A far-flung and well-coordinated team of AP journalists from California to Washington to Beijing came together to produce sharp, colorful and in-depth coverage of President Joe Biden’s meeting with Xi Jinping in San Francisco and the surrounding APEC summit that attracted world leaders, CEOs and abundant protesters.
Coverage started well ahead of the summit with incisive stories and video previews of the key issues and questions going into the summit, including a leadoff explainer on “What is APEC,” a takeout on how San Francisco was cleaning up for the event, and a look at the protesters converging on the city.
Reporters Aamer Madhani, Colleen Long and Didi Tang from Washington were on the ground to anchor text reporting, with San Francisco’s Janie Har tracking protesters, Michael Liedtke and Barbara Ortutay covering the parallel CEO summit, and colleagues in Beijing, Taiwan, Washington and beyond jumping in to enrich the coverage with sidebars, explainers and follow-up stories on everything from trade and military communications to fentanyl and giant pandas.
San Francisco photographer Godofredo Vasquez jumped into the White House pool to replace an ailing colleague. Photographers Eric Risberg and Jeff Chiu shot the CEO summit and Xi’s evening dinner. Noah Berger placed the AP as the sole agency for video and photos after protesters shut down the Bay Bridge during a morning commute. A global video team collaborated to provide live coverage. The team delivered strong and dramatic live video and edits of protests throughout San Francisco during the week. Kelly Daschle, Tassanee Vejpongsa, Terry Chea and Haven Daley led video coverage on the ground. Nico Maounis and his GMS team provided invaluable support. Colleagues from Washington, New York and California produced video. And Emily Wang’s constant collaboration and insight from Beijing, Olivia Zhang’s coordination with the team on the ground for Xi edits and the entire AP Direct team helped AP video deliver quick edits and immediate, unmatched live capabilities for the world.