for one of the first published interviews that Warren Beatty has given in years on the occasion of his new Howard Hughes biopic, "The Rules Don't Apply."
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for their Only on AP story that details new accusations from three women of sexual misconduct against filmmaker Paul Haggis. Getting the story required deft interviewing by the two reporters to get the accusers to open up about their assertions against another Hollywood heavyweight. http://bit.ly/2m4YgY4
The 2012 film âThe Avengersâ cemented Marvelâs dominance at the box office, but the movie had a secret: A man had died bringing the blockbuster to the big screen. John Suttles died after falling from his truck while preparing to drive it to a set, but his name was not listed in the film's credits. Outside the production and Suttlesâ family, the only clue to his death and its connection to the movie was an 84-page investigative file by the workplace safety agency, Cal/OSHA.
That clue was uncovered by AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney, who began investigating set accidents in 2014. After diving into state and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration records, he discovered that dozens of workers had been killed and more had been seriously hurt on big-name television and film properties. Set accidents remain largely hidden, and the consequences usually amount to mere thousands of dollars in fines paid out of multimillion-dollar budgets, he reported. McCartney also catalogued numerous fatal film-set accidents internationally. His painstaking work wins Beat of the Week.
landed a clean scoop on the death of director-producer Ivan Reitman thanks to her reputation for professionalism on the film beat. Los Angeles-based Bahr received a call from a source during the Super Bowl, saying the 75-year-old Reitman had died and the family trusted her to break the story. That set Bahr and AP into motion on an obit that made news, even on a busy Sunday night. Read more
for his exclusive, wide-ranging interview with George Clooney, in which the actor commented on fatherhood, his new film about racism in America, and Donald Trumpâs fitness to be president. http://bit.ly/2w84vNe
Early in the planning stage for this yearâs Cannes film festival, London-based Dejan Jankovic, deputy director of entertainment content, decided to build his photo team with a combination of experience and fresh eyes, including Athens photographer Petros Giannakouris, who had no Cannes experience, and Invision entertainment specialists Ali Kaufman and photographers Joel Ryan, Vianney le Caer and Arthur Mola
The resulting coverage visually captured the glamour and excitement of the event in new ways without sacrificing the traditional elements that have worked in the past. AP won the Cannes Photograph of the Day award five times over the two weeks, impressive recognition in a competition open to every accredited photographer there.
For showing the glamour, fashion and celebrities of Cannes in a fresh and arresting manner, Jankovic, Giannakouris, Kaufman, Ryan, le Caer and Mola earn APâs Best of the Week award.
AP entertainment video manager Ryan Pearson had interviewed Chadwick Boseman eight times since 2013. He knew the actor and his work well, and heâd worked closely with the actorâs publicist and her company.
Thatâs why the publicistâs first media call after Bosemanâs death was to Pearson and the AP â she wanted the story reported by a responsible news organization. Another outlet, she worried, was getting close.
Pearson immediately alerted colleagues and set out to write an obituary that shocked the world. The AP staff in turn responded with comprehensive all-formats coverage, the story quickly becoming the biggest of the month on AP News and mobile.
For source and beat development that led to a tip on perhaps the biggest entertainment story of the year, and delivered a stream of important work for APâs customers and audience, Pearson wins APâs Best of the Week.
gave voice to the intense emotion within communities of Catholic nuns that have experienced devastating losses from outbreaks of the coronavirus. The Felician Sisters alone lost 21 of their own from four U.S. convents, a remarkable blow for a community of about 450 women. This intimate look within the cloister showed the lasting effects of what the pandemic wrought â in this case, the most reverent found themselves questioning faith and how one might continue living when so many nuns didnât.After initial difficulty connecting with receptive sources, national writer Sedensky found Sister Mary Jeanine Morozowich in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, who had a level of introspection and eloquence that would help drive this story. That opened the doors to St. Anne Home in Greensburg. Sedensky and video journalist Wardarski, both compassionate listeners, encouraged the openness of the sisters, helping introduce the pair to others at the ministry. âBy the time Jessie and I paid a visit there, we were able to share moments and conversations with all of them,â Sedensky said. Along the way, a couple of sisters told him that they felt better after their conversations.The package, including Wardarskiâs poignant visuals, found a receptive audience. The AP pair received innumerable emails expressing how much the story moved readers. One was headlined: âMy tears flowed as I read your article.â Another said: âYour article about the loss of these beautiful women will stay with me always. ... You wrote it so beautifully and with such respect.âhttps://bit.ly/3g8vYsGhttps://bit.ly/3gdjJeh
collaborated on the most comprehensive coverage yet by a major news organization on a shrinking natural wonder, the Bonneville Salt Flats in northwest Utah near the Nevada border.The salt flats has long lured speed-obsessed racers and filmmakers, and, more recently, social media fans looking for a spectacular photo, but its future is in peril because the salt has been thinning for decades. When a Utah state agency launched yet another study to assess what was happening at the salt flats, APâs Salt Lake City bureau recognized an opportunity explore the state of one the American Westâs most unique sites.A thoroughly reported, reader-friendly story and impressive visuals â photos, drone images, video and digital animations â combined for a striking presentation that drew in readers.Read more
conducted a gripping video interview with a 33-year-old Italian lawyer and water polo player about the manâs battle with COVID-19, underscoring how the disease not only hits the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Santalucia interviewed Andrea Napoli by Skype and filmed him waving from a hotel that is being used for patients recovering from the coronavirus. The video and a text story by Milan correspondent Colleen Barry won widespread play. https://bit.ly/39x7cLX
produced a creative and innovative package that gave young people around the world an opportunity to tell their own stories during the pandemic. Using contacts inside and outside the AP, Irvine asked people, ages 16 to 24, to talk about their experiences and film a bit about their lives. Her story, with the video compilation as the centerpiece, revealed the concerns the subjects have in common, as well as their unique circumstances.https://bit.ly/2JRBkHwhttps://bit.ly/2xeKvif
In a gripping exclusive that reads like the plot of a Hollywood film, Latin America correspondent Josh Goodman revealed the failed plot to oust Venezuelan President NicolĂĄs Maduro by a ragtag group of 300 volunteers led by a former U.S. Green Beret. The ill-conceived plan called for the group to invade Venezuela from Colombia and ignite a popular rebellion that would end in Maduroâs arrest.
The plot was uncovered and dismantled with barely a whisper, but a cryptic tip to the well-sourced Goodman planted the seed of the story. Over the next several months he reviewed documents and interviewed more than 30 Maduro opponents and aspiring freedom fighters with knowledge of the plot, piecing together the narrative with a strong assist from investigative researcher Randy Herschaft.
Goodmanâs story broke and reaction was strong: International media struggled to catch up and authorities in the U.S. and Colombia launched investigations. Senate Democrats have sent a letter to the Trump administration demanding answers.
For his impressive scoop on the failed coup that has been dubbed âThe Bay of Piglets,â Goodman and Herschaft win APâs Best of the Week award.
crafted a tender, poignant photo package of nursing home residents in Spain hugging their relatives through protective sheets of plastic, his images almost instantly resonating among audiences worldwide. âOne of the most moving epidemic-era photos I have seen,â wrote one Twitter user. Another called it âan ode to love and so heartbreaking. Terrific work.â Multiple media organizations including The Guardian and CNN included Morenattiâs work in their must-see photo collections of the week. https://bit.ly/2YK0iRg
This week two distinctly different bodies of work share APâs weekly honors for their outstanding coverage:
An all-formats team in Minsk, Belarus, facing constant police intimidation, continued to provide extensive coverage of mass protests over the nationâs disputed presidential election. That work included exclusive video of a bloody protester falling to the ground dead in front of heavily armed police, footage that forced the government to reverse its narrative of the incident.
And in work of a different dimension entirely, New Delhi photographer Altaf Qadri spent many months documenting life along the 1,700-mile River Ganges, considered sacred by almost 1 billion Hindus in India.
Starting with a treacherous two-day hike to the foot of the Himalayas â the remote source of the Ganges â and ending in the fast disappearing mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, Qadri captured a breathtaking range along his odyssey: celebration and death, solitude and fellowship, daily life and holy rites.
For extraordinary work in enterprise and spot news journalism, Altaf Qadri and the Belarus team of Mstyslav Chernov, Sergei Grits, Yuras Karmanau, Dimitri Kozlov and Dmitri Lovetsky share APâs Best of the Week award.
went beyond just documenting the fires that swept across Brazilâs Pantanal wetlands, decimating wildlife, but also reported that the governmentâs meager response allowed the blazes to spiral out of control. Almost one-quarter of the Pantanal, the worldâs largest tropical wetlands, went up in flames â an area bigger than the state of Maryland, and double what California lost this year.
The Brazilian government said it mobilized hundreds of troops and agents. as well as aircraft dropping water, to douse the fires. The AP team used witness testimonials, local data and its journalistsâ own observations â they didnât find a single armed forces member during five days in the northern Pantanal, where the fires were centered. Sources yielded further evidence and a government source who was involved in the Pantanal fire response later confirmed the APâs findings, despite continued assertions by Brazilâs environment ministry that its response was stellar.
The team produced multiple packages with especially strong video and photos. The work was the most used from Latin America by AP clients for all of September.https://bit.ly/33zTrMvhttps://bit.ly/36KwSad
With exceptional multiformat journalism, AP investigative reporters Martha Mendoza and Juliet Linderman exposed the collapse of the U.S. medical equipment supply chain that led to deadly shortages of crucial personal protective equipment during the pandemic.
In collaboration with public televisionâs âFrontline,â the Center for Global Reporting and AP reporters worldwide, âAmericaâs Medical Supply Crisisâ identified a series of missteps in the U.S. that contributed to one of the highest death rates per capita in the world.
The investigation elicited strong public engagement, praise from public health experts and response by bipartisan members of Congress.
For breaking down a complex topic to show the critical importance of medical supply chains and the human cost when those supply chains fail, Linderman and Mendoza share APâs Best of the Week award.
teamed up to trace the elusive origin of Pope Francisâ bombshell comment on same-sex civil unions in a three-day run of stories that broke news.After Winfield reported that Pope Francis had endorsed civil unions in a new documentary, she discovered that the origin of the quote in the film was not clear. When Winfield asked the director whether he had understood at the time that the civil union comment was news, his longwinded and indirect answer was the first hint that something was off â triggering a 36-hour reporting effort.Thomas, who was covering the premiere of âFrancescoâ in Rome, got a top papal communications aide on camera insisting that the quote didnât come from an interview for the film, but a 2019 interview Francis granted Mexican broadcaster Televisa. After three days of contradictory claims, the reporters nailed down that the comments were made during a May 2019 Televisa interview that was never broadcast in its entirety. Verza pressed and elicited a sourced confirmation that the Vatican had cut the quote out of the raw interview footage it provided to Televisa.APâs story with the information from Mexico moved three hours before major newspapers reported the story. The Vatican, meanwhile, has refused all comment.https://bit.ly/3kBGZlyhttps://bit.ly/31R6VCq
overcame countless obstacles to provide on-the-ground coverage from a remote area of northwest Nigeria after the abduction of 300 students from a school in Katsina state. With perseverance, stamina and resourcefulness, the pair delivered content for a series of powerful stories in all formats, including live video coverage of the eventual release of the students.The pair had been covering Lagos Fashion Week when news of the mass abduction broke. After arranging with local stringers for APâs first images from the school in Kankara village, Oyekanmi and Alamba flew north, then drove for hours over single-lane roads, dodging trucks and potholes, and talking their way through security checkpoints to reach Kankara, a town now in shock. After making images â captured with difficulty among a populace cowed by fear â more hours of travel followed to reach a safe town where they could file photos and video, and get some sleep.That work pattern repeated over the coming days: six or more hours on the road, then filing late into the night with visuals and reporting that brought detail and color to text stories.When they learned that the release of the boys had finally been secured, Oyekanmi and Alamba rushed to the state capital, staying up all night to wait for the studentsâ arrival. When the freed boys finally did arrive the next morning, Oyekanmi was ready with LiveU gear, streaming exclusive live coverage of their return, while Alamba filed first photos via Whatsapp. Both formats scored heavy usage by AP global clients.https://bit.ly/3rkaQmxhttps://bit.ly/2WFlKozhttps://bit.ly/2KwM9CDhttps://bit.ly/38uEQTXhttps://bit.ly/3nFUpP3
After its shocking Jan. 25 report on the locust swarms devastating agriculture in Kenya, APâs Nairobi team came through with another truly striking package on the worst locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in 70 years. This time, Nairobi staffers Ben Curtis and Josphat Kasire obtained exclusive coverage of the next wave of young locusts now bulking up in Somaliaâs desert.
The story posed multiple challenges, not the least of which was the very real threat of al-Shabab extremists in the area. And the young insects were relentless. âIf you put anything down on the ground for a minute, youâd find a bunch of bugs crawling over it,â Curtis recounted.
Despite the obstacles, the team produced stunning images and vivid reporting from the source of the widespread outbreak, proof that the regionâs infestation was far from over.
For resourceful and determined work that resulted in an only-on-AP direct look at the ravages of a veritable Biblical plague of locusts, Kasire and Curtis win APâs Best of the Week award.
AP scooped the rest of the world with the contents of the highly anticipated report by Chinese and World Health Organization experts on the origins of the COVID-19 virus. The scoop was so significant that it forced our direct competitors to quote AP in their headlines and stories for hours, as they and others scrambled to match it.
How did AP do it?
Tipped that the report was imminent, Geneva chief correspondent Jamey Keaten cast a wide net among trusted sources, seeking a copy whenever it became available — and APâs repeated scoops on WHO have made it the go-to news organization for reliable reporting on the U.N. agency. That paid off: A source Keaten had cultivated for years sent the report to him electronically early Monday morning. He quickly relayed the file to Greater China news director Ken Moritsugu, launching an urgent multiformat effort. Working with colleagues in Asia, Moritsugu had a carefully worded alert and story on the wire as day dawned in Europe. AP video colleagues followed with a six-minute archive package, footage of the report itself and official on-camera reaction.
For giving the AP a massive lead on the dayâs biggest story, and harnessing APâs global presence to produce news with speed and accuracy, Keaten and Moritsugu earn APâs Best of the Week honors.
