for being first to report Interior Secretary Ryan Zinkeâs plan to realign the department in a way that advanced energy development on public lands. http://bit.ly/2t90rQs
Rolled out over the week of Jan. 6, AP's one-year anniversary coverage of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol stood out in a highly competitive field, with exclusive content across text, photos and video, including an interview with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Weeks of preparation and reporting paid off in broad, deep, insightful coverage. Among the offerings: lawmakers recounting their experiences inside the Capitol on the fateful day, a profile of protester Ashli Babbitt, AP staffersâ first-person accounts of covering the riot, the stubborn hold of conspiracy theories, teachers around the country debating how to teach the event, and much more.
Photos and video were no less compelling, highlighted by the exclusive and widely used on-camera interview of Pelosi, who chose to sit down with AP rather than the networks on the eve of the anniversary.
For demonstrating the APâs ability to deliver best-in-class content across platforms on this major anniversary, the team behind the Jan. 6 coverage is APâs Best of the Week â First Winner.
The moment James Comey let slip that he had written âcontemporaneous notesâ detailing his dealings with President Donald Trump, those memos became the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
The memos quickly became fodder for special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections as it related to possible collusion with the Trump campaign â and in particular, whether the president sought to obstruct justice. Prosecutors perused them, members of Congress demanded them and the public speculated about them.
In the end, The Associated Press got them.
Thanks to the resourceful reporting of the Washington bureauâs Mary Clare Jalonick, Chad Day, Tom LoBianco and Eric Tucker, the AP was the first news organization to publish the contents of those 15 pages of notes, hours ahead of the competition. And that major scoop is the Beat of the Week.
spotlighted efforts by international investigators to bring the Islamic State to justice for the slavery and sex trafficking of Iraqâs Yazidi religious minority. The story, which took nearly a year, built on investigatorsâ documents and El Deebâs reporting in Iraq and Syria to track down former slaves, owners and those who witnessed the enslavement, all complemented by powerful photos and video of women who had been trafficked.https://bit.ly/2TN6bu9https://bit.ly/2X9imUg
for source development work that resulted in AP obtaining exclusive reaction from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the week in which Sessions received scathing, public criticism from President Donald Trump. Gurman was the only text reporter accompanying Sessions on a trip to El Salvador. http://bit.ly/2vxEvxX http://bit.ly/2vxuVex
The Womenâs March shortly after Donald Trumpâs inauguration energized its backers with a message to get politically engaged. The emergence of the #MeToo movement later that year provided even more momentum. But would women follow through? At the start of 2018, a midterm election year, the state government and data teams decided to find out.
The goal was ambitious: Track every woman running for Congress, statewide office and state legislature in the country, get historical numbers for comparison and follow their electoral fates through Election Day to see if the movements had led to real change. That effort, which will be ongoing throughout the year, produced its first scoop last week when AP declared a record number of women running for the U.S. House of Representatives.
For breaking significant news on one of the most dominant political trends of the year, state government team reporters Christina Cassidy and Geoff Mulvihill, and data team visual journalist Maureen Linke share this weekâs Best of the States.
The idea for this deeply reported story emerged months ago when AP noticed Ukrainian refugees being sent to Russia â then disappearing.
The process was painstaking, but AP spoke with 36 Ukrainians, most of them from the devastated city of Mariupol, all of whom were sent to Russia. Some had made their way to other countries, but almost a dozen were still in Russia, an important find. The refugeesâ personal stories humanized the larger findings of the investigation: Ukrainian civilians have indeed been forced into Russia, subjected along the way to human rights abuses, from interrogation to being yanked aside and never seen again.
The story was widely used and cited by other news organizations, and a week after it ran it was still near the top for AP reader engagement.
For teamwork across borders that resulted in the most extensive and revealing investigation yet into the forcible transfers of Ukrainian refugees, the team of Lori Hinnant, Vasilisa Stepanenko, Cara Anna, Sara El Deeb and colleagues in Russia and Georgia earns APâs Best of the Week â First Winner.
teamed up to put a very human face on the millions in America who are struggling to put food on the table during the pandemic. The pair spent an extended period with Janeth and Roberto, an immigrant couple on the outskirts of the nationâs capital who regularly skip meals to ensure their 5-year-old daughter has enough to eat. Their moving text and photo package, sensitively rendered, brought home how the virus outbreak stalks people on the margins with hunger, as well as disease, and how the social safety net fails many.https://bit.ly/3601QIR
While there is little dispute that Black voters pushed Joe Biden into the presidential winner's column, AP wanted to know: How big of a factor were they?
Race and ethnicity writers Kat Stafford and Aaron Morrison began reporting on what Black voters said they wanted Biden to deliver once in office. Using the voices they collected as the foundation of the story, Stafford and Morrison teamed with data journalist Angeliki Kastanis and polling journalist Hannah Fingerhut, who infused the piece with data and voter survey findings that bolstered the anecdotes with hard numbers.
Their collaboration put the AP days ahead of other news organizationsâ pieces on Black votersâ support of Biden. For resourceful and insightful reporting and analysis on a major factor in the 2020 election, the team of Stafford, Morrison, Kastanis and Fingerhut wins this weekâs Best of the States award.
for getting an interview with Marine Le Pen, the French presidential candidate, hours before candidates had to stop making public statements. http://abcn.ws/2pAvdLQ
dominated coverage of figure skating from Beijing, reporting the top breaking news stories of the 2022 Olympics. With help from colleagues working in all formats, along with the Moscow staff and fellow staffers promoting APâs content on social media, they covered all the angles with some of the biggest stories of the Winter Olympics, including APâs most-read story of the month.Even before the pivotal night of the womenâs competition, Skretta and the team delivered standout work, setting up the Games and the expected dominance of both the Russian women and American favorite Nathan Chen. And when a positive drug test was revealed for Russian favorite Kamila Valieva, the team kept AP well ahead of the competition.Among the highlights were Ellingworthâs definitive piece on Valieva's controversial coach, a follow-up the morning after the eventful womenâs final, and fresh takes on the sport from Ho and Morrison, highlighting issues of body image, racism and the impact of the sport on such young skaters. Read more
A team of AP journalists collaborated on an ambitious and innovative project to capture the approaching toll of 1 million U.S. deaths from COVID: They looked for the empty spaces, then told the stories of the individuals who had filled them. And they let the voices of those left behind reveal the mosaic of loss that has forever marked the country.
In true AP fashion, the package came together with extensive coordination across departments and formats, resulting in compelling content and an immersive presentation that resonated with customers and engaged the audience. The stories emerged among the most popular on AP News throughout the weekend and will be republished when the official toll hits 1 million. But the greatest barometer of success may have come came in the words of grateful loved ones of those featured in the stories.
For bringing fresh eyes and new voice to the once-unimaginable loss that will shape the way we live for years to come, the team of Adam Geller, David Goldman, Shelby Lum, Carla K. Johnson, Heather Hollingsworth, Samantha Shotzbarger and Elise Ryan is APâs Best of the Week â First Winner.
The tears, grief and tension of President Donald Trumpâs listening session with shooting victims and families after the Florida high school massacre were profound. Washington photographer Carolyn Kasterâs job was to capture the compelling event in images. Thatâs no easy task at the White House, where events are tightly managed and photographersâ movements are highly restricted.
But Kaster, working with photo editor Jon Elswick, overcame these obstacles and delivered an image of a hand-written note held by the president that quickly went viral and became one of the most talked-about stories of the day. The image wins Kaster and Elswick the Beat of the Week.
for anchoring expansive and informative coverage of President Donald Trumpâs impeachment trial â just the third such trial in American history. Coverage of the trial in all formats showcased the APâs unmatched ability to meet the call of history with sharp storytelling, delivered with speed but hanging on substance. The APâs mainbar provided a definitive account of the trial for more than three weeks running. And as lawmakers weighed the ultimate judgment on a president, journalists in Washington carefully reported the arguments in real-time while churning out informative sidebars, fact-checks and explanatory guides. The final story alone, on the Senate vote to acquit Trump, appeared on more than 200 newspaper front pages across the country, and hundreds of websites. https://bit.ly/2UQ9EcK
When investigating politicians, the adage goes, âfollow the money.â But it is equally important to follow the meetings.
San Diego correspondent Elliot Spagat was on his way to the office when a two-word message landed in his inbox from a longtime source: âMorgan resigned.â
Spagat knew what it meant -- Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan was out of his job after just seven months. Spagat had seen this coming because the powerful union representing border agents had endorsed Trump and did not like Morgan.
But more was needed to go to the wire with the breaking news. He went back to the tipster to get details and permission to use the source in a story. He also immediately enlisted homeland security reporter Alicia Caldwell in Washington.
for breaking the news of President Donald Trumpâs letter to African leaders that pledged âdeep respectâ and announced Secretary of State Rex Tillersonâs first Africa visit. http://wapo.st/2DXqtLF
teamed up for a striking package that was 100 days in the making â capturing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's 100 nightly speeches in an outstanding text piece and a meticulously compiled combo of 100 screenshots.Every night since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy has given a speech on social media. As the warâs 100th day approached, Washington photo editor Elswick came up with the idea of doing a single combo showing all 100 images, and presented the idea to Washington editor Berry. In fact, Berry, a former Moscow staffer, had prepared for a story along roughly the same lines.The result was a unique text and photo package that captures the essence of the speeches and their importance â nightly reminders to Ukrainians that contrary to expectations before the war, Zelenskyy had stood firm in the face of the Russian offensive and Ukraine has resisted the onslaught.Read more
marked the 25th anniversary of Princess Dianaâs death with innovative multiformat, multiday coverage that resonated with AP customers and audiences.Planning began months earlier to make APâs coverage stand out from typical anniversary fare. Among the highlights were an evocative mainbar capturing Dianaâs life, death and legacy; a revealing AP Was There timeline of the night she died; an exclusive interview with the doctor who treated Diana at the accident scene; a video showing her image painted inside the tunnel where she died; and a video of AP staffers recounting what it was like to cover her death and aftermath â all of it presented in compelling fashion and promoted on APâs social platforms.Read more
for being first to report that testing of prototypes of Trumpâs proposed wall with Mexico found that their imposing heights would likely stop border crossers, a finding that pleased border hawks. http://bit.ly/2n4PUzF