for their teamwork and persistence that led to two major scoops on a story of international interest: the arrest by U.S. authorities of a prominent Iranian anchorwoman. AP was first to report the release of Marzieh Hashemi, and scored the first interview with her â- ahead of even her own network.https://bit.ly/2WAGRqNhttps://bit.ly/2G4CLSMhttps://bit.ly/2D4tYMK
Two weeks before the 25th anniversary of the killings that led to O.J. Simpsonâs âTrial of the Century,â special correspondent Linda Deutsch was summoned from retirement to try to coax an interview from the fallen football star. Simpson hadnât submitted to an interview since being released from prison in 2017, and he turned down an interview request from Deutsch last year. But Deutsch tried again, this time by phone. O.J. didn't want to talk, but he relented after Deutsch reminded him that if he spoke to her, APâs story would reach all media.
Simpson wouldnât discuss the crime, but he provided a glimpse into a life now very much outside the public eye, telling Deutsch âlife is fine,â a quote that stung any who believed he got away with murder.
Deutschâs story, including two photos of Simpson at home that were exclusive to the AP, was the dayâs top-read AP story online, and the centerpiece of a multi-story package looking back at Simpsonâs trial, its key figures and its impact.
For a timely, exclusive interview with a man who remains the focus of intense public interest, Linda Deutsch receives APâs Best of the States award.
Los Angeles courts reporter Brian Melley was enjoying a Sunday afternoon when a longtime legal source reached out with a remarkable tip in the case of Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL facing a court martial on charges he murdered a teenage Islamic State fighter in Iraq in 2017.
The source told Melley that military prosecutors, frustrated by leaks in the case, planted tracking software in emails sent to defense lawyers and a reporter. The unsophisticated software was quickly discovered by the recipients.
Melley worked up the story, including an interview with a military law expert who thought the tactic was ethically, legally and intellectually dubious. His story hit the wire the next morning, quickly gaining traction online. AP was widely credited everywhere it appeared and no major media outlet matched it.
For giving AP an exclusive on an important military justice story, Melley wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
Anthony Izaguirre began hearing the chatter about West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice as soon as he started work as the APâs statehouse correspondent in Charleston, West Virginia, in late February. Sources told him Justice â a billionaire who owns mines, farms and a swanky resort â wasnât fully engaged and hadnât even been in the capital, Charleston, much since taking office in 2017.
Izaguirre's initial request for the governorâs schedules was declined, but he pressed with the help of APâs legal department, finally getting the records. Armed with those calendars and his own resourceful reporting, he cobbled together a record of the governorâs activities, confirming what many suspected: Justice appeared to have better things to do than govern.
West Virginia media pounced on the exclusive story, which also played well outside the state.
For his resolute work to obtain public records and his thorough reporting to fill out a story no one else in the state could land, Izaguirre wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
for discovering that a 2018 Supreme Court case had impeded the Justice Departmentâs ability to charge minors with supporting terrorist groups. Bleiberg was curious why an FBI investigation of a teen plotting an Islamic State-inspired shooting was prosecuted by local Texas officials. He and Balsamo exposed the loophole created by a SCOTUS ruling in a non-terrorism case that could prevent minors from facing federal charges for supporting international terrorism. https://bit.ly/2JlSqiw
The AP bulletin rocketed around the world just minutes after the release of the much-anticipated report by special counsel Robert Mueller:
WASHINGTON (AP) â Muellerâs report reveals Trump's efforts to seize control of Russia probe and force the special counselâs removal.
That set the tone for a day of dominant AP coverage in every format on the historic findings in the Mueller report.
The success was the result of planning and deep knowledge of the subject matter by APâs Russia team â Eric Tucker, Mike Balsamo, Chad Day and Mary Clare Jalonick â along with lightning-fast speed and precision execution by White House news editor Nancy Benac and the entire Washington bureau.
As soon as they were allowed to open the report, Tucker and Balsamo called the Washington bureau and kept two open lines to the newsroom, where they fed material Day and Jalonick, while Benac began crafting the story that hit the wire right after the report was posted online.
By then, the AP was off and running with outstanding all-formats coverage, including sharp handling of photos and live video. Our speed was so impressive that clients were able to get a complete set of critical and comprehensive edits by mid-afternoon. Our interactive had unheard-of play for a non-election story, while the Trump Investigation hub on APNews more than doubled its previous high pageviews. The standout coverage also ran on front pages of newspapers around the country.
âWhile we were sending bulletins saying that Trump had tried to stop the investigation, everyone else was still saying, âWe have the report, weâre reading it, weâll get back to you,ââ Executive Editor Sally Buzbee said.
For their efforts, Balsamo, Tucker, Day, Jalonick and Benac win APâs Best of the Week.
for acting on tips with aggressive reporting, breaking the news that a Justice Department investigation found Alabamaâs unsafe, overcrowded prisons violated the Constitution. https://bit.ly/2HVUvRi
For weeks, journalists in Washington had been chasing tips that special counsel Robert Muellerâs investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 race for the White House was winding down. Knowing that appetite for the story was huge, our Washington team created a comprehensive coverage plan for the day the report would be delivered to Attorney General William Barr.
Eric Tucker, Justice Department reporter, and Chad Day, Trump investigations reporter, kicked off the coverage with âMueller in Plain Sight,â a sweeping narrative of everything that had already been revealed by Mueller in his public indictments.
As speculation intensified, Tucker and law enforcement reporter Mike Balsamo alternated shifts at the Justice Department, while AP photographers and videojournalists staked out Mueller and Barr. Photographer Andrew Harnik scored with images of Mueller arriving at the Justice Department, the first image of Mueller by a news photographer in more than a year.
Word finally came on Friday, March 22 that Muellerâs work had ended. Within minutes of moving an alert, the AP sent a series of richly reported stories by the team that led APâs coverage for months: Tucker, Day, Balsamo and Congress reporter Mary Clare Jalonick.
And on Sunday morning AP scored another visual scoop when freelance photographer Cliff Owen learned that Mueller was at church. Owenâs photos of Mueller exiting St. Johnâs church ricocheted around the internet.
Later Sunday, when a Justice Department official handed reporters copies of Barrâs summary, Tucker calmly read the highlights over an open phone line to the bureau while Balsamo sent full quotes. APâs first alert, that Mueller had not exonerated Trump on obstruction of justice, moved a full 10 minutes before the Washington Post and five minutes before the New York Times.
The video team also provided unmatched live coverage from a wide range of locations in Washington, at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and in New York throughout the weekend.
For exceptional planning, teamwork and execution, Eric Tucker, Chad Day, Mike Balsamo, Mary Clare Jalonick, Andrew Harnik and Cliff Owen win APâs Best of the Week award.
for breaking the news that after the firing of Director James Comey, top FBI officials developed a plan to protect evidence in the Russia investigation. https://bit.ly/2NcZtJa
for being ahead on the news that federal prosecutors are investigating whether the National Enquirer had violated its cooperation and non-prosecution agreement by allegedly engaging in blackmail and extortion of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. https://bit.ly/2Ear7nuhttps://bit.ly/2S4t2gS
The killing of black teenager Emmett Till remains one of the most notorious crimes in American history, unresolved more than 60 years later. The 14-year-old boy was lynched after being accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi in 1955, a case that shocked the nation and helped inspire the civil rights movement. Alabama correspondent Jay Reeves has doggedly pursued any developments in the case over the years, and last week came away with a bombshell: the investigation was being reopened.
For that exclusive, Reeves wins the Beat of the Week.
for ensuring that AP received an advance copy of the prepared remarks by William Barr, President Donald Trumpâs nominee for attorney general, breaking the news that Barr would tell his confirmation hearing it is âvitally importantâ for the Russia investigation to reach its conclusion and that he believed the public should learn of its results. https://bit.ly/2S9cR5W
for seeking comment from Chief Justice John Roberts after President Donald Trump made disparaging remarks about judges on a federal court circuit. Robertsâ response, an unprecedented rebuke of Trump, scored a major scoop on what quickly became the top story in the United States. The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and most, if not all other news organizations, mentioned that Robertsâ statement was the result of APâs inquiry. https://bit.ly/2PGAUsK
Within hours of their high school friend being accused publicly of sexual assault against a young woman 36 years ago, 65 women stepped forward to sign a letter supporting Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was now at risk.
Many in newsrooms asked themselves, how was it possible that 65 people could be marshalled so quickly to attest to someoneâs moral character, including people who may not have seen Kavanaugh in decades. Reporters in four states, Jennifer Peltz in New York, Michael Kunzelman in Baltimore, Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston and Dan Sewell in Ohio, set out to reach every single one.
They learned that the campaign had started with phone calls among several high-school friends of Kavanaugh, and organizers used social media to expand their search.
The story, demonstrating AP's ability to marshal staffers across state lines on a tight timeline, was the top non-spot story of the week.
For their efforts, Shafner, Peltz, Kunzelman, Richer and Sewell share this week's Best of the States award.
for being first with a complete story on the tragic case of a mother of an MS-13 victim from Long Island who was struck and killed by an SUV as she was setting up a memorial on the very spot her daughter was killed two years earlier. https://bit.ly/2MQtIEe
Itâs a subject that has been largely ignored by the public and mainstream press in the U.S.: the plight of thousands of missing and murdered Native American women across the country.
Albuquerque reporter Mary Hudetz and national enterprise journalists Sharon Cohen and David Goldman teamed up to deliver an impressive all-formats package that illuminated these tragedies, engaging readers on one of the busiest news days in recent memory and earning praise from the industry.
For their efforts, Hudetz, Goldman and Cohen win this weekâs Best of the States award.
for reporting exclusively that a former British spy told a senior Justice Department official in the summer of 2016 that Russian intelligence believed it had Donald Trump âover a barrel.â https://bit.ly/2wB4Fif
for her exclusive, in-person interview with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ahead of a book tour, the first time the justice has spoken with The AP in more than 5 years. https://bit.ly/2M9z6le
for her story revealing new details about the 1959 killing of black teenager William Roy Prather, including that the Justice Department has now referred the case to the state authorities for potential further prosecution. Originally one white teenager pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a six-month sentence while others allegedly involved were given probation or walked free. https://bit.ly/2C5L9AB
for being first to report that Papa John's would be pulling founder John Schnatter's image from its marketing materials following reports he used a racial slur. https://bit.ly/2A2Fc6v