met the highly anticipated moment, leveraging a tip to deliver fast, sweeping coverage on the retirement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.Read more
hustled to get all-formats coverage of the arrest of powerful House Speaker Larry Householder, accused of orchestrating a $60 million bribery scheme.Amiri spent three hours on a blazing day in the sun with two dying cell phones, waiting for Householder to come out from his arraignment. As police arrived to clear the way for the car and disperse protesters, Amiri’s phone shut down, but luckily a few minutes of drama – including footage of Householder sitting in an SUV surrounded by furious protesters demanding he make a comment – were saved.With contributions from Amiri’s statewide colleagues, AP owned the story.https://bit.ly/3ga3vQghttps://bit.ly/2Erq58Z
Miami-based AP reporter Josh Goodman was in the audience at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York — enjoying his vacation — when a man rushed the stage and stabbed Salman Rushdie, the author who has lived under threat of death since 1989. In the critical moments that followed, Goodman cemented a huge competitive advantage for AP on one of the biggest global news stories of the week.
Amid chaos in the hall, Goodman shot smartphone images of people attending to Rushdie as he lay on the stage, then quickly sent photos and dictated details to AP. Some 20 minutes after the attack, AP had an alert and photos in the hands of members and customers.
Goodman continued reporting for all formats while colleagues from New York to Iran pitched in on the story. No news organization could catch up in those initial hours.
For extraordinary work across formats by an accomplished and experienced journalist who understood the needs of AP clients and how to handle breaking news when it erupted in front of him, Goodman earns AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.
From Paris to Bucharest, all-format teams across Europe delivered robust, speedy and ambitious coverage that captured a changing continent during the high-stakes EU election. Beforehand, they explained why the continent is at a crossroads and how it arrived there. They delivered fast, accurate breaking news when the results started to come in and strong analysis to explain what the votes meant.http://bit.ly/2QzlbZOhttps://www.apnews.com/EuropeanParliament
The end of May saw unprecedented news: The coronavirus pandemic continued to spread infection and wreak economic havoc around the globe, while much of the world’s attention pivoted suddenly to protests across the U.S. that spread to Paris, London, Australia and elsewhere after the suffocation death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
This week’s Best of the Week recognizes AP’s work surrounding each of those mega-stories, with top honors going to Baltimore-based photographer Julio Cortez for his iconic photo of a protester holding an American flag aloft, and to the AP all-formats team in Brazil for continuing coverage of the virus in a nation being ravaged by COVID-19.
Last November, more than 200 counties across America, scores of them in the upper Midwest, turned from blue to red on the electoral map. Why did voters in once-Democratic strongholds support Donald Trump?
An all-formats AP team of Claire Galofaro, Martha Irvine, David Goldman and Angeliki Kastanis set out to find the answer by focusing on one rural Wisconsin county and getting into the lives and mindset of its people. The result was a revealing package that earns the Beat of the Week.
Thousands upon thousands of funerals, many not related to COVID-19, are being held during the global pandemic. Washington photographer Jacquelyn Martin provided a very personal look at one of them.
Martin spent weeks getting to know the family whose mother had died, gaining their trust. But the family’s plans for an elaborate funeral were interrupted by the pandemic and social distancing rules. More weeks passed before the funeral home said it could go ahead. Martin was ready, poised with her camera and notebook, given extraordinary access to a family’s very private moment.
Her moving text and photos captured the essence of the funeral and the family's grief – and its celebration of a life. “Beautiful images shown with so much dignity,” one person wrote.
For her heartfelt account and elegant images, Jacquelyn Martin receives AP’s Best of the Week honors.
for reacting quickly to put AP ahead of all competition on the breaking news of an active shooter at Pearl Harbor, and maintaining the competitive advantage with tremendous collaboration in all formats, including live video, throughout the day. https://bit.ly/34bHpGk
As the western U.S. finds itself in the grips of one of the worst droughts in recent history, the AP West region staff has delved into every aspect of the drought’s impact across the region. In one of the hardest-hit areas, the Salt Lake City-based team of Rick Bowmer, Lindsay Whitehurst and Brady McCombs documented that Utah’s Great Salt Lake may be headed to the lowest water levels in 170 years.
Reporting ahead of other news outlets, they delivered an all-formats package with stunning visuals showing readers how the dying lake is impacting people and wildlife and is a harbinger of worrisome drought-related consequences ahead. Decades of drought and water diversion in the booming region have hurt bird habitats, forced boats from shallow water and exposed dry lakebed that could send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe.
The result was a compelling package that had the highest engagement of all AP stories on July 6 and fourth-most for the week.
For distinctive work that expands AP’s ongoing coverage of climate and drought in the West, the team of Bowmer, Whitehurst and McCombs wins this week’s Best of the States award.
for a cross-country, all-formats response to the mass shooting that left three dead at the Gilroy (Calif.) Garlic Festival. Rod Jussim, Washington video producer, leapt into the story, moving 10 video edits, including gripping user-generated clips, followed with live video from the scene at sunrise. Meanwhile, freelance photographer Noah Berger captured images that led local media outlets for hours and also shot aerials of the scene, something no other agency had, as San Francisco reporter Martha Mendoza, interviewed witnesses and getting good early descriptions of the scene. https://bit.ly/2ZjdnPq
for sharp all-formats coverage in obtaining the first Western news and video of an Australian student released from North Korean custody, a scoop hailed as “brilliant” by the news director of the Australian Broadcasting Corp.https://bit.ly/2NxraAfhttps://bit.ly/2JxcrQI
for an all-formats AP interview from Morocco with Ivanka Trump, a rare moment in which she addressed the impeachment inquiry at length, scoring blockbuster play for video, text and photos, including a sweep of the morning TV shows.https://bit.ly/32S5d17https://bit.ly/2pjmN0nhttps://bit.ly/2qewxtm
for creative photo and video coverage and enterprising reporting, keeping AP’s all-formats coverage fresh, even after six days of historic flooding in Venice.https://bit.ly/2O5ndkBhttps://bit.ly/2D4MEfPhttps://bit.ly/33dR2UE
produced a sweeping set of stories to mark the first anniversary of the massive Beirut port explosion, with the emphasis on character-driven pieces that underscore the suffering experienced by survivors of the blast and families of the victims, one year later. With that in mind, reporter Mroue, senior producer Abuelgasim and photographer Hussein told the tragic tale of a 21-year-old nurse who died at work, weaving her story together with that of a couple whose son was born minutes later in the same hospital amid the chaos of the blast. The result was a stunning all-formats narrative embedded with dramatic family video and hospital-supplied footage from the day of the blast. The Beirut crew worked closely with digital storytelling producers and editors Raghuram Vadarevu and Natalie Castañeda. AP’s online video, created by deputy regional news director Balint Szlanko, was heavily used and widely shared on social media.Meanwhile, El Deeb reported — with photos by Ammar — on grieving families seeking justice and accountability for their deceased loved ones; she also collaborated with news director Karam on the anniversary mainbar which was accompanied by compelling photos and video by Abuelgasim and cameraman Tawil. El Deeb and Abuelgasim also teamed up with photographer Malla for a piece on conservators painstakingly rebuilding and restoring a landmark Beirut museum.In the days surrounding the actual anniversary, the staff shifted its coverage to breaking news as masses of protesters took to the streets, some clashing with police as they demanded that officials be held responsible for corruption and indifference leading to the tragedy.https://aplink.news/u59https://aplink.news/b1dhttps://aplink.news/dmjhttps://aplink.news/alyhttps://aplink.video/z0j
for an only-on-AP all-formats win in coverage of Hong Kong’s democracy protests, revealing that medics are secretly banding together to privately treat injured protesters who fear arrest if they go to government-run hospitals. The exclusive also showed that government figures significantly underestimate the true extent of injuries. One of the “hidden healers” agreed to go on camera, generating impressive online and broadcast play.https://bit.ly/33EVEDKhttps://bit.ly/32tr5AAhttps://bit.ly/2Mo0gZa
for delivering exclusive text, video and photos from the ground in Wuhan, China, just as the virus began to spread. Their quick deployment meant that the AP was the only agency on the ground producing content for two days, and almost the only media at all on the first day. Shooting from a taxi outside the hospital, they recorded dramatic images of workers dressed head to toe in white protective suits. And they were questioned by police, but not detained, while shooting exteriors of the market where the outbreak may have started. Their coverage gave AP exclusive images and interviews in all formats, with their video edits on day one leading all stories, including impeachment.https://bit.ly/3aQ4V01https://bit.ly/38HWulIhttps://bit.ly/2uH5adi
found innovative ways to break news, tell important stories in all formats and stay ahead of the competition as the search for survivors in the Surfside condo collapse stretched into a second week.When the AP team — Florida staffers and out-of-state reinforcements — learned an implosion of the remaining structure was likely looming, they rented a 26-foot scissor lift, fastened a live broadcast unit to it with bungee cords and covered it from incoming weather with a tarp. This work by Bumsted, Ellgren and Lee allowed AP to get a clear view of the eventual implosion and deliver visuals over several news cycles that were picked up by major customers.Meanwhile, AP reporters found compelling narratives, including Kennedy’s story on the last dramatic moments of the collapse as told by people who barely escaped. This piece had a rare engagement score of 100 with a highly unusual average time on page of more than 3 minutes — holding readers’ attention with vivid detail and emotion.Gómez Licón’s story about the sensitive nature of dealing with remains also played widely. And her story about a missing widower was matched by several outlets that cited AP. AP also beat national and local competitors by an hour or more on breaking news of the death toll increasing, thanks to staffers finding a source of official briefings.https://apnews.com/hub/surfsid...https://aplink.news/0p5https://aplink.video/eklhttps://aplink.news/c9fhttps://aplink.news/wtkhttps://aplink.news/hk7
produced a timely, moving, all-formats story from a Louisiana COVID-19 ward with a lightning turnaround, getting her video, text and photos to the wire the day after she spent hours at the hospital.Plaisance, New Orleans-based video journalist, was given access to a hospital intensive care unit in Jefferson, Louisiana, expecting to get a few comments and some b-roll. Instead, she ended up spending the most of the day there, interviewing exhausted staff and recovering COVID victims. She spoke to a doctor who was emptying garbage bins and bathing patients to relieve the pressure on nurses. She spoke to a nurse who lost his own father to COVID, and a patient — also a nurse — who didn't get vaccinated and wants to make sure others don’t follow her lead.After leaving the hospital, Plaisance immediately went to work cutting video and writing the text story. By the following afternoon her work was on the wire capturing the desperation and urgency at the hospital.The package drew attention amid the current spike in COVID cases. Other news outlets noticed: After Plaisance’s piece appeared, the hospital became the subject of other reporters’ coverage.https://aplink.news/e0uhttps://aplink.video/p2n
Hundreds of migrants try each day to cross the Darien Gap — a thick jungle between Colombia and Panama traversed by many ultimately seeking the U.S. border — 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 Suárez, photographer Fernando Vergara and video journalist Marko Álvarez 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, Suárez, Vergara and Álvarez earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.
for resourceful coverage of Mozambique’s historic peace deal as other international outlets struggled to catch up. Acting on a tip, the AP team overcame logistics hurdles to set up all-formats coverage at a remote wildlife park as Mozambique’s rebel-turned-opposition group disarmed and its leader warmly embraced Mozambique’s president. AP’s exclusive content, including the photo of the hug, was widely used and left competitors scrambling. https://bit.ly/2ZBHT78
