Best of the Week — First Winner

Months of prep, source work propel AP to dominance on student loan forgiveness

How President Joe Biden would deliver on his campaign promise to forgive student loan debt was one of the most closely watched decisions coming out of the White House this summer.

As anticipation built, and other news organizations couched their reporting in terms of what Biden was “expected to” announce, AP’s Washington bureau worked sources to deliver a massive scoop, confirming and reporting the details 16 hours before Biden stood in front of the cameras.

What followed was no less impressive: All nine of AP’s stories, breaking and enterprise, centered on real people, with on-camera reaction from borrowers, as well as a Q&A updated by search trends, an engaging Instagram reel, a Twitter Spaces session and more. In all, AP’s coverage pulled in 1.1 million views on AP News and 1.2 million interactions on Facebook. For preparation and determined reporting that produced a major scoop, deep coverage and resourceful engagement on an issue affecting millions of Americans, AP is delighted to honor the team of Seung Min Kim, Zeke Miller, Chris Megerian, Michael Balsamo, Collin Binkley, Bianca Vázquez Toness, Adriana Morga, Cora Lewis and Alex Connor as Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Top US student loan official resigns

for being first to report that the U.S. government's top official overseeing the student loan market was resigning in protest of the White House’s policies toward student loan borrowers. https://bit.ly/2NnWmh3

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

NY makes tuition free, but students must stay after college

for seizing upon an 11th-hour addition to New York’s first-in-the-nation free college initiative _ a requirement that students who accept the support must stay in the state after graduation or pay back the benefit. http://wapo.st/2pLyo6K

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats team exposes housing crisis for college students

exposed a growing housing crisis hitting college campuses across the U.S.: A surge in the number of new students who deferred college during the worst of the COVID crisis has strained campus housing nationwide, leaving many students homeless, sleeping in cars or living in motel rooms while attending school — or causing them to further delay their education.Working with AP’s housing coverage team, San Francisco reporter Har found that while the college housing crunch may be most acute in California, it impacts college students nationwide.With video from Terry Chea and photos by Eric Risberg, digital storyteller Samantha Shotzbarger created a strong presentation that performed well both on AP platforms and with customers, but its real impact was on Facebook, where it was viewed 2.4 million times.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP Exclusive: Gov’t questions unfair student loan practices

for obtaining an Education Department document showing that student loan servicer Navient put borrowers in costly repayment plans without telling them about potentially less expensive options. The exclusive was picked up in several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and made the front page of the New York Daily News. Navient’s stock fell more than 10 percent after Ken’s story was published, forcing the CEO to issue a letter to shareholders. One analyst firm, ValuAct, downgraded the stock following the story. https://bit.ly/2KmOnQv

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP leads coverage of student released from North Korea

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

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Joint reporting reveals hidden suspensions of students with disablities

set out to document ways students with disabilities are excluded from the classroom — and from learning. Their reporting led to advocates who described working with families whose children were essentially kept out of school, with none of the records that come with formal suspensions. The families claimed their schools couldn’t or wouldn’t accommodate their students’ disabilities — a violation of federal law — and said the practice had gotten worse during the pandemic.Ma, race and ethnicity reporter in Washington, partnered with Kolodner, of the nonprofit Hechinger Report, who had been pursuing the same topic. Together, they interviewed 20 families in 10 states, and a top Department of Education official. Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Few answers in study-abroad student deaths

for a New Delhi-datelined investigation that uncovered a systematic lack of transparency in the multibillion-dollar study abroad industry. http://bit.ly/2uXFzsm

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Lagos duo perseveres in coverage of students’ kidnapping

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 AP’s 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 — captured with difficulty among a populace cowed by fear — 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 students’ 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

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Fake news? No jobs? Student journalists keep the faith

for his piece on the state of student journalism around the country and how the problems of the newspaper industry are being mirrored on campuses across the country. But after some brutal years, there are signs of life: Enrollment in journalism programs is up. https://bit.ly/32Oyo5o

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP scoop on all-male Morehouse admitting transgender students

for breaking major news about an iconic all-male black college allowing transgender students for the first time. It was a notable shift for Atlanta’s Morehouse College and came as colleges around the country have been wrestling with LGBT questions. The scoop prompted local and national media to match the story. https://bit.ly/2Ur5vYP

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Immigrant charged in Iowa student’s death used alias

for learning that the immigrant charged in the killing of college student Mollie Tibbetts was using an alias, John Budd. Foley also was the only reporter to witness federal agents’ search of the farm where the suspect worked. https://bit.ly/2NqqziJ

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Yale U. settles lawsuit brought by family of slain graduate student

for being first to report that Yale University had reached a $3 million settlement with the family of a graduate student, who was slain inside a research lab just days before her planned wedding in 2009.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/de084c9260a04d1b828...

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Bus driver, still on payroll a year after fatal student accident, finally fired

for taking advantage of the new AP Secure Drop service where readers can leave tips and reporting that a city bus driver was still on the payroll one year after he had killed an 18-year-old Iowa State University student in a hit-and-run accident; the driver was fired after AP’s inquiries.

http://bit.ly/2gCcqMg

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Sellers use college scholarships to promote e-cigarettes to students

for detailing how sellers of e-cigarettes and vaporizers offer scholarships as a way to get their brands listed on university websites and to get students to write essays on the potential benefits of vaping – despite rules forbidding marketing to minors. https://bit.ly/2xXm2xE

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

US college student released from custody in China

for being first to report that a University of Montana student had been released from custody in China. He was detained for a week after a scuffle with a taxi driver who had manhandled his mother during a fare dispute. http://bit.ly/2eLMVeP

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP partners with Maryland students to investigate US jail suicides

for a unique partnership to investigate the high rate of suicides in U.S. jails. Cohen and students from the University of Maryland’s Capital New Service spent months compiling a database of lawsuits and reviewing hundreds of other cases, finding news-making patterns: Scores of jails have been sued or investigated for allegedly refusing inmates medication, ignoring their cries for help, failing to monitor them despite warnings they might harm themselves, or imposing such harsh conditions that the sick got sicker.https://bit.ly/2IP5zhfhttps://www.apnews.com/DeathBehindBars

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

‘Betrayed’: Student who reported rape says university failed to protect her

for a compelling, sensitively handled interview with a woman who said she’d been raped on the campus of Marshall University, revealing the extent of personal damage inflicted when the man, who was convicted of battery, was allowed to remain on campus. Alicia Gonzales, who allowed Izaguirre to use her name, described how her friends warned her about the man’s whereabouts. She would retreat to her dorm room to avoid him, and on the occasions when she did see him, he and his friends taunted her. She now has a federal lawsuit against the university. https://bit.ly/2FkYWSN

Best of the States

“I just don't want to be forgotten”: Student starts a new school year at Stoneman Douglas

Charlie Shebes had too much anxiety to sleep the night before the first day of his junior year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High, the Parkland, Florida, school where 17 people were shot to death in February.

But Charlie was willing to share his morning routine with AP thanks to the relationship video journalist Josh Replogle had cultivated with students, starting nearly six months earlier. Replogle and his Miami colleague, photographer Wilfredo Lee, were there as Shebes rubbed his eyes, hugged his mother goodbye and brooded in the car before he skateboarded to class.

The short but poignant photo essay, along with text and an accompanying video piece, had an emotional impact, and the package received prominent play in Florida outlets, as well as nationally and even on some websites overseas.

For developing a compelling package from the unique perspective of a student returning to the scene of one the country's worst school shootings, Josh Replogle and Wilfredo Lee win this week's Best of the States award.

Best of the States

AP finds colleges concerned as some students turn to counterfeit vaccine cards

It started with a tip.

When a college student mentioned that fellow unvaccinated students were getting fake COVID-19 vaccine cards in order to attend in-person classes, AP global investigations intern Roselyn Romero remembered that she'd seen an account on Instagram offering fake cards for $25 each.

Romero began searching social media platforms and talked to college students, faculty, administrators and health officials. What she found was a cottage industry offering to accommodate people who refuse to get vaccinated but need documentation saying that they’ve had the shots.

Her deeply reported story had nearly 250,000 pageviews on AP News and was used by hundreds of news outlets, including online and print front pages. She was also interviewed by NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer responded by calling for a multiagency crackdown on the counterfeit cards.

For having a major national impact with her first AP byline, Roselyn Romero wins this week’s Best of the States award.