for getting an exclusive photo and interview with the lucky fan who managed to catch two home run balls in different cities during the National League Championship Series. http://bit.ly/2zcb5YX
for being first with the news of a new president for the NAACP. The incoming president, Derrick Johnson, said the organization would be more politically active and would alter its non-profit status to more effectively engage in lobbying. http://bit.ly/2zIutsC
for being ahead of the competition with news that the Catalan leader had rejected Spain’s demand that Catalonia withdraw its bid for independence. http://bit.ly/2yQ52WL
for spearheading a nationwide effort by AP sportswriters to report on how universities with top basketball programs were responding to a federal corruption investigation of the sport. http://bit.ly/2yOl31X
Indiana political reporter Brian Slodysko knew Vice President Mike Pence’s older brother Greg, who for months had been eyeing a run for Congress, would soon announce that he was jumping into the race for his brother’s old seat.
Slodysko wanted to get the news out first and had been pushing Greg Pence’s advisers. But Slodysko became increasingly concerned the campaign would seek to bypass the media with an announcement directly to their supporters.
Looking for another way to get at the story, Slodysko found an IRS form submitted just days before to establish the Greg Pence for Congress political organization. Armed with that info, Slodysko was able to pull together a story, drawing not only on the IRS filing, but also his own in-depth research of the Pence family.
For finding a way to break a competitive story, Slodysko wins this week’s Best of the States prize.
for reaching the family of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, including the aunt who raised him as a son, and reporting that the woman felt the president had shown “disrespect” for the slain soldier during a condolence call to the family. http://nydn.us/2hfC4rM
The scene is dreamlike – or, more precisely, nightmarish. The untethered camera swoops and swerves through a depopulated wasteland of rubble and bombed-out buildings and wrecked vehicles.
This is Raqqa, devastated capital of the Islamic State group’s self-proclaimed caliphate. And this extraordinary footage – the Beat of the Week – was brought to viewers around the world by freelance drone videographer Gabriel Chaim. He shares the prize with Mideast photo editor Maya Alleruzzo.
for their exclusive story that published the audio of the disturbing sound heard by American victims of the mysterious attacks in Havana. http://bit.ly/2wRAq5w
for inquiring about consumer complaints to Ford Motor Co. of carbon monoxide fumes in its Explorer SUVs. Ford shortly after offered to fix the problem. http://bit.ly/2x6aTFZ
for tracking down former hostage Joshua Boyle on a Canada-bound plane and getting the family’s first public statement. Benedyk gambled the family would be on the flight and had to overcome objections from State Department chaperones.http://bit.ly/2glIZinhttp://bit.ly/2xPk2Ca
for reporting exclusively an overlooked angle to the NFL protests: acceptance of government funds may leave NFL owners vulnerable to legal challenge if they bar players from protesting. http://bit.ly/2yfLHAg
for a review that found that hundreds of communities and organizations over the past decade got far less money for disaster relief than they were told to expect.http://bit.ly/2ymdgsbhttp://bit.ly/2zyW7sM
for a quickly turned AP data analysis that found that the vast majority of people who will be affected by President Donald Trump’s decision to end a key health insurance subsidy are in states he won. http://bit.ly/2gnjqB2
for discovering that nearly two-thirds of the building collapses in Mexico City’s devastating earthquake last month were caused by a risky building technique now forbidden in seismic hot spots elsewhere. http://bit.ly/2yyvIwS
for a report based on FOIA requests that exposed how Indiana officials are refusing to release a number of emails from Vice President Mike Pence’s AOL account that he used while governor. http://wapo.st/2x7nbxI
for reporting first that nearly half of Illinois’ $16 billion in overdue bills had not been sent for processing, meaning the state could be on the hook for millions in late fees.http://trib.in/2zjvO9c
for mining newly available information from a Russian-backed page deleted by Facebook to create a lively and informative data visualization showing divisive phrases used. http://bit.ly/2yteyRt
for an exclusive look at a number of investigations under way in Brazil into offshoots of the U.S.-based World of Faith Fellowship sect. http://bit.ly/2yA7a6U
for breaking news of the sudden move of Prince’s master tapes and unreleased music from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, which has angered some heirs of the late star. Entertainment Editor Nekesa Moody got a tip that led to the scoop. http://wapo.st/2zlbKnG
It was the deadliest single attack in Somalia’s history, and one of the world’s worst in years.
When the massive blast occurred on Saturday, Oct. 14, Associated Press video journalist Mohamed Sheikh Nor was playing with his 10-month-old daughter at their home. He immediately knew it was not an average Mogadishu bombing.
He grabbed his wife and wailing daughter and, covered in dust, escaped unharmed. “Outside, we could see the explosion was close to us. It was just 70 steps away from our home.”
Recognizing the unprecedented force of the explosion in a city long targeted by the Islamic extremist rebels of al-Shabab, Sheikh Nor insisted to editors that the casualties would be well over 100. He and his AP colleagues hurried to the scene, where buildings had been mangled and overturned cars were ablaze. The all-formats team – comprising Sheikh Nor in video, AP photographer Farah Abdi Warsameh and AP text reporter Abdi Guled – delivered the first stunning images and stories of grief from the smoking scene. Their courageous, traumatic and heart-rending effort earns this week’s Beat of the Week.
