for breaking news on retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OâConnorâs health and her withdrawal from public life. Greskoâs exclusive that OâConnor, the first female Supreme Court justice, was affected by short-term memory issues led to OâConnorâs announcement that she had dementia â and probably Alzheimerâs. https://bit.ly/2zi1Kwe
To most, inmates facing execution in America are just names, mug shots and written descriptions of their crimes.
AP was interested in going beyond that, seeking to tell their stories in creative ways that reach beyond our traditional audiences. To make that happen, a unique interactive created by Atlanta-based reporter Kate Brumback, Interactive Editor Nathan Griffiths and Interactive Producer Roque Ruiz takes people inside Georgiaâs execution chamber to actually hear the last words of inmates right before they were put to death.
For their resourceful and compelling work, the team of Brumback, Griffiths and Ruiz receives this week's Best of the States award.
In February, Arkansas announced a series of April executions that, if carried out, would make history in the United States: Over an 11-day period, the state would put to death eight inmates â two each on four days. No state had performed so many executions in such a short time since the Supreme Court re-instated the death penalty in 1976.
And Arkansas, which had not carried out an execution since 2005, had a curious justification for the expedited timetable: the supply of one of its three execution drugs was expiring at the end of the month. Officials were not confident they could obtain more.
Weeks before the first planned execution, a team of AP journalists in Arkansas and beyond set out to both chronicle the executions and offer deep and varied enterprise that broke news. Their work earns this week's Best of States award.
Baton Rouge-based reporter Michael Kunzelman was reporting on the police killing of a black man outside a convenience store last summer when a source called to encourage him to look into a case in front of a federal judge that had been mysteriously reassigned. It wasnât the easiest time to be chasing down tips: the Alton Sterling shooting was swiftly followed by the killings of three law enforcement officials and then catastrophic flooding in Louisianaâs capital.
But Kunzelman didnât forget about it.
When he was free, he began an investigation into the performance of U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi, work that would take months and aggressive use of public records. It culminated with the discovery last week sheâd been ordered to seek treatment for alcoholism so severe that a colleague believed she couldnât take care of herself. For his work Kunzelman wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
of the AP teamed up with PBS âFrontlineâ on a joint investigation showing that the much-reported Russian violence against civilians in and around Bucha, Ukraine, was not carried out by rogue soldiers. Rather, it was strategic and organized brutality, perpetrated in areas under tight Russian control and where military officers â including a prominent general â were present.For a pair of stories, AP and âFrontlineâ interviewed dozens of witnesses and survivors, reviewed audio intercepts and surveillance camera footage, and obtained Russian battle plans.One of Kinetzâs stories tied the violence to Russian Col. Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who was in command. The other shows the wrenching impact of the Russian terror campaign on one woman who lost the man she called her âbig, big love.âRead more
Many white Americans have likely never heard of âsundown towns,â 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 APâs âLooking for Americaâ 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 weekâs Best of the States award.
The last of four executions carried out by Arkansas in April highlighted concerns about the drug midazolam. The sedative has been adopted by many states in recent years as part of their lethal injection protocol in place of barbiturates and anesthetics no longer available because manufacturers don't want them used in executions.
How did that midazolam execution compare to others, some in other states, where problems were alleged?
It was a question the AP â with its nationwide profile â was uniquely positioned to answer. For its depth of coverage, the multi-state AP team wins this week's Best of States award.
Last May, as Reese Dunklin and Justin Pritchard sifted through readers' email responses to AP's 2017 investigation into schoolhouse sex assault, both reporters flagged the same messages for follow-up: The tips described problems with the handling of sex assaults reported on U.S. military bases among the children and teens of service members.
Through dozens of FOIA requests and interviews, they found that reports of sexual assaults and rapes among military kids were getting lost in a dead zone of justice, with neither victim nor offender receiving help. Cases often died on the desks of prosecutors, even when an attacker confessed. And criminal investigators shelved other cases, despite requirements they be pursued, the reporters found.
Using government records and data released by the Pentagonâs military branches and school system, Dunklin and Pritchard catalogued nearly 600 cases of sex assaults among children on military bases, often after protracted FOIA negotiations. Though an acknowledged undercount, it was the first such quantification â something neither the Pentagon nor its global school system had previously done.
For shedding light on a problem too long ignored, and localizing it for AP members in their states, Dunklin and Pritchard share this weekâs Best of the States award.
When a California judge chose the most lenient sentence for a Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus, the outrage made national headlines for weeks. Anger at the judge turned into a recall effort on the June 5 primary ballot and more widespread media coverage.
Despite the glare, Judge Aaron Persky has been mostly silent for nearly two years. San Francisco reporter Paul Elias has spent nearly that entire time asking for an interview, over and over.
Those efforts paid off with an exclusive, three-hour all formats interview at the judgeâs home. The judge said he had no regrets, even though the sentence may cost him his judgeship. The resulting story was featured prominently in local and national media.
For his persistence in getting AP a fascinating interview on a competitive story, Elias wins this week's Best of the States award.
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.
for being first to report that acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker made a glaring error when he told an audience of law enforcement officials that a terrorist who set off bombs in New York City and New Jersey had two co-conspirators overseas and that one was in custody. They checked it out and found none of it was true. The Justice Department was forced to issue a correction and the reference to Rahimi having co-conspirators was taken out of a transcript posted on the Justice Department website. https://bit.ly/2DS1k3r
For nine months, AP has led all media on the story of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomoâs controversial directive to return recovering coronavirus patients from hospitals to nursing homes during the pandemic.
Last week, reporters Bernard Condon and Jennifer Peltz added to that record. Using data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, they reported exclusively that more than 9,000 patients in New York were released under the stateâs policy, amid criticism that it accelerated nursing home outbreaks. The latest AP scoop has helped put Cuomo and his administration on the defensive at home and nationally.
For keeping AP at the forefront of this accountability story for the better part of a year — including their latest break documenting the release of COVID patients into nursing homes — Condon and Peltz earn APâs Best of the Week award.
responded quickly in all formats after a Black man in rural eastern North Carolina was shot and killed by deputies, the team deftly leading multiple news cycles by staying ahead on spot developments while telling the story of the manâs life. The quick coverage was key as authorities released few details.Hours after Andrew Brown Jr. was killed by deputies serving a warrant, AP was on the ground in Elizabeth City with text, photo and video staff, gathering a key eyewitness account and protester reaction while also interviewing family members.The following day, AP delivered a sensitive account that captured the complexity of Brownâs life, with family describing him as a proud father with a beaming smile. That story, along with the first day story, captured front pages around North Carolina and beyond. AP continued to lead with detail and context in subsequent cycles, drawing credit from other news outlets.The FBI has since launched a civil rights probe into Brownâs killing.https://bit.ly/3xtUL0Ehttps://bit.ly/3gHWv08https://bit.ly/3vobAIhhttps://bit.ly/3eECapO
As AP race and ethnicity writer Aaron Morrison covered the protests that grew out of the 2020 killings of George Floyd and others, he also saw President Donald Trump on TV, trying to undermine the racial reckoning at every turn.
Fast forward to Jan. 6, when a mob of mostly white rioters, upset that Trump wasn't reelected, violently breached the U.S. Capitol. Morrison connected the dots of what he described as a war of white aggression. âA war rages on in America,â Morrison wrote in this analysis piece, âIt started with slavery and never ended ...â
With powerful video by Noreen Nasir, portraits by Chris Carlson and presentation by Alyssa Goodman, the package received prominent play and sparked discussion both online and within the AP.
For a timely, compelling package that looks at the state of race relations with historical context and thoughtful analysis, the team of Morrison, Nasir, Carlson and Goodman earns this weekâs Best of the States award.
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 Floydâs 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
Through 78 days at Walt Disney World, basketball writer Tim Reynolds proved himself virtually unstoppable, turning out game stories on deadline while also spinning insightful pieces that examined the major topics of 2020, from coronavirus concerns to racial injustice issues and the presidential election â not to mention the leagueâs work stoppage. The so-called bubble may have confined him to an arena in central Florida, but Reynoldsâ relentless NBA coverage reminded readers that sports illuminate our lives in ways big and small.
In all, Reynolds wrote an eye-popping 200-plus stories, collecting exclusives along the way. He capped his efforts with his insightful analysis of LeBron Jamesâ legacy after James led the Lakers to their record-tying 17th NBA title.
For his exhaustive, and exhausting, work that went well beyond the games in the NBA bubble, Reynolds wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
used years of data on U.S. attorneys to reveal how any diversity gains made under previous administrations have faltered under President Donald Trump. APâs analysis found the 85% of Trumpâs Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys are white men, significantly more than the three previous administrations going back to 1993. But the numbers were just part of the story. The AP team reported on why it mattered in this moment of national reckoning over racial inequality and the fairness of the criminal justice system. The story articulated how Black and brown people are disproportionately imprisoned but underrepresented in the system that puts them there. The piece included an impressive photo combo of all the attorneys, showing row after row â predominantly of white men â and video interviews on the value of diversity in the U.S. attorney ranks.https://bit.ly/3drn6e6https://bit.ly/318gc8J
teamed up to break the news of the prison death of Bernie Madoff, the pair delivering a deeply reported obituary on the notorious Ponzi-schemer whose massive securities swindle wiped out peopleâs fortunes and ruined charities.Washington-based Justice Department reporter Balsamo called his editor Colleen Long early last Wednesday, calmly asking, âHey, Iâm driving. Can you help me with something? Bernie Madoff is dead.â Balsamoâs deep network of sources had tipped him off, and within minutes an alert moved, followed by a short story. Balsamo and New York reporter Hays worked to fill out the story, Hays layering it with details gleaned from experience covering Madoff and his trial. AP was ahead of the competition by 25 minutes to an hour, and many major outlets â including ABC, CBS and Fox â relied on the AP pairâs quick, exclusive reporting.https://bit.ly/3sGlP9mhttps://apnews.com/hub/bernard-madoff
gave AP unprecedented access to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalnyâs return to Moscow, ensuring AP was the only news agency broadcasting live the moment Alexey Navalny stepped onto a plane in Berlin for the flight returning him to Moscow, where he would be arrested.
The moment Navalny announced his decision to go home, AP senior producer Tatiana Titova had arranged a ticket to put Berlin-based video journalist Chernov on the same flight. On Sunday, Chernov was ready, transmitting live from his phone as soon as he stepped inside the plane cabin.
When Navalny showed up alongside his wife, lawyer and associates, AP clients worldwide got their first glimpse of a remarkable journey taken by the man who was poisoned for challenging President Vladimir Putinâs rule. Chernov also shot still images that were well used, including the front page of Mondayâs New York Times.https://bit.ly/39PcTGXhttps://bit.ly/3qEAFMD
AP legal affairs reporter Michael Tarm witnessed 10 of the unprecedented 13 federal executions in the final months of the Trump administration, diligently taking notes on what he saw in the chamber, from the inmatesâ last words to their last breaths.
But weeks after the last execution in mid-January, something nagged at him: The executionerâs official account did not jibe with what he had observed during the execution. Tarm went back, looking through hundreds of filings and court transcripts. His reporting resulted in a stunning exclusive on how the executioners all used euphemisms like âsnoredâ and âfell asleepâ while Tarm and other witnesses saw inmatesâ stomachs dramatically shuddering and jerking in the minutes after lethal injections.
The sanitized accounts, Tarm realized, raised serious questions about whether officials misled courts to ensure the executions would be completed before Joe Biden, a death penalty foe, took office. His story — the latest exclusive in APâs coverage of the federal executions — received prominent play and reader engagement.
For backing up his own observations with rigorous reporting to hold the federal government accountable for its official accounts of the executions, Tarm earns this weekâs Best of the States award.
