceses promising to release lists of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse began to mushroom at the beginning of this year, Philadelphia reporter Claudia Lauer and Washington-based data editor Meghan Hoyer started to strategize: How could they leverage the information on a scale never before accomplished?
After months of systematic, dogged work, the result was âWhere Are They Now,â a blockbuster investigation that found almost 1,700 priests and other clergy members living with little to no oversight, many with positions giving them access to children. Dozens have committed crimes, including sexual assault.
The story received exceptional play online and in print, and AP Managing Editor Brian Carovillano called it, âOne of the most monumental pieces of AP journalism in my memory.â
For a stunning investigation that breaks new ground in the already impressive body of work that is âThe Reckoningâ series, Lauer and Hoyer win this weekâs Best of the States award.
As the ranks of dioceses promising to release lists of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse began to mushroom at the beginning of this year, Philadelphia reporter Claudia Lauer and Washington-based data editor Meghan Hoyer started to strategize: How could they leverage the information on a scale never before accomplished?
The hurdles were high: Many of the released lists were lacking in basic information, and the priests had scattered around the U.S. and beyond, living almost entirely under the radar.
After months of systematic, dogged work, the result was âWhere Are They Now,â a blockbuster investigation that found almost 1,700 priests and other clergy members living with little to no oversight, many with positions giving them access to children. Dozens have committed crimes, including sexual assault.
The story received exceptional play online and in print, and AP Managing Editor Brian Carovillano called it, âOne of the most monumental pieces of AP journalism in my memory.â
For more on this groundbreaking investigation which also received this weekâs Best of the States award, see the full citation here.https://bit.ly/2pIr4u8https://bit.ly/2nBkh4Yhttps://bit.ly/2p42Zh6
With coronavirus infection and death rates mounting, hospitals in the New York City area imposed strict guidelines allowing only a small handful of media outlets limited access. After weeks of reaching out to hospitals, St. Josephâs in Yonkers agreed to give the AP access to its emergency room and screening tent.
But only one journalist would be allowed into the hospital. Versatile New York staff photographer John Minchillo was an easy choice.
Once inside in full protective gear, Minchillo connected with the hospital staff, who also granted access to the intensive care unit. He made the most of the next four hours, working in all formats to capture the mundane and the extreme, including the dramatic moments when a COVID-19 patient in cardiac arrest was saved. Turned around virtually overnight, Minchilloâs all-formats package was heavily played by major media outlets.
For his powerful, comprehensive all-formats storytelling that takes us inside medical workersâ daily fight save lives against the coronavirus, John Minchillo wins APâs Best of States Award.
With the continued weakening of state laws protecting womenâs rights to abortion in the U.S., the APâs strong coverage of abortion continues with two stories earning Best of the Week for impressive state accountability reporting and analysis.
A story that surfaced in Tennessee, finding federal dollars being spent on nonprofits aligned with the anti-abortion movement, revealed that legislatures in about a dozen U.S. states were funneling millions of taxpayer dollars to so-called crisis pregnancy centers that are typically unlicensed and have been accused of engaging in misinformation campaigns targeting pregnant women.
A second story focused on racial inequities in access to abortion, an idea sparked by an observation during a visit to the Shreveport, La., abortion clinic where almost every woman in the waiting room was Black. The all-formats package showed how minority women in states where abortion is under attack have the most to lose if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Both stories drew strong play on AP News and customer platforms.
For revelatory state stories on two elements in the pitched national debate over abortion rights, Kruesi, Willingham, Wagster Pettus, Nasir, Solis and Lo earn APâs Best of the Week â First Winner honors.
