AP story resonates globally: New Hampshire hermit loses home, finds…

A reporter follows the twists and turns of an 81-year-old hermit determined to stay in his isolated squatter’s home. The impact of her AP story likely changed his view of life as a recluse.

A vividly detailed AP story about an 81-year-old man’s quest to remain in an isolated New Hampshire cabin hooked readers around the world, led to an outpouring of support for his predicament and eventually prompted the man to reconsider his hermit lifestyle.

The chain of events began when Concord, New Hampshire-based reporter Kathy McCormack began looking into the legal fight involving David Lidstone, a spritely, small-statured man with a long white beard known to local boaters and kayakers as “River Dave.” Lidstone had been living peacefully in an A-frame cabin along the Merrimack River for 27 years, growing his own food, cutting his own firewood and tending to his chickens. But in 2015, the property owner learned of Lidstone’s presence and moved to evict him. Lidstone refused to leave, and was jailed in July.

While he was in jail, a fire burned down the cabin.

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The makeshift A-frame where David Lidstone lived off the grid for nearly three decades in the woods of Canterbury, N.H., is shown in an undated photo provided by Jodie Gedeon. The structure was burned while Lidstone was jailed for refusing to vacate the property.

Jodie Gedeon via AP

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Part of the makeshift home where David Lidstone lived off the grid for nearly three decades in the woods of Canterbury, N.H., is shown in an undated photo provided by Jodie Gedeon.

Jodie Gedeon via AP

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The burning remains of David Lidstone’s home are shown in an Aug. 4, 2021 photo provided by the Canterbury (N.H.) Fire Department. David Lidstone lived off the grid at the site until he was jailed for refusing to leave the property. The structure burned while he was in jail.

Canterbury Fire Department via AP

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David Lidstone, who lived in an isolated makeshift home in the woods of Canterbury, N.H., for nearly three decades, is shown in an undated photo by his friend Jodie Gedeon.

Jodie Gedeon via AP

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David Lidstone, 81, right, is hugged by friend Jodie Gedeon after he was released from Merrimack County Jail in Boscawen, N.H., Aug. 5, 2021. Gedeon, an avid kayaker, befriended Lidstone some 20 years ago.

Geoff Forester / Concord Monitor via AP

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David Lidstone, an off-the-grid New Hampshire hermit known to locals as “River Dave,” speaks during a status conference hearing in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, N.H., Aug. 11, 2021. The court determined that Lidstone could retrieve his cats, chickens and remaining possessions from the remote site where he lived as a squatter for 27 years. Lidstone was in jail for refusing to leave the property when his makeshift home on the site was burned.

AP Photo / Elise Amendola

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David Lidstone reacts as he leaves Merrimack County Superior Court after a status conference hearing in Concord, N.H., Aug. 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Elise Amendola

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David Lidstone speaks to members of the media outside Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord, N.H., after a status conference hearing, Aug. 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Elise Amendola

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David Lidstone, 81, speaks with reporters during an interview in Boscawen, N.H., Aug. 10, 2021. Lidstone, known to locals as “River Dave,” lived off the grid in as a squatter in the woods of Canterbury, N.H., for 27 years. He was jailed in July for refusing to leave his makeshift home and was told he’d be released if he agreed to leave the site. His cabin burned down while he was jailed.

AP Photo / Steven Senne

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David Lidstone, 81, left, stands for a photograph with his friend Jodie Gedeon in Boscawen, N.H., Aug. 10, 2021.

AP Photo / Steven Senne

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David Lidstone, 81, sits for a photograph near the Merrimack River, in Boscawen, N.H., Aug. 10, 2021.

AP Photo / Steven Senne

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David Lidstone, 81, stands for a photograph near the Merrimack River, in Boscawen, N.H., Aug. 10, 2021.

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David Lidstone, 81, sits near the Merrimack River, in Boscawen, N.H., Aug. 10, 2021. Lidstone, an off-the-grid New Hampshire hermit known to locals as “River Dave,” lost the isolated cabin along the river where he lived as a squatter for 27 years. He says he’s grateful and overwhelmed by fundraising efforts and offers of a place to live. “I feel about as good as I ever have in my life,” Lidstone told the AP in an Aug. 8 phone interview. “Maybe the things I’ve been trying to avoid are the things that I really need in life,” he said. He doesn’t think he can return to his hermit lifestyle.

AP Photo / Steven Senne

McCormack turned the dramatic developments into a powerful story by fleshing out the details of Lidstone’s life and the local efforts to help him stay put. Through court records and interviews with family and friends, she learned he was a U.S. Air Force veteran, had four children and had been severely injured in a logging accident. And unlike another man living off the grid in Maine — the “North Pond Hermit” — McCormack reported that Lidstone had no police record. She ended by noting that it was unclear where Lidstone would go once released from jail.

The story was an immediate hit on social media and ultimately captured more than 535,000 pageviews on APNews, making it the site’s most popular story of the week.

In the following days, McCormack and colleagues continued to chronicle Lidstone’s saga, including the outpouring of support which he gratefully received and his release from jail after a judge determined he likely wouldn’t return to the woods since the cabin burned down. In an all-formats package just a week after the initial story, Lidstone noted the global reaction to his story and told McCormack he thinks it’s time to give up his reclusive lifestyle. Boston photographers Elise Amendola and Steven Senne made storytelling images after Lidstone’s release from jail and Boston’s Rodrique Ngowi delivered on the video. Significant assists came from fellow reporters Michael Casey, Patrick Whittle and Holly Ramer, with key edits to the evolving story by Donna Edwards and Ryan Kryska.

“I’ve hidden too many years,” said Lidstone, who has been staying with friends. “Maybe the things I’ve been trying to avoid are the things that I really need in life.”

For bringing this engaging story to life and her persistence in following it through, McCormack wins AP’s Best of the Week award.

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Honorable Mentions:

AP’s tally of lawmakers: Cuomo was almost certain to be impeached

Marina Villeneuve, David Klepper, Michael Catalini and Jennifer Peltz

made AP first to report authoritatively that a majority of New York lawmakers favored removing Gov. Andrew Cuomo from office in the days before he resigned.
As soon as New York's attorney general released a report concluding that Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women — and with Cuomo appearing to resist top Democrats’ calls for his resignation — the AP journalists began working the phones and reviewing social media postings, pressing to get every member of the Assembly on the record about whether they would move to impeach Cuomo.
By midday on Aug. 4, a day after the report’s release, their tally of lawmakers favoring impeachment had climbed to 86, allowing AP to move an alert saying that more than half of the body’s 150 members favored initiating the process of ousting Cuomo — enough to authorize an impeachment trial. Peltz crafted the findings and other developments into a newsmaking story about the governor's perilous position, and over the next few days the team continued updating their tally as it climbed to nearly two-thirds of the Assembly.
The reporting was widely used by online, print and broadcast members, with CBS reading the report on air and CNN crediting the AP’s work. https://aplink.news/8ar

‘Viral Questions’ series cuts through the COVID confusion

Lindsey Tanner, Aniruddha Ghosal, Lauran Neergaard and Peter Hamlin

captured the biggest audience yet for AP’s “Viral Questions” series, addressing two questions: one on the delta variant and a second on the potential for long-term symptoms after being vaccinated.
The week’s first piece, “What should I know about the delta variant?,” gave readers the most up-to-date and accurate information the AP could provide about the delta variant. The item was first done by Ghosal in late June as the variant was gaining attention, and was recently updated by Neergaard to note that it has become the “most contagious coronavirus mutant so far in the pandemic.”
Meanwhile, Tanner, who has been reporting on “long haulers” since early in the pandemic, looked at a growing question among experts: Could breakthrough infections result in long COVID? Tanner addressed the issue in a manner that was frank without being alarming, just as the topic was gaining traction with the broader public.
Each piece — as have all of the 117 “Viral Questions” since the series began — has been accompanied by Hamlin’s illustrations. The series is produced weekly — sometimes several times a week — with contributions from reporters around the AP. It serves as a model for engaging harried audiences, cutting through clutter and misinformation by delivering quick, accessible answers to the most pressing coronavirus questions in a language, tone and format that meets readers where they are in their lives.
https://aplink.news/siz
https://aplink.news/drx

Character-driven coverage reveals unhealed wounds of Beirut blast

Bassem Mroue, Fay Abuelgasim, Sarah El Deeb, Bilal Hussein, Hassan Ammar, Hussein Malla, Fadi Tawil and Zeina Karam

produced a sweeping set of stories to mark the first anniversary of the massive Beirut port explosion, with the emphasis on character-driven pieces that underscore the suffering experienced by survivors of the blast and families of the victims, one year later.
With that in mind, reporter Mroue, senior producer Abuelgasim and photographer Hussein told the tragic tale of a 21-year-old nurse who died at work, weaving her story together with that of a couple whose son was born minutes later in the same hospital amid the chaos of the blast. The result was a stunning all-formats narrative embedded with dramatic family video and hospital-supplied footage from the day of the blast. The Beirut crew worked closely with digital storytelling producers and editors Raghuram Vadarevu and Natalie Castañeda. AP’s online video, created by deputy regional news director Balint Szlanko, was heavily used and widely shared on social media.
Meanwhile, El Deeb reported — with photos by Ammar — on grieving families seeking justice and accountability for their deceased loved ones; she also collaborated with news director Karam on the anniversary mainbar which was accompanied by compelling photos and video by Abuelgasim and cameraman Tawil. El Deeb and Abuelgasim also teamed up with photographer Malla for a piece on conservators painstakingly rebuilding and restoring a landmark Beirut museum.
In the days surrounding the actual anniversary, the staff shifted its coverage to breaking news as masses of protesters took to the streets, some clashing with police as they demanded that officials be held responsible for corruption and indifference leading to the tragedy.
https://aplink.news/u59
https://aplink.news/b1d
https://aplink.news/dmj
https://aplink.news/aly
https://aplink.video/z0j

AP: Bodies in Sudan river latest evidence of ethnic killings in Tigray

Mohaned Awad, Samy Magdy and Cara Anna

were the first to report on dozens of bodies, many found mutilated and with their hands bound, found floating in the border river that separates Sudan from the conflict-torn Ethiopian province of Tigray. The bodies are evidence of continued atrocities being committed on the other side of the border amid a communications blackout and virtually zero access to Tigray, where ethnic killings by Ethiopian forces and their allies have frequently been reported during the nine-month war.
Strong source work and compelling visual storytelling put the AP well ahead on the story. Tigrayan refugees in Sudan alerted reporters Anna and Magdy to the appearance of bodies, and a refugee surgeon traveled to the site to get images. Magdy also got key confirmation from a Sudanese official — countering Ethiopian government claims that such reports are Tigrayan propaganda. Anna also spoke to refugee doctors for more details.
AP broke the story hours ahead of major competitors and was also first with visuals from the border area — the surgeon’s images obtained by Magdy and a strong pieced-together visual narrative produced and shot by video freelancer Awad. He was the first journalist to reach the scene to visually confirm at least six graves with witness accounts, which Anna wrote up as an Only on AP text story.
The work had a major impact in Europe, where more than 40 TV networks used it.
https://aplink.news/bnr

Teamwork dominates coverage of Pentagon officer’s fatal stabbing

Lolita C. Baldor, Sagar Meghani, Eric Tucker, Michael Biesecker, Michael Balsamo, Colleen Long, Andrew Harnik and Nathan Ellgren

teamed up in all formats to lead coverage of a police officer's fatal stabbing outside the Pentagon, delivering first, exclusive details over two days, decisively winning play and leaving other news organizations to cite AP or match us hours or days later.
Veteran military reporter Lolita Baldor had been walking up the stairs to the Pentagon when she heard a sound familiar to her: gunshots. Moments later, she confirmed with a guard that there had indeed been shots fired near the Metro and that one person was down. At the same time, video journalist Sagar Meghani was in a credentialing office just inside the Metro entrance to the building, when he heard an officer yell “Shooter!” Since taking photos and videos inside the building is forbidden, Meghani pretended to look at his phone while surreptitiously snapping photographs of the scene and posting them in Slack. He also recorded and posted public address announcements about the building being in lockdown.
Meanwhile, AP staffers across all formats responded. Washington photographer Andrew Harnik raced away from a football practice he’d been covering, producing some of the first photos of heavy police activity. Video journalist Nathan Ellgren established live shots at the Pentagon within 20 minutes of getting the call. Reporters Michael Balsamo, Eric Tucker and Colleen Long worked sources throughout the day to report key details about how the violence unfolded and obtaining the assailant’s name from three separate sources. Investigative reporter Michael Biesecker confirmed previously pending charges against the alleged assailant, making AP first to report the man’s criminal history. The teamwork resulted in the most widely used story on the AP News app and website for the day.
https://aplink.news/um0
https://aplink.news/pjw
https://aplink.video/g55
https://aplink.video/3vf

Best of the Week — First Winner

Aug. 13, 2021

AP story resonates globally: New Hampshire hermit loses home, finds himself back on the grid

Featured Honorable Mention

AP’s tally of lawmakers: Cuomo was almost certain to be impeached

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