Mulvihill broke the news that a record number of women had won their races for state legislative seats around the country, and Lieb gave a clear analysis of the results of gerrymandering in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.http://bit.ly/2RUzzLGhttp://bit.ly/2DNC4fB
for using his longstanding position as one of the best-connected writers in womenâs basketball, obtaining exclusive notice that the WNBA and CBS had reached a deal to put the league on its sports cable channel, a huge victory for the struggling sports league. https://bit.ly/2W4QVIb
When police busted several massage parlors engaging in prostitution in Florida in February, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft drew all the attention, but hundreds of other men were also charged in what seemed like a new approach for Florida authorities.
AP Florida reporters Mike Schneider, Orlando, and Terry Spencer, West Palm Beach, seized on the Kraft-driven attention to dig into legal issues surrounding massage parlors and prostitution in Florida. With a deep dive into state records and a key interview with a local source, the pair landed an AP Exclusive that showed a change in strategy: Usually only low-level massage therapists were arrested. Owners were rarely charged and typically faced only fines and probation. Johns typically were not charged at all.
But the recent investigation had instead focused heavily on the possibility of widespread human trafficking. Several spa owners were charged with felonies, and authorities also charged 300 men accused of being patrons, including Kraft and the former president of Citigroup. The Martin County sheriff told Spencer that he wanted to shut down the sex-massage industry in part by targeting the demand side.
Strong play included prominent display in The Washington Post.
For their enterprising use of state records and source-building to find an AP Exclusive in a story that drew enormous global attention, Schneider and Spencer win this weekâs Best of States award.
for using impeccable sourcing at a rules conference, exclusively obtaining the secret FIFA finances which help fuel the debate on equal pay for women soccer players. https://bit.ly/2O5nqCU
for breaking news on the unusual circumstances around $4.15 million in settlements for alleged victims of sexual harrassment by a former close ally of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. From a comprehensive records request and interviews, Foley learned that a lawyer for the women had sent a detailed âdemand letterâ threatening a lawsuit days before the election and a promise to dig into the governorâs association with the now-fired director of the Iowa Finance Authority. The state, Foley reported, agreed to settle immediately after receiving the letter. https://bit.ly/2EoXmxR
The envelope was opened, âGreen Bookâ was announced as best picture at the 91st Oscars, and entertainment writer Andrew Daltonâs eyes shifted over to Spike Lee.
The director threw up his hands in exasperation and attempted to storm out of the Dolby Theatre before being told to return to his seat. Social media quickly lit up with disdain for the selection by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Daltonâs eyewitness reporting quickly fueled the criticism.
In a packed theater filled with actors and other journalists, Dalton reported what few saw and the television cameras didnât show, giving the AP exclusive material and driving audiences to its comprehensive Oscars coverage.
Later that night, entertainment producer Mike Cidoni Lennox interviewed âGreen Bookâsâ producers outside the Oscarsâ official after-party, helping drive the following dayâs coverage of the controversial win.
The reaction to the best picture winner capped dominating all-formats team coverage of the Oscars, the result of months of planning and preparation. AP customers received a steady stream of photos, video and stories, including film writer Jake Coyleâs deadline story which was viewed more than 88,000 times. Coyle had crafted prep for all the likely winners, allowing for fast updates when the envelopes were opened.
For their extensive planning, professional expertise and swift work, Dalton, Coyle and Lennox win APâs Best of the Week award.
for two stories about the emotional toll the Parkland massacre has taken on the community over the past year, including the saga of two women who embraced each other in an iconic photo on the day of the school shootings, but now no longer speak to each other. https://bit.ly/2SiQnvshttps://bit.ly/2T6icvv
for their speedy reaction and brilliant teamwork that allowed AP to be the first international news agency to deploy across formats at the scene of a devastating dam collapse in southeastern Brazil that killed more than 100 people and left 200 missing. The AP dominated play in television and front pages across the world. https://bit.ly/2RP1TU2
You know your scoop has touched a nerve when it gets tweeted by both Ann Coulter and Chelsea Clinton.
Such was the case with Colleen Longâs multiplatform APNewsBreak that the U.S. approved thousands of requests by men to have their child or adolescent brides admitted to the United States. The story not only pointed to problems in immigration law, but also lax state laws that make immigration by child brides possible.
The story started with a tip from Ron Nixon, APâs new international investigations editor, who had been told by a source that data requested by the Senate Homeland Security Committee would be startling.
Nixon passed the information to Long, the Washington-based homeland security reporter, who persuaded committee staff to give her the story exclusively. She also went beyond the striking data to give readers a sense of how the issue affects womenâs lives, speaking with women who had been married as children. A compelling video accompanied the piece.
On a busy news day, the story was one of APâs most widely used, fronting many news websites and posted to Facebook by multiple news organizations. The video piece also had a strong showing, receiving thousands of YouTube streams and 27 customer downloads.
For revealing a little-known loophole in immigration policy that raises concerns over security and exploitation, and for connecting the data to women victimized by the policy, Colleen Long wins this weekâs Best of the AP.
For more than a decade, Washington photo editor Jon Elswick has negotiated with the Department of Defense over coverage plans for the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush, while Houston photojournalist David Phillip fostered a relationship with the Bush family and their spokesman to secure APâs shooting positions for the eventual funeral events.
Those relationships were crucial to arranging and executing coverage, paving the way for more than two dozen staffers to parachute into Washington, Houston and College Station, Texas, where they produced outstanding photos in real time and for the history books.
Among the highlights: Photographer Morry Gash fired a remote-controlled camera that captured a stunning birdâs-eye view of the U.S. Capitol rotunda during visitation and services, and David Phillip negotiated to shoot inside the railroad car carrying the coffin as the funeral train passed through Texas. Phillip called it âthe most incredible event I have ever covered.â
The photo coverage was part of an impressive dayslong cross-format effort by scores of AP staff across the country and globe that included hours of live video and spot and breaking text, video, audio and graphics coverage that explored Bushâs life and presidency from every angle.
For exceptional planning and execution on one of the largest news events of the year, this weekâs Best of the States goes to the team of photo staff covering the Bush funeral.
for exclusively reporting that priceless Jewish artifacts, including ancient parchment Torahs from one of the worldâs oldest synagogues, have gone missing amid the tumult of war. https://bit.ly/2Mg3YkC
Californiaâs news staff still was in the midst of reporting the tragic night-spot shooting in Thousand Oaks when news reached the AP that a wildfire in Northern California was spreading quickly, sending thousands fleeing.
Bay Area freelance photographer Noah Berger, as good a fire chaser as there is anywhere, tipped the office off that the Northern California fire looked explosive. By 11 a.m. Sacramento reporter Don Thompson was hitting the road, and a first AP NewsAlert moved saying people fleeing for their lives had abandoned vehicles as the fire swept in.
APâs all-formats coverage went into high gear, with staffers pouring in from the region. In addition to Thompson, who stayed at the scene with fire crews for several days straight, Portland, Ore., all-formats reporter Gilly Flaccus arrived, producing unmatched interviews in text and video of survivors and of crews searching for the remains of those killed. San Francisco reporter Paul Elias gathered information on the dramatic rescues and chaotic evacuation, while Las Vegas photographer John Locher and Denver videographer Peter Banda provided gripping visuals from the scene.
AP was first to report thousands of homes destroyed, first to report a named victim, and we were alone in accompanying a search and recovery crew in all formats as they went to a victimâs home and found her remains.
The coverage was nuanced and emotional. California News Editor Frank Baker says there was no one on the California staff who didnât contribute, working unrelentingly from last weekâs elections and mass shooting straight into the wildfire.
For outstanding work, bolstered and supported by Californiaâs all-formats reporting staff and editors, Thompson, Flaccus, Elias, Berger, Locher and Banda share this AP's Best of the Week.
Amid the chaos and broken lives after Hurricane Michael, photographer David Goldman was combing for images of how people were coping when he discovered a heartbreaking story in a Walmart parking lot: A newborn baby was spending one of his first nights in the back of a pickup with his parents.
Goldman knew he had a great visual story. And he knew there was a great story to write. Not being in a position to write the story himself, he turned to colleague Jay Reeves, also working in the hurricane zone.
Reeves wouldnât be able to meet with the family, but Goldman knew the elements Reeves would need to write the text piece. He sent Reeves all his notes and an audio interview via email. From those pieces, Reeves crafted the narrative.
The moving words and compelling photo package resonated. Goldmanâs Twitter lit up with responses, and readers hoping to find a way to help âbaby Lukeâ reached out to the AP by email, phone and web. The story was carried by Time Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times and NPR, among others.
For their collaboration and unmatched story that reminded the world that the story of Hurricane Michael is far from over, Reeves and Goldman win this weekâs Best of the States.
The two-day sentencing hearing and imprisonment of former TV star Bill Cosby ended a decades-long battle over sexual assault accusations against the comedian once known as âAmericaâs Dad.â An AP team of reporters, photographers and video journalists drew on strong planning and coordination to excel in all formats while fending off a throng of competition.
The AP was ahead at all key moments in the sentencing, from a judgeâs decision to label Cosby a sexually violent predator to the moment he handed down a sentence of 3 to 10 years and then denied bail. Staffers moved top photos to the wire almost instantly after they were shot, and provided live video of the scene.
For their excellent work in covering the Cosby sentencing, the team of Michael Sisak, Maryclaire Dale, Claudia Lauer, Pete Brown, Alyssa Goodman, Matt Rourke, Matt Slocum, Jackie Larma, Mike Householder and Joe Frederick share the Best of the Week award.
The team â Todd Pitman, Esther Htusan and Jerry Harmer â had gone to Kachin state to report on the war between Kachin rebels and Myanmarâs army. Near the end of their trip, they decided to look into a story Htusan wanted to do on bride trafficking. The lead was vague and the team wasnât sure where it would take them.
But then, at a refugee camp, they met Marip Lu. And they knew immediately this was a story that had to be told.
With major contribution by Beijing staffers Shanshan Wang, Yanan Wang, Han Guan Ng and Dake Kang, they tell the harrowing tale of a woman who was kidnapped, held in captivity, raped and then forced to make the choice between freedom and her child. This powerful story, reported and told with great sensitivity, earns Beat of the Week.
President Donald Trump has long asserted that his tax cuts and other policies would accelerate job growth, which, in turn, would serve the âforgottenâ men and women who had helped propel him to the White House in the 2016 election.
Washington, D.C.-based economics reporter Josh Boak wondered: Had that actually occurred so far? And how much was job growth a motivating force for Trump supporters?
Boak hit on a possible way to hold the presidentâs claims to a fair test. He turned to a relatively obscure report issued by the governmentâs Bureau of Labor Statistics, then merged those economic figures with the APâs 2016 election returns, broken down by county.
The result, under multiple calculations, was clear: The bulk of U.S. hiring under Trump had so far occurred in Democratic counties.
Boak then spent three days in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, an area that had voted decisively for Trump and had lost jobs in the past 12 months. He reported that Republican voters appeared to be motivated more by social issues â opposition to gun control, for example. âOur No. 1 motivating factor,â the county Republican chairman told Boak, âis Second Amendment issues.â
For exclusively documenting how job growth under Trump has disproportionately underserved his geographic base and for illustrating that trend in a community that reflects it, Boak earns this weekâs Best of the States award.
It was a #MeToo moment from the Vatican with a seemingly unlikely accuser â a nun.
Vatican correspondent Nicole Winfieldâs interview with a nun, who broke a 20-year-silence about being physically assaulted by an Italian priest, and reporting by Uganda correspondent Rodney Muhumuza about the scope of abuse in Africa, resulted in the AP being the first news organization to chronicle the global impact on nuns of the #MeToo movement.
Their story, which included expert analysis and exclusive Vatican comment urging nuns to report and bishops to sanction abusive priests, earns the Beat of the Week.
Indianapolis correspondent Brian Slodyskoâs investigative story started from one sentence buried in a news release. It said that the public was paying for environmental cleanup at a contaminated petroleum storage site in Indianapolis that Vice President Mike Penceâs family abandoned after their gas station empire went bankrupt in 2004. The release didnât mention Pence, just Kiel Brothers.
After attending a demolition celebration, where he photographed a crew tearing down a massive tank that had long-blighted a neighborhood, Slodysko worked over the coming months to detail how extensive contamination from the business was â and quantify the public cost.
The result: Indiana taxpayers paid more than $21 million to clean up after the company, in all likelihood a conservative figure because many of the documents were redacted, missing or incomplete.
But cost alone doesnât tell the whole story. Slodyskoâs review of public records showed that the Pence family business â which was run by Mike Penceâs older brother Greg, who is now running for Congress â repeatedly received favorable treatment from the state.
The story ran, or was teased, on the front page of at least eight Indiana papers, including the Indianapolis Star, which ran the story and photo across the top. It was also featured on the website of the Columbus Republic, Mike Penceâs hometown newspaper.
For an investigation that revealed the millions of tax dollars used to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites in three states, Slodysko earns this weekâs Best of the States award.
âHere in the desert, Algeria has abandoned more than 13,000 people in the past 14 months, including pregnant women and children, stranding them without food or water and forcing them to walk, sometimes at gunpoint, under temperatures of up to 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit).â
With that chilling declaration, the AP opened a new chapter in the ongoing, global saga of migrant suffering. Reporter Lori Hinnant and visual journalists Jerome Delay and Bram Janssen revealed the Algerian governmentâs complicity in a horror that had gone unreported â and had led to the deaths of an unknown number of migrants. Their exclusive story is the Beat of the Week.
for dominating international coverage of efforts to rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach missing in a flooded Thai cave, providing unrivaled live footage, faster video edits, and illuminating text and photos over many days in grueling conditions. https://bit.ly/2tVtOnghttps://bit.ly/2lTO4RH