Best of the AP

Best of the Week - First Winner Nov. 24, 2023

The Protein Problem: Can we feed this growing world without starving the planet?

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During one particularly bad fire season in the Amazon, as thousands of square miles of rainforest were being leveled so people around the world could eat more beef, the AP Health & Science team decided to step back and tell the larger story of the impact our food choices have on the environment — and what some people are doing about it. 

After a pandemic-related delay, the AP Health & Science team enlisted a total of 55 AP journalists from 13 different AP departments to show how farmers, researchers and scientists are trying to make sure we can continue to enjoy the food we love without destroying the planet we need. 

Developers and designers Linda Gorman, Koko Nakajima and Peter Hamlin built out a stunning immersive experience that allows the reader a host of different options including videos, photo galleries, data visualizations and even a quiz. 

Photographers, videographers, text journalists and data journalists from the Health & Science team and several other global beats and regional teams contributed, including David Goldman, Shelby Lum, Kathy Young, Laura Ungar, Christina Larson and Nicky Forster. A full list can be found here.

For extensive collaboration, planning and work that resulted in eight stories and an immersive digital experience for readers on the future of food, this team of over 50 journalists win Best of the Week — First Winner.

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Best of the Week - Second Winner Nov. 24, 2023

Intimate profile of marginalized trans community stresses Pope Francis’ gesture of inclusion

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The expertise of AP’s Vatican team, along with the impetus and enthusiasm of Rome producer Trisha Thomas, made possible an eye-opening, all-formats profile of a group of women who have developed a special connection with Pope Francis as the pontiff sent a signal for inclusion of trans people.

When the Vatican delivered the latest gesture stating that transgender people can be baptized, the AP team in Rome set off to go beyond the obvious headline. The most significant part of the announcement, first reported with the help of AP’s Religion team, would be that trans people were being openly admitted as godparents, Vatican correspondent Nicole Winfield pointed out.

Rome producer Trisha Thomas saw an opportunity to dig deeper and follow up with a profile of a group of trans women who seemed to have befriended the pope during the pandemic, showing up every so often at the pontiff’s weekly audiences. Thomas, Winfield, Rome photographers Andrew Medichini and Gregorio Borgia, cameraman Paolo Lucariello and news assistant Silvia Stellacci made several trips to the seaside town of Torvaianica, to interview some of the women.

For exemplary visual storytelling and providing intimate portraits of a group of devoted trans women who are reflective of the Vatican’s changing attitudes, the team of Thomas, Winfield, Medichini, Lucariello, Borgia and Stellacci are Best of the Week — Second Winner.

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