Text reporter Giovanna Dell’Orto and video journalist Daniel Cole, recruited by climate photo editor Alyssa Goodman, provided an intimate and visually captivating portrait of the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard as its residents persevered through the round-the-clock polar night.
The AP team established a close rapport with the pastor in the community, joined the church’s children’s choir on a trip to a Russian/Ukrainian village, and spent a day at a century-old coal mine threatened with closure in two years. The trip had extra challenges for photo and video because it took place in mid-winter. For Cole, it meant developing a special sensitivity for light – from the glow of the aurora to the beam of a headlamp.
One of the photo galleries, depicting stunning images of the polar night, was the top "trending news" item on AP News for most of Saturday. Among the many news outlets giving prominent display to the project were ABC News, The Washington Post, and The LA Times.