scored repeated beats in all formats when news broke that the Seoul mayor had gone missing amid a sexual harassment complaint. APâs late-night news alerts on the discovery of the mayorâs body were well ahead of the competition; the print story led front pages on websites worldwide and BBC cited AP in its own copy.https://bit.ly/3h3FTNnhttps://bit.ly/391u3AIhttps://bit.ly/393YG8n
gained the trust of poll workers in Belarus who gave exclusive, on-camera interviews detailing extensive fraud in the Aug. 9 election. Protesters and opposition politicians have called the election rigged since the moment the results were announced showing authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko won with 80% support. Reports of fraud at the polls have appeared on social media and in some local independent media, but often featured anonymous interviews and piecemeal accounts. Litvinova and Manenkov wanted to go deeper. They reached out to poll workers who at first were too afraid to speak on-the-record and on camera â especially since protesters had been beaten by police and arrested. The pair worked tirelessly to gain the trust of several poll workers, eventually convincing several poll workers to share their stories with the AP, on camera and with still photos by Grits.What the workers told them was stunning: One said she was asked to sign a document summing up the results with the vote totals blank before voting ended for the day. Another who pointed out violations during the vote counting was fired on the spot. A third said he falsified results to favor Lukashenko and was now overcome with guilt for betraying the trust of the voters.
As they worked on this story and continued to cover the protests, Manenkov and AP Russia-based photographer Dmitri Lovetsky were arrested and ordered out of Belarus. Minsk-based photographer Grits and reporter Yuras Karmanau also were arrested and had their press credentials revoked. As a result, the two made the decision to leave Belarus.https://bit.ly/32dyjv0https://bit.ly/2RczmoF
showed the human side of the national reckoning on race, revealing how a sense of community and purpose has emerged among the small band of demonstrators who have gathered for weeks in search of justice for Breonna Taylor at Louisvilleâs âInjustice Square.â
The Louisville-based reporters covered the protests that emerged just after Taylor was killed by police in March, and then returned to check in on a small core group of demonstrators who had hung in for the long haul. They found a group that had discovered in themselves a sense of community and purpose greater than many of them had known before.
Galofaro told the story through the eyes of Amber Brown, a Louisville bus driver who feels so connected to Taylor and so committed to justice that she returns day after day to the small public square where the protesters gather.https://bit.ly/32iqHayhttps://bit.ly/3m8Tqq6
teamed up to break news from the NBAâs âDisney bubbleâ as teams suspended play over racial justice issues. Reynolds got the only on-the-record interview with an executive board member of the National Basketball Players Association, speaking with Andre Iguodala on the day that players decided that they would remain isolated at Walt Disney World and continue the postseason despite the protests.
The interview followed Reynoldsâ scoop that the NBAâs owners had called an emergency meeting and that a three-hour meeting between players and coaches led to no consensus on how to go forward. The interview with Iguodala, and supplemental reporting by his colleague Mahoney, led to AP being able to break the news that teams would resume practice Friday and playing games Saturday.https://bit.ly/2Zsl7R7https://bit.ly/33fyFk6https://bit.ly/2RjPqVvhttps://bit.ly/3bJ5XvI
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
broke the news that the massive and renowned old-growth redwood trees at Big Basin Redwoods State Park had largely survived the regionâs devastating wildfires. After other media reported that the ancient trees were âdoomedâ and had been âwiped out,â Mendoza and Sanchez hiked several smoky miles over waist-high fallen trees to find that the old-growth trees in the park â including the iconic Father and Mother of the Forest â were most definitely standing and had not burned. Even the signs marking the trees were unscathed.The positive news resonated with readers as far away as Iran and India, generating heavy engagement. https://bit.ly/31RxYOh
delivered a stunning and disturbing account of the years of dysfunction behind Beirutâs massive explosion that killed at least 180 people. Based on exhaustive reporting and source work, the AP team produced the most detailed, comprehensive lead-up to Aug. 4, including what is known of the cargo, paper trail, circumstances and missteps that led to the devastating blast. https://bit.ly/34JIJUK
traced the Watts neighborhood of South Los Angeles from the 1965 riots to the Watts of today. While Watts did not experience the violent protests that shook parts of LA and other cities in the wake of George Floydâs killing, the AP team found a neighborhood still bearing scars 55 years after a traffic stop of a Black motorist by a white police officer led to a mass uprising and widespread violence. Through words, photos, video and archival images, the trio takes an intimate look at the challenges facing Watts at a time when racial justice and police violence are central issues in America.https://bit.ly/2E90pxThttps://bit.ly/2Ei193Whttps://bit.ly/34b1wbo
overcame a beating at the hands of police and an internet blackout to deliver compelling footage and images, including exclusive interviews, throughout the disputed Belarus presidential election. When the state-run exit poll was announced after the vote, showing longtime authoritarian president President Alexander Lukashenko with 80% of the vote, thousands took to the streets. They were met with force by riot police as the government shut down the internet and tried to close the country off from the rest of the world. Video journalist Mstyslav Chernov was among those beaten and detained as police clashed with protesters.Despite the obstacles, AP outperformed the competition, working around the blackout to transmit strong all-formats coverage to the world ahead of other agencies.https://bit.ly/31PWEWahttps://bit.ly/2DCMZKNhttps://bit.ly/2XSMuCYhttps://bit.ly/3kysJdT
used solid reporting and data analysis to reveal that despite federal assurances, supplies of personal protective gear (PPE) are running short again as coronavirus cases surge around the country. The analysis found that FEMA distributed a disproportion amount of PPE to mostly rural states. Montana, for example, had received 1,125 items of protective gear per case, compared with 32 items per case in Massachusetts, an early hot spot. The AP story beat a national newspaperâs PPE story by a day. https://bit.ly/3j7jC34
obtained data revealing that more than 85% of the 93,000 people who signed up for the California Health Corps either didn't have the required medical license or failed to fill out an application. Gov. Gavin Newsom had described the program as an army of volunteers to accommodate the expected massive surge of COVID-19 cases. Thompson found only about 5% of the sign-up total had been cleared to participate, and that 233 were being paid to staff an emergency hospital established in a vacant arena with no patients.https://bit.ly/2WyP53Khttps://bit.ly/3fkJvKV
The shocking story exposed a serious human rights issue: The Chinese government has forced the use of IUDs, abortions and sterilization on members of Chinaâs Muslim minority in an apparent effort to reduce its population.
The piece, which ran without a byline for security reasons, established that China is imposing birth control on Uighurs and other Muslims in a far more widespread and systematic way than previously known. The exclusive reporting drew on Uighur and Kazakh sources, research by a prominent China scholar and hours-long interviews with ex-detainees, family members and even a former detention camp instructor.
The story elicited a strong global response from government officials, news media and the public.
For uncovering another major chapter on the plight of the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China, the unidentified AP reporter wins this weekâs Best of the Week award.
Washington-based photojournalist Pat Semansky was assigned weekend White House duty â a routine gig that meant waiting for President Donald Trumpâs overnight return from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his much-hyped rally didnât meet expectations.
The presidentâs arrival rarely makes a memorable photo, but Semansky dutifully waited until well after 1 a.m., while many of APâs competitors didnât bother to cover. When Trump finally stepped off Marine One, Semansky proved the time well spent: His flash caught an atypically rumpled Trump crossing the South Lawn.
The photo quickly became the signature image of the night, capping days of smart AP coverage on the event itself.
For making the most of a routine assignment to create what is likely to become an iconic photo of the Trump presidency, Pat Semansky wins APâs Best of the Week award.
In the course of covering protests and a memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis, AP race and ethnicity writer Aaron Morrison started thinking about other cases that began over minor offenses and ended with a black person dying. Morrison visited the scene where Floyd took his last breaths, talked to members of Floydâs family and interviewed protesters with this question in mind:
What is a black life worth?
AP video journalist Noreen Nasir, also in the Twin Cities, was picking up on the same theme in her own reporting. Joined by New York-based photographer Bebeto Matthews, the team took a deep and unflinching look the at the circumstances behind Floydâs death, and what many see as a pivotal moment in the struggle against institutional racism. Their story led the AP News site, was featured at the launch of the Facebookâs News Feed and was widely used by AP members.
For sharp reporting and analysis that cast George Floydâs killing in light of systemic issues of race inequality, Morrison, Nasir and Matthews win APâs Best of the Week award.
studied how soccer has applied rules against activist protest without considering the impact of major issues outside of sports. Harris wrote his analysis after a player for Borussia Dortmund, Jason Sancho, received a yellow card for showing his undershirt with a handwritten message of support for the George Floyd protests, contrary to the rule for players not to lift their jerseys in celebration. âRarely has a rule looked so out of touch,â Harris wrote, noting that the killing of Floyd had resonated far beyond the United States. After the piece, FIFA reconsidered its policy and urged organizers to show common sense. The AP story was widely cited in other media.https://bit.ly/30VeCI4https://bit.ly/30VeQ1S
China and the Trump administration had opposing narratives about the early days of the new coronavirus epidemic: China bragged about providing information quickly to the world through the World Health Organization, while the Trump administration accused China and WHO of colluding to hide information.
It took The Associated Press â drawing on recordings, documents and interviews â to tell the definitive story: Rather than colluding with China, WHO itself was being kept in the dark, praising China in public to shake loose information while expressing considerable frustration in private.
APâs widely praised story, months in the making, was so sensitive that we did not name the two main journalists to avoid blowback in China and to prevent anyone from identifying our sources.
For in-depth reporting that drew back the curtains and punctured the preferred narratives of China, WHO and the Trump administration at the same time, the AP reporters who produced this stunning piece earn Best of the Week honors.
As the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world last week, and the confirmed U.S. death toll approached 100,000, AP photographers on two continents found unusual and meaningful ways to bring home the tragedy of lives lost. They were:
â Photographer David Goldman, who met with the families of COVID-19 victims at a Massachusetts soldiersâ home, literally projecting veteransâ images onto the exterior of the familiesâ homes for a series of arresting, ghostly and emotion-laden scenes.
â And Rodrigo Abd, who spent weeks with Venezuelan migrants collecting bodies in a poor area of Lima, Peru, showing the abject desperation of that cityâs victims. Also honored is Lima reporter Franklin Briceño who accompanied Abd, documenting for text and video the funeral home workers on their grueling rounds.
Both projects had immense impact online and in print, drawing praise from readers and editors. For intrepid and creative multiformat storytelling emphasized by unforgettable images, Goldman, Abd and Briceño share APâs Best of the Week honors.
spotted something unusual about the N95 mask shipment they were shown in Southern California in early April â the eagerly awaited masks matched those on the counterfeit warning page of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The pair spent the next few weeks contacting U.S. importers and distributors who were selling and giving away the same Chinese-made masks, informing them the masks were fake while reviewing shipping records, broker contacts, invoices and packaging. Their story about how one brand of counterfeits infiltrated the U.S. supply chain served as an example of how the lack of coordination amid massive shortages plunged the countryâs medical system into chaos. https://bit.ly/2XgMxHU
scooped everyone with news that the Justice Department was moving for dismissal of the case against Michael Flynn, President Donald Trumpâs former national security adviser who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Balsamo, acting on a tip, worked sources and obtained exclusive access to court documents showing the case was being dropped, before they were even filed in court. Tucker, APâs Mueller investigation expert, drafted the story, pulling together details and information from other sources on how this case could have ended in such a spectacular and unusual way.The AP exclusive forced virtually every major news outlet to use the story, including CNN. Even Trump proclaimed he didnât know it was coming â and heâd been railing for weeks about the case, mulling whether to pardon Flynn.https://bit.ly/2ArlBNRhttps://bit.ly/2WRm8Ae
analyzed data showing that most states are not meeting the minimum level of coronavirus testing suggested by the U.S. government. In the absence of comprehensive federal data, AP calculated the monthly testing rate for each state, along with a separate review by AP state reporters, to find that only 40% of states currently meet the Trump administrationâs testing threshold. Those that donât include several that have been moving quickly to reopen their economies. And some states with infection hot spots are not testing at a higher rate recommended by Harvard University. https://bit.ly/3fpF7ud
