for examining New Zealandâs ambitious plan to eliminate every invasive predator in a bid to save the countryâs rare birds, including the iconic kiwi. https://apnews.com/0eec2d820e474fbfac29f4297a43645...
for providing the first live video and first photos from the scene of a rescue helicopter crash that killed six people in Italy, two hours ahead of Reuters. http://fxn.ws/2k3Wi9H
David Crary heard from his legal sources that something big was coming for the Boy Scouts of America, which has been besieged by sexual abuse lawsuits: a bankruptcy filing.
Weeks before the paperwork was filed, Crary, who has been covering the organization for 20 years, set into motion plans to ensure the AP was well-covered. When the Scoutsâ filing finally came out late on a holiday, his sharply written prep had the story on the wire within minutes, explaining the gravity of the filing and the reasons behind it.
AP journalists around the country pitched in, including Brady McCombs who gathered reaction from Scouts and local councils, spinning it into an engaging follow-up, and correspondent Randall Chase who attended the Scoutsâ first bankruptcy hearing in a Delaware court. Their efforts were rewarded with outstanding play.
For their careful planning and flawless execution of coverage of the Scoutsâ bankruptcy filing, Crary, McCombs and Chase win this weekâs Best of the States award.
for striking images and stories of migrants from a two-week embed on a rescue ship operated by a Spanish volunteer group. http://nyti.ms/2c0ZZIF
teamed up to break an exclusive: Vice President Mike Pence planned to attend a Montana fundraiser hosted by a couple that has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. After other news organizations matched APâs reporting, Pence revised his schedule and did not attend.Slodysko used his source network and background research, and Kunzleman contributed his deep knowledge of extremist groups and movements to not only break news of the fundraiser and its hosts, but also provide context about how the fringe QAnon theory is gaining a foothold in the Republican Party. https://bit.ly/3cbzwGE
took readers and viewers inside efforts by Native American tribes to restore bison to their lands after the animals were driven near extinction by white settlers.
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revealed the disturbing truth about environmental enforcement in Brazilâs Amazon. While reporting on the first days of the 2020 burning season they found that agents of Brazilâs environmental crime enforcement agency had gone almost totally inactive, and that since President Jair Bolsonaro put the army in charge of protecting the rainforest, Brazilâs once-effective investigation and prosecution of rainforest destruction has come to a virtual halt.Investigating on the ground and by phone with sources around Brazil, the team found that Brazilâs army is focusing on small road-and-bridge-building projects that allow exports to flow faster to ports and ease access to protected areas. Meanwhile, the enforcement agency has stopped using satellite maps to locate deforestation sites and fine their owners â a once-widely used technique â and is no longer penalizing illegal logging, mining and farming. On the heels of massive fires last year, this yearâs burning season is on track to be as bad as 2019.The all-formats story received heavy play globally in broadcast, print and hundreds of online news outlets.https://bit.ly/3hWs3gKhttps://bit.ly/31U1fbnhttps://bit.ly/2YWpHXp
offered a penetrating, well-researched look at the puzzle behind the disaster we are living: âA nation with unmatched power, brazen ambition and aspirations through the arc of history to be humanityâs âshining city upon a hillâ cannot come up with enough simple cotton swabsâ to test its people. Woodward looked at the many ways America has fallen short, including a western Massachusetts medical center that was forced to pick up masks more than five hours away using two tractor-trailers disguised as grocery trucks, dodging interference from Homeland Security and taking separate routes back in case one load got intercepted on the highway. https://bit.ly/3bOI2KD
Having a rock star jump on the back of your motorcycle after you stopped to help him on the side of the road could be a lyric in a Bruce Springsteen song. But it really happened for a group of veterans in New Jersey _ and the AP was first to report the story that naturally went viral.
Late Saturday evening, New Jersey News Editor Josh Cornfield had wrapped up a weekend BNS shift when he got a tip that an American Legion post in Freehold, N.J., had posted a photo of one of their members with Springsteen. As it happened, a group from the legion had been out riding after a Veterans Day event when they noticed a stranded biker. Figuring âbikers gotta stick together,â they stopped to help.
Turns out, the stranded biker was The Boss.
As New York, Chicago, New Orleans and other cities with large black populations began to emerge as hot spots for COVID-19, reporters Aaron Morrison and Jay Reeves decided it would be relevant to examine how black Americans have historically mistrusted the medical field.
The pair connected the skepticism in the black community in part to the aftermath of the notorious âTuskegee Study,â in which roughly 600 poor black Alabama men were left untreated for syphilis to track the diseaseâs progress. The secret program was exposed in 1972 and ended, but its effects linger, well beyond Alabama.
With photography by Bebeto Matthews, the story received heavy play as the nation wrestled with the high rate of coronavirus infections among the black community.
For setting the AP apart with a timely examination of black Americansâ mistrust of the medical field, Morrison, Reeves and Matthews win this weekâs Best of the States award.
for producing the first images and interviews with underage migrants being officially transferred from Calais' âjungleâ camp to Britain. http://apne.ws/2eiOfCT
for capturing how President Donald Trumpâs immigration policies and rhetoric are leaving some Mexican-Americans and immigrants feeling at odds with a holiday they already thought was appropriated by liquor companies, event promoters and bars. http://apne.ws/2pE3Xyh
for an exclusive look at a contractor operating in Iraq with alarming security violations and ethical lapses, based on interviews with former employees and documents. http://apne.ws/2q6CT9v
for aggressive all-formats coverage of the plane crash that killed 71 people, including members of a Brazilian soccer team. The team worked in three nations, getting vivid photos and video of the wreckage in Colombia, unearthing detail on the planeâs owner and fuel capacity in Bolivia, and videotaping interviews of the families of the dead in Brazil. http://wapo.st/2hhrCBW
for two engaging pieces on the 9/11 anniversary. The first, built around video interviews with regular Americans, examined how the sense of national unity that existed after the attacks has disappeared; the other, in vignette style, focused on children who lost parents during the attacks. http://bit.ly/2cavGzY http://bit.ly/2cqA8YE http://apne.ws/2cmLRKi
for breaking the news that Iraq and the U.S. are in talks over keeping American troops in Iraq for the long term after the Islamic State group is defeated. http://apne.ws/2p9DuW3
posed a question to President Donald Trump about meat shortages that led to an early briefing and a solid news beat for AP on Trumpâs order that meat processing plants must stay open. https://bit.ly/2Wx1Hbp
for breaking the news that Iowa State University president Steven Leath had traveled more frequently than he claimed on the schoolâs planes and used them to take relatives and friends with him on trips, possibly in violation of ISU and state regulations. http://dmreg.co/2dtlWRj
Itâs no secret that the repeal and replacement of Obamacare could have a significant impact both on those holding insurance and on the finances of states that have embraced the health care law. But over the last few months, few details had emerged on what that precise impact might be.
In an âOnly on APâ story, St. Paul, Minnesota, statehouse reporter Kyle Potter revealed that Minnesota officials were bracing for additional costs that could reach $6 billion by 2029 to maintain a low-income health care program that covers more than 900,000 state residents. For providing one of the first concrete glimpses into the possible ramifications states envision, Potter wins this week's Best of States recognition.
for capturing the reunion of a Louisiana woman who last month was saved from floodwaters (along with her dog) and her rescuer. http://bit.ly/2cfnikj