Gaza team evacuates, responds with outstanding coverage as airstrike…

AP’s Gaza journalists cover the evacuation and bombing of their own offices, then regroup, continuing to cover a devastating war.

Last Saturday afternoon, the AP’s staff in the Gaza Strip received an urgent call: They had less than an hour to evacuate the office before the Israeli military planned to destroy the entire building. The call came just a day after correspondent Fares Akram published a first person diary piece describing how his family farm had been bombed: “The Associated Press office is the only place in Gaza City I feel somewhat safe,” he wrote.

In minutes, that feeling was shattered. Fares and his colleagues scrambled to pack up whatever equipment and belongings they could carry. Even as they rushed to safety, they continued reporting the news. Cairo-based senior producer Najib Jobain turned his cell phone toward his colleagues and captured video of the frantic evacuation. Gaza senior producer Wafaa Shurafa immediately set up a live shot on a neighboring building and photographer Hatem Moussa, who had been badly wounded in fighting in 2014, found a position nearby.

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An Israeli airstrike hits the high-rise building, right, housing bureaus of The Associated Press, Al-Jazeera and other media outlets, as well as offices and apartments, in Gaza City, May 15, 2021. The attack came roughly an hour after the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate the building. The building was reduced to rubble.

AP Photo / Hatem Moussa

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A ball of fire erupts from a building housing various international media, including the AP, after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, May 15, 2021.

Mahmud Hams / Pool Photo via AP

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The 12-story building housing the AP and other media outlets collapses moments after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, May 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Hatem Moussa

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The building housing the offices of the AP and other media outlets collapses after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, May 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Hatem Moussa

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A woman and child who live in the Gaza City high-rise housing the AP and other media outlets, evacuates the building after Israel warned that the building would be destroyed in an airstike, May 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Hatem Moussa

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Smoke, dust and debris erupt as an Israeli airstrike flattens the high-rise building that housed the AP’s offices in Gaza City, May 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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Jawad Mahdi, owner fo the building that was for 15 years the location of AP’s Gaza bureau, surveys the rubble shortly after shortly after the building was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, May 15, 2021.

Image from AP video

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A woman cries out while standing amid the rubble of the building that housed The Associated Press, in Gaza City, May 16, 2021, one day after the building was flattened by an Isaeli airstrike.

AP Photo / Adel Hana

Moments later, an Israeli airstrike flattened the 12-story building, destroying a bureau that had served as a second home and sanctuary in one of the world’s most challenging war zones. Jobain’s camera captured the jaw-dropping images of the building collapsing into a pile of dust, while Moussa’s lens caught an image of an Israeli missile slamming into the building. Freelancer Mohammed Jahjouh had already filmed a dramatic moment with the building’s owner unsuccessfully pleading with the army in a phone call to delay the airstrike; he then captured the building’s destruction from the street, joined by still photographer Khalil Hamra.

By the end of the day, Jobain had set up a new live rooftop position on a neighboring building to capture images of Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket launches. The following day, plans were in place to set up a temporary bureau in a hotel.

Akram wrote another first-person account after Saturday’s airstrike. “Now, my Gaza City office — the place that I thought was sacrosanct and would go untargeted because both AP and al-Jazeera’s offices were located on its top floors — is a pile of rubble and girders and dust.”

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Palestinians inside the Al-Aqsa mosque clash with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem's Old City, May 10, 2021, the latest in a series of confrontations pushing the contested city to the brink of eruption. Palestinian medics said at least 180 Palestinians were hurt in the violence at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, including 80 who were hospitalized.

AP Photo / Mahmoud Illean

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Israelis run to shelters as air raid sirens sound during a Jerusalem Day march in Jerusalem, May 10, 2021. Explosions were heard in Jerusalem after the air raid warning.

AP Photo / Ariel Schalit

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Smoke and flames rise from the Gaza Strip after an Israeli strike, May 10, 2021.

AP Photo / Hatem Moussa

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People grieve in a hospital over the body of a man who died following an explosion in the town of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, May 10, 2021. The Hamas militant group launched a rocket strike on Jerusalem after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at the iconic Al-Aqsa mosque. Israel responded Monday with airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

AP Photo / Mohammed Ali

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Rockets are launched into Israel from the Gaza Strip, May 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Hatem Moussa

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Palestinian mourners carry the body of 11-year-old Hussain Hamad, who was killed by an explosion during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, during his funeral in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, May 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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Relatives of 11-year-old Hussain Hamad, who was killed by an explosion during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, mourn during his funeral in the family home in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, May 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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A Israeli soldier takes cover as an Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept a rocket from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, May 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Ariel Schalit

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People take cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon, May 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Ariel Schalit

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Jacob Simona stands by his burning car during clashes with Israeli Arabs and police in the Israeli mixed city of Lod, Israel, May 11, 2021.

AP Photo / Heidi Levine

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An Israeli missile targets a building in Gaza City, May 12, 2021, as Israel and Hamas engaged each other in a series of rocket attacks.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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Smoke rises from a collapsed building after it was hit by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, May 12, 2021.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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Members of Sror family inspect the wreckage of their apartment after it was hit overnight by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Petah Tikva, central Israel, May 13, 2021.

AP Photo / Oded Balilty

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Julianna Sror looks over the damage to her apartment after it was hit overnight by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Petah Tikva, central Israel, May 13, 2021.

AP Photo / Oded Balilty

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Palestinians walk past the remains of a 15-story building after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, May 13, 2021.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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Friends and relatives of Israeli soldier Omer Tabib, 21, mourn during his funeral at the cemetery in the northern Israeli town of Elyakim, May 13, 2021. The Israeli army confirmed that Tabib was killed in an anti-tank missile attack near the Gaza Strip, the first Israeli military death in the current fighting between Israelis and Palestinians.

AP Photo / Sebastian Scheiner

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Relatives of Israeli soldier Omer Tabib, 21, mourn during his funeral at the cemetery in the northern Israeli town of Elyakim, May 13, 2021. He was first Israeli military death in the current fighting between Israelis and Palestinians.

AP Photo / Sebastian Scheiner

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Smoke and debris erupt during Israeli airstrikes on a building in Gaza City, May 13, 2021.

AP Photo / Hatem Moussa

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A man inspects the damaged wall of a residential building after a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, May 14, 2021.

AP Photo / Ariel Schalit

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A Palestinian relative mourns over the bodies of four young brothers from the Tanani family who were found under the rubble of a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, May 14, 2021.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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Palestinians inspect their destroyed homes following overnight Israeli airstrikes in the town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, May 14, 2021.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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Israeli border police swing their batons at Muslim worshippers to prevent them from gathering for Friday prayers at the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, May 14, 2021.

AP Photo / Mahmoud Illean

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A woman surveys the damage to her home after it was struck by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, May 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Ariel Schalit

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Israeli security forces and emergency services personnel work on a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ramat Gan, central Israel, May 15, 2021.

AP Photo / Oded Balilty

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Palestinian rescuers pull a survivor from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following deadly Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, May 16, 2021. The airstrikes flattened three buildings and killed at least 26 people, medics said.

AP Photo / Khalil Hamra

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People take pictures of a damaged synagogue after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, May 16, 2021.

AP Photo / Tsafrir Abayov

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Mourners pray over the bodies of 17 Palestinians who were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, May 16, 2021.

AP Photo / Sanad Latifa

The destruction of the building capped a difficult week in which Gaza came under intense Israeli aerial bombing and thousands of rockets were launched into Israel. AP’s staff on both sides of the conflict rose to the occasion presenting fast, accurate stories, vivid photography, gripping video. And in a textbook example rock-solid news judgment, AP resisted picking up a false report that Israel had launched a ground invasion of Gaza — that was a joint decision between regional news director Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Fared Akram in Gaza.

For extreme dedication in the most difficult of circumstances, and their commitment to covering the conflict even at great personal risk, the Gaza team of Fares Akram, Najib Jobain, Rashed Rashid, Khalil Hamra, Hatem Moussa, Adel Hana, Mohammed Jahjouh and Wafaa Shurafa is the unanimous pick for Best of the Week honors.

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Honorable Mentions:

Sourcing, teamwork yields major scoop on CDC’s mask rollback

Michael Balsamo and Zeke Miller

scooped the competition by a full hour, reporting the news that so many celebrated: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was revising its guidance to allow fully vaccinated people to ditch their masks in most indoor and outdoor settings.
The seed for the story came from an unlikely source: Washington-based Balsamo covers the Justice Department for AP but he’s always keeping an ear out for big news, no matter the subject. Balsamo was checking in with a very good source about another matter when the person mentioned as an aside, “Hey, the CDC is going to say something today.”
That was enough to pique Balsamo’s interest, and he quietly messaged reporter Zeke Miller, who has dominated the coronavirus beat at the White House. They teamed up, working sources and exchanging information until they had all the details. Then they quickly turned around an alert and filed the breaking news, building out the story with help from science writer Lauran Neergaard.
Their scoop broke during White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s daily briefing, but she refused to confirm it, saying only that the CDC would speak at a briefing later. The story swept play as other news outlets scrambled to match it; the piece was AP’s top story, attracting nearly 639,000 page views. https://aplink.news/ce3

Renewed hope: Stunning package on women fish processors in Africa

Leo Correa, Carley Petesch, Yesica Fisch, Natalie Castañeda, Hend Kortam, Janelle Cogan and Jerome Delay

launched AP’s grant-funded year-long series on the pandemic’s impact on women in Africa's least developed nations with this ambitious multiformat project. They tell the uplifting story of the women fish processors of Bargny, Senegal, and their tale of survival amid the economic hardships imposed by the pandemic.
The package exemplified the very best in AP all-formats storytelling: stunning visual journalism complementing the reporting and driving readers and viewers deeper into the story of the women’s cooperative work to support a community through the toughest of times.
The Dakar-based West Africa team of photographer Leo Correa, correspondent Carley Petesch and senior producer Yesica Fisch initially spent weeks working tirelessly to make contacts and gain the trust of the women as they waited for the fishing season to finally begin. Their reporting let the women's voices tell their story — and the visuals put you on the beach as they work laying out the catch, smoking the fish under smoldering peanut shells.
Deep storytelling like this also took a team of editors and producers to make the work sing. Digital storytelling producer Nat Castañeda, deputy news director/U.S. South Janelle Cogan, Beirut-based producer Hend Kortam and chief photographer/Africa Jerome Delay collaborated across continents and were essential to the success of the package, delivering video edits, photo galleries, digital production and text tailored to meet client needs.
Major European client France24's Journal d'Afrique editor wrote: “The visuals of the Senegal story are among the best I’ve seen in recent years from one of the main agencies.”
https://aplink.news/h5b
https://aplink.photos/4zo
https://aplink.video/gj1

Deep AP reporting on NFL’s race-adjusted brain injury settlements

Maryclaire Dale and Michelle R. Smith

reported that thousands of retired Black professional football players, their families and supporters are demanding an end to the use of “race-norming,” a practice the NFL has insisted on using in the league’s $1 billion brain injury settlement. Black NFL players delivered some 50,000 petitions to a federal court to end the practice.
The algorithm used by the NFL assumes Black men start with lower cognitive skills. They must therefore score much lower than whites to show enough mental decline to win an award. The practice went unnoticed until 2018.
Dale and Smith recognized that the story extends far beyond sports and money, to discrimination and racial injustice. Their deeply reported story quotes neurology experts who said the practice, sometimes used in medicine as a rough proxy for socioeconomic factors that can affect a person’s health, should not be used in the settlement because it has the effect of systematically discriminating against Black players.
The story played widely; CBSN devoted eight minutes to the piece, calling it “a damning report.” https://aplink.news/rcp

Smart reporting puts AP ahead on indictments in spa killings

Kate Brumback

was far ahead of even local media in reporting the indictment of the man accused of killing eight people at Atlanta-area massage businesses, answering a key question in the case: whether the district attorneys in two counties where the shootings occurred would seek the death penalty and/or enhanced penalties under Georgia’s hate crimes law.
Atlanta reporter Brumback had learned from sources that both counties would likely present their cases to grand juries the same day; she worked up prep for no fewer than eight different scenarios, then began checking Fulton County’s court website. The indictment showed up — with notice of intent to indeed seek hate crime charges and the death penalty. Brumback quickly obtained the document from court clerk sources, then turned to her prep reporting for the story.
Meanwhile, she had asked South Desk editor R.J. Rico to keep checking Cherokee County’s court website. When the Cherokee County indictment did turn up, the pair worked together to expedite that news. As other reporters asked questions regarding Cherokee County’s indictment at the news conference, AP’s update was on the wire.
AP’s reporting was more than half an hour ahead of local media, and national outlets were even further behind. The story led AP customer use for the day, picked up by some 650 news outlets. https://aplink.news/x05

AP finds college activists pushing for reparations over past injustice

Philip Marcelo, Rodrique Ngowi, Steven Senne, Jacquelyn Martin, John Bazemore and Steve Helber

broke new ground on a competitive and fast-evolving national story: Amid accelerating efforts to pay reparations to Blacks and Indigenous Americans for injustices suffered over centuries, some of the most strident arguments for amends were coming from U.S. college campuses.
Boston reporter Marcelo found that nearly a year after the killing of George Floyd sparked the latest national reckoning on racism, student and community activists from New England to the Deep South are demanding institutions take more ambitious steps to atone for past sins — from colonial-era slavery to more recent campus expansion projects that have pushed out entire communities of color.
Marcelo anchored the project from Providence, Rhode Island, home to Brown University. The Ivy League school released an exhaustive historical report in 2006 and dedicated a slavery memorial in 2014, among continuing efforts to promote racial equity.
Marcelo’s reporting was powerfully illustrated with visuals from Boston video journalist Rodrique Ngowi, photographer Steven Senne, as well as work from photographers Jacquelyn Martin in Washington, John Bazemore in Atlanta and Steve Helber in Richmond, Virginia.
https://aplink.news/bdx
https://aplink.video/p00

AP: WHO knew of sex misconduct by personnel in Congo

Maria Cheng and Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro

revealed that, contrary to World Health Organization claims, WHO senior management did know about at least two cases of doctors accused of sex abuse and misconduct during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but did not fire or even apparently discipline them.
Health and science reporter Cheng advanced the story by putting names, for the first time, to the implicated doctors and a senior manager. She discovered that WHO managers even witnessed an agreement in which a WHO doctor agreed to pay a young woman he had allegedly impregnated.
While Cheng worked with her sources, Congo stringer Kudra Maliro tracked down several alleged victims of both doctors, adding text and images. The investigation was based on interviews with dozens of WHO staffers, Ebola officials in Congo, private emails, legal documents and recordings of internal meetings obtained by the AP.
The story drew strong and immediate international response. Paula Donovan, co-director of a group that tracks sex abuse, wrote: “Never ... have I seen such a detailed exposé containing so many unanswerable indictments against so many UN personnel. You’ve broken real ground here.”
https://aplink.news/f39
https://aplink.video/pk5

Best of the Week — First Winner

May 21, 2021

Gaza team evacuates, responds with outstanding coverage as airstrike destroys AP’s building

Featured Honorable Mention

Sourcing, teamwork yields major scoop on CDC’s mask rollback

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