Months of prep, source work propel AP to dominance on student loan…

AP delivers a major scoop on Biden’s long-awaited student loan plan; follows up with borrower-centered reporting and strong social engagement.

How President Joe Biden would deliver on his campaign promise to forgive student loan debt was one of the most closely watched decisions coming out of Washington this summer.

As anticipation built, White House reporters Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller, along with lead Justice Department reporter Mike Balsamo, worked sources inside and outside the administration. Sixteen hours before the announcement — and a full news cycle before AP’s closest competitor — their tireless work meant AP alone had the details confirmed: Biden would cancel $10,000 in debt for those earning under $125,000, and extend a pause on repayments through the end of the year.

Amid the race to own the search traffic the night before the announcement, AP’s scoop earned an anchor spot on the Google News carousel, resulting in 460,000 views on AP News

While the Washington team was pursuing sources, AP prepared deep coverage beyond the numbers: Every AP story, from the mainbar to a search-optimized breakout on Pell Grants, would be centered on real people.

Education reporters Claire Savage, Arleigh Rodgers, Sharon Lurye, Heather Hollingsworth, Annie Ma and Bianca Vázquez Toness lined up more than 20 borrowers of all backgrounds and situations for on-camera interviews. In her first AP byline, Education reporter Vázquez Toness wrote powerfully of young people overjoyed to move out of their parents’ home — or heartbroken that they still must put off having kids because of crushing debt.

Financial Wellness reporters Cora Lewis and Adriana Morga used search trends on student loans to prepare a Q&A which they updated to address the intense interest and emerging confusion over Biden’s plan. Then, Morga and audience engagement editor Alex Connor reached the masses with a TikTok-style Instagram reel — AP’s first — that had 2,279 likes and a healthy 680 shares, while a Twitter Spaces session later that week has had more than 43,000 listeners.

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Nick Marcil, 24, of Wayne, Pa., poses for a photograph in Devon, Pa., Aug. 24, 2022. Marcil, 24, studied at a Pennsylvania state college, earned scholarships and worked jobs while pursuing degrees in education, but still owed $18,000 before the action by the Biden administration to reduce or erase some student loans. “I feel like if I don’t have that burden, I’d be more likely to, you know, try to move out — try to have, you know, my own place,” said Marcil, who lives with his parents in a Philadelphia suburb.

AP Photo / Matt Slocum

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President Joe Biden, accompanied by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, responds to a question during the announcement of his long-delayed move to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loans for many Americans and extend a pause on payments to January.

AP Photo / Evan Vucci

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Lynn Hunt, who took out between $45,000 and $50,000 in student loans and was a Pell Grant recipient, sketches at home in Beaverton, Ore., Aug. 24, 2022. Hunt says President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan isn’t enough to help because with interest, Hunt now owes about $70,000 on the loans. She says the temporary moratorium on loan repayment during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed her to stop working 80-hour weeks and return to artistic hobbies.

AP Photo / Gillian Flaccus

In all, AP’s nine breaking and enterprise stories pulled in 1.1 million views on AP News, 3,500 views/downloads on AP’s Newsroom platform and 1.2 million interactions on Facebook.

For preparation and determined reporting that produced a massive scoop, deep coverage and resourceful engagement on an issue affecting millions of Americans, AP is delighted to honor the team of Kim, Miller, Megerian, Balsamo, Binkley, Vázquez Toness, Morga, Lewis and Connor as Best of the Week — First Winner.

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Honorable Mentions:

AP: Despite sanctions, Russian goods continue to flow into US

Juliet Linderman and Martha Mendoza

documented that six months into the war in Ukraine, U.S. companies continue to import billions of dollars worth of Russian goods despite tough talk by the Biden administration about cutting Russia off from global markets.

Working with data journalist Larry Fenn, the investigative reporters combed through thousands of records tracking every shipment coming from Russia, revealing a complex patchwork of sanctions that has allowed millions of tons of Russian goods to flow into the U.S. legally. The resulting story countered common perceptions of the sanctions against Russia and was played widely, engaging readers.
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AP coverage marks 6 months since Russian invasion of Ukraine

Vasilisa Stepanenko, Hanna Arhirova, Evgeniy Maloletka, Mstyslav Chernov, Inna Varenytsia, Derek Gatopolous, Adam Pemble, David Goldman, Susie Blann and Paul Byrne

all contributed to AP’s in-depth, authoritative coverage looking back at six months of war in Ukraine.

After weeks of creative planning and coordination, the teams on the ground in Ukraine — and colleagues across AP bureaus and departments — delivered a series of stories both informative and innovative.

The journalists revisited a 12-year-old looking after his wounded mother and reported on other lives upended. They chronicled the widespread damage around the Kyiv, reported on the lingering aftermath of mass civilian killings in Bucha and more. Further coverage included an excellent explainer on the conflict’s current state of play, the economic implications reverberating around the world and a compelling look at the plight of Ukrainian refugees.
Read more

AP finds inflation limiting access to Indigenous foods

Hannah Schoenbaum, Claire Savage and Trisha Ahmed

differentiated AP’s inflation coverage from that of other news organizations, telling the real-world stories of an underrepresented population — urban Native Americans — to vividly illustrate the financial burden of rising food prices on minority communities.

Deeply sourced and richly told in the voices of their subjects, the trio’s all-formats story takes readers into a community struggling to maintain access to traditional Indigenous foods that are often unavailable or too expensive for Native families in urban areas, already faced with financial, medical and cultural concerns. The recent inflation spike has priced such foods even further out of reach.
Read more

Massage therapists tell AP: Deshaun Watson case renews stigma

Teresa Walker

reported on an overlooked angle in the saga of NFL quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was fined and suspended for 11 games after he was accused of sexual misconduct with a massage therapist. Walker examined the impact Watson’s case and the wave of coverage surrounding it has had on the massage therapy profession, which has long battled stigmas and misconceptions.

Pro football writer Walker covered a national convention of massage therapists, coincidentally held just a block from the stadium where Watson’s Cleveland Browns will play. Convention attendees were initially reluctant to speak with her, but Walker used her familiarity with massage therapy to get them to open up about the Watson case and other challenges to the profession. She also made video and photos for the multiformat package which played widely in North America.
Read more

Best of the Week — First Winner

Sept. 02, 2022

Months of prep, source work propel AP to dominance on student loan forgiveness

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