Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, reporter, Washington, D.C., for using cost figures obtained exclusively from Medicare actuaries to describe how the programâs safeguard for consumers with high drug costs had turned into a way for pharmaceutical companies to collect billions ...
Claudia Lauer, reporter, Little Rock, Arkansas, for using FOIA requests to show that Arkansas intended to use a drug for executions made by a company that doesn't want its drugs used for that purpose.
delivered a comprehensive national look the chaotic rollout of drive-thru coronavirus testing centers. Her reporting revealed that despite promises of widespread tresting, the drive-thru sites that were popping up in state parks, parking lots and outside hospitals were often plagued with long lines, inconsistencies, delays and shortages. https://bit.ly/2QR9Fdv
for their newsbreak that the Russian ambassador to the UN had intervened with Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Donald Trump's behalf after the UNâs human rights chief criticized the GOP nominee. http://bit.ly/2dzAVHE
for teaming on a story that showed a 99-year-old driver who drove his recreational vehicle the wrong way on a Florida highway, killing two, had had his driverâs license renewed in Michigan only weeks before. http://wapo.st/2F5sYc0
The scene is dreamlike â or, more precisely, nightmarish. The untethered camera swoops and swerves through a depopulated wasteland of rubble and bombed-out buildings and wrecked vehicles.
This is Raqqa, devastated capital of the Islamic State groupâs self-proclaimed caliphate. And this extraordinary footage â the Beat of the Week â was brought to viewers around the world by freelance drone videographer Gabriel Chaim. He shares the prize with Mideast photo editor Maya Alleruzzo.
revealed how the coronavirus is taking a bite out of the global drug trafficking â everything from severing key supply chains for Chinese precursor drugs to paralyzing the economies upon which drug sales rely. With detailed, on-the-record source work, they reported why drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia are being disrupted and how that is playing out in cities across the U.S., mostly in the form of tight supplies and prices that have risen to crisis-gouging levels. https://bit.ly/355KtWz
delivered a well-designed, executed and reported survey of American adults about the coronavirus, providing customers with days of data-driven Only on AP content that brought context and data-driven clarity to our coverage. Among the findings: Despite images of protests against stay-at-home orders that dominated newscasts and front pages, this APNewsAlert set the record straight: âAP-NORC poll: Majority of Americans say it's unlikely it will be safe enough to lift virus restrictions anytime soon.âhttps://bit.ly/3f31uFphttps://bit.ly/2yX4baR
for revealing details of General Motorsâ behind-the-scenes push to get to state legislators -- some of them recipients of GM donations -- to adopt rules for self-driving cars that would benefit the company and shut out competitors. http://apne.ws/2lzBxlt
Mark Pratt, a breaking news staffer in Boston, has written several stories exploring the complicated past of Theodor Seuss Geisel — Dr. Seuss. The company that preserves and protects the authorâs legacy knew it could trust him.
So Dr. Seuss Enterprises gave Pratt early word on a story that would become a global bestseller for AP, generating off-the-charts customer use for three days and eventually becoming the single most-used AP story of 2021 to date: The company was ceasing publication and sales of six Seuss books because of their offensive imagery.
Prattâs story instantly rocketed to the very top of a hectic news cycle, touching off a firestorm of commentary and conservative claims of âcancel culture.â The piece exceeded 2.5 million pageviews — catapulting it past the Capitol insurrection coverage in terms of customer use and clicks.
For nurturing trust with a newsmaker that yielded an AP exclusive still resonating with customers and news consumers, Pratt wins APâs Best of the Week award.
for a joint investigation that revealed how drugmakers are aggressively pushing a new class of drugs as their answer to the opioid crisis. The formulations are highly profitable for the industry but have not been proven to reduce of overdoses or deaths. http://apne.ws/2hTNQpB
From a fetid bridge underpass frequented by addicts, to a police station, to a grim drug detoxification ward, this all-formats package driven by powerful visuals takes a stunning look at Afghanistanâs drug underworld and the severe treatment of heavy drug users by the Taliban. The work also bears witness to APâs robust reporting from Afghanistan, which has continued unabated since the Taliban takeover.
Video journalist Mstyslav Chernov, photographer Felipe Dana and correspondent Samya Kullab, all currently on assignment in Kabul, gained rare access to this especially bleak segment of Afghan life, earning the trust of street addicts and, through a combination of persistence and luck, documenting Taliban detention of users, all amid a difficult and dangerous environment for journalists.For a rare exclusive that sets a high standard for coverage while shedding light on a harsh reality in Afghanistan, the team of Chernov, Dana and Kullab is APâs Best of the Week â First Winner.
for his NewsBreak showing that Drake did not submit his latest album for Grammy consideration. http://bit.ly/2z51Vgw
for illustrating the largely underreported problem of discarded needles from the opioid crisis turning up in rivers, on beaches and in public parks across the country. http://bit.ly/2v5VKqX
for an all-formats effort to tell a little-noticed story of the opioid crisis â how clergy members have become first responders, of sorts, leaving their pulpits to go directly to the streets to help get people into treatment and on a path to recovery. https://bit.ly/2BqB2E6
for a distinctive and deeply reported legislative story on the so-called âmarital rape exemptionâ or âspousal defense,â a legal loophole in many states that allows spouses to escape criminal prosecution for raping partners who are drugged, unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. Smyth and Karnowski reported that previous state legislative attempts to remove those exemptions have a mixed record, but thatâs starting to change. https://bit.ly/2vLmScQ
collaborated on an evocative, in-depth examination of the U.S. governmentâs roundups of wild horses on the arid plains of the American West. The roundups have expanded during this yearâs megadrought. Federal land managers say they are increasing the number of horses removed from the range to protect the parched land and the animals themselves, but wild-horse advocates accuse the government of using the conditions as an excuse to move out the iconic animals to preserve cattle grazing.Photographer Bowmer and Salt Lake City colleague Whitehurst attended a July roundup on the plains west of Salt Lake City and watched from a mountaintop perch as about 300 horses were corralled to be adopted or kept in captivity. Bowmerâs striking images include helicopters swooping low to corral the horses as the mustangs gallop away, and horses gathered around watering holes against a mountain landscape. Whitehurst and Denver reporter Anderson weaved color into the story, describing the horsesâ high-pitched whinnies rising into the dry air, while explaining how the summer roundups have escalated tensions between government officials and the horse advocates. The package was used by countless members in the West and elsewhere in the country.https://aplink.news/7ulhttps://apnews.com/hub/drought...
for his report showing a growing backlash in the U.S. over the cost of providing life-saving drugs ... http://apne.ws/2d4shmp
for an exclusive report on the escalating conflict between drug traffickers and authorities in southern Spain, including unprecedented interviews with gang members operating in one of Europeâs main entry points for hashish from North Africa. https://bit.ly/2HsiEMl
The extreme drought in the American West has already taken a dramatic toll. And now, near the Oregon-California border, as many as several hundred wells have dried up in the past few weeks, leaving dozens of homeowners in the parched region with no running water at all. Reporter Gillian Flaccus and freelance photographer Nathan Howard documented the residentsâ plight and the challenges facing authorities responding to the situation.
Flaccus used sources she had built in months of reporting on the dire conditions in the Klamath River Basin, convincing people to let Howard depict their hardship over water in photos and video. Digital storyteller Samantha Shotzbarger then weaved all the elements into a compelling multimedia offering. The story drew widespread play in the U.S., especially in the West.
For continuing to shine light on the effects of the drought afflicting the U.S. West, Flaccus, Howard and Shotzbarger win this weekâs Best of the States award.
