Best of the Week — First Winner

AP investigation uncovers brutal murder of a 16-year-old by Burkina Faso soldiers

A video in Burkina Faso showing men in military fatigues walking among the bloodied bodies of boys with their hands bound surfaced on social media in mid-February. A six-week AP project delivered a frame-by-frame analysis of the graphic, 83-second video of the killings and tracked down the relatives of one of the victims: Adama, a 16-year-old cattle herder, piecing together his final hours. A soldier smashed his head with a large rock.

Government officials denied involvement in the killings, but analysis by Global Investigative Reporter Michael Biesecker was able to show the soldiers were wearing uniforms and had vehicles consistent with members of the Burkinabe military. After West Africa Correspondent Sam Mednick got a tip, Biesecker was able to geolocate the killings to Camp Zondoma, a military base near Ouahigouya.

Mednick and her Ouagadougou translator located the teen’s family after people in the capital with ties to Ouahigouya connected them with Adama’s uncle, the first person willing to talk. The translator whose identity cannot be disclosed played a key role in getting the family to speak, despite great personal risk. Mednick persuaded the uncle to let her interview the boy’s mother, who was unaware that her son’s death had been filmed.

Visual journalist Marshall Ritzel produced a video highlighting the visual investigation and exclusive interviews with Adama’s family. An edit of the video by digital audiences producer McKinnon de Kuyper was among AP’s top social posts of the week.

For shining a spotlight on the sort of casual murder that takes place in countries around the world, Mednick, Biesecker, Ritzel, the anonymous translator in Ouagadougou and de Kuyper win this week’s first place best of the week.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Persistent, aggressive reporting nets AP exclusive on under-the-radar Alaska family fishing tragedy 

's work on what at first seemed an under-the-radar news brief netted a tragic exclusive and UGC photos after a charter fishing vessel capsized off Alaska’s remote southeast coast, killing five.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Reporter’s fair and accurate reporting on abortion restrictions generates new sources, story tips

was the first to report on lawsuits filed against Texas by women who sought abortions because their babies would survive, or their health was endangered.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

US, Asia teams dominate coverage of Typhoon Mawar amid extraordinary reporting challenges

came together in all formats to dominate coverage of Typhoon Mawar’s direct hit on Guam.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Satellite image-led project, exclusive embed puts AP ahead on Iran coverage

used sophisticated imaging technology, expert analysis and longtime source building to deliver a series of exclusive stories on Iran’s nuclear program and America’s response to it.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP gets first interview with NYC cabbie who starred in Harry and Meghan's flight from paparazzi

scored an exclusive interview with a cabbie who acted as the getaway driver for Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan after they were trailed by photographers after a charity event in New York, thanks to a cross-Atlantic team.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Source work, extensive reporting leads to major scoop on US attorney’s resignation

broke the news that the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts would resign after an inspector general’s investigation uncovered serious misconduct through extensive and intrepid source work, preparation and reporting.Read more.

Best of the Week — First Winner

Extraordinary effort as well as outstanding planning delivered impeccable coverage around the King's coronation

The coronation of King Charles III posed huge logistical challenges for the AP to cover, especially for those stuck outside enduring hours of soaking rain. But collaboration among dozens of AP staff, led by reporter Danica Kirka, videojournalist Kwiyeon Ha, photographer Alastair Grant, photo editor Anne-Marie Belgrave, Special Events Editor Susie Blann and Senior Producer Maria Grazia Murru, resulted in two weeks of exemplary all-formats storytelling, topped by the spectacular crowning itself.  

The results showed:  explanatory and feature-driven journalism in the lead-up to the wall-to-wall coverage on the day and weekend. Kirka’s knowledge from years working the royal beat enabled AP to offer clients a variety of stories covering the king and queen's profiles, the Windsor family drama, the clouds over the Commonwealth, the future of the monarchy, the economy and much more.  

The weather and limited access on May 6 threw up several challenges. The team overcame them all to participate in huge video and photo pool operations while providing unique AP unilateral coverage from the best camera positions.  

For the story told deeply, colorfully and powerfully across all formats, Kirka, Ha, Grant, Belgrave, Blann and Murru, with dozens of others contributing, earn Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP lands exclusive interview with basketball players who say they were sexually assaulted at New Mexico State  

in-depth reporting on the scandals that have rocked New Mexico State University since last year led him to an exclusive all-formats interview with the two basketball players who filed a lawsuit against the school.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

As abortion bans take hold, AP details new administration warnings to hospitals to ensure access 

in Washington reported exclusively on the results of a first-of its-kind federal investigation of hospitals that refused to provide an emergency abortion to a woman whose premature labor put her life at risk.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Capturing the confusion around the notion of a 6-year-old shooting his teacher

knew the story of a 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot his teacher in class was something very different, even in a country accustomed to school shootings. The Concord, New Hampshire, reporter decided to capture the confusion and hand-wringing around the notion of someone so young being the shooter.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Picture-perfect coverage captures iconic moments of Tennessee lawmaker expulsion fight

chronicled gun protests that led to two Black state lawmakers being expelled from the Tennessee state legislature.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP produces exclusive, play-winning images of French protest actions, resists police violence

employed strategic planning and dogged source building to ensure that AP’s Paris team had unique top shots and close-up access to film and photograph mounting protest violence in France, and capture the scale of a movement increasingly angry at President Emmanuel Macron.  Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP leads on legal challenge to access to abortion pill 

led AP’s efforts to get the fastest and most comprehensive coverage of a federal judge’s hearing questioning the legality of access to medical abortions.Read more.

Best of the Week — First Winner

Strong and competitive all-formats coverage captures Russia-Ukraine War’s impact at one year

With no end in sight to Russia’s war in Ukraine, AP journalists were tasked with marking the one-year anniversary of the invasion while continuing to produce daily coverage. The result was an ambitious, wide-ranging package that both promoted and built upon the important work AP teams have done over the past year.

The process began months in advance, with AP reporters in Kyiv, Moscow and Tallinn devising a list of story ideas that would aim to show how profoundly lives have changed in Ukraine and Russia and the ripples beyond those borders. The journalists also looked at what could lie in store as we enter a second year of war.

Weeks of smart planning and coordination across bureaus and departments resulted in a strong, competitive package that included something for everyone. Erika Kinetz had an exclusive centered around secret recordings the AP obtained of intercepted conversations between Russian soldiers and their loved ones, which became AP’s most engaged story for the month. Additionally, the AP was also able to offer exclusively commissioned drone footage and, thanks to herculean efforts by staff in Ukraine, live coverage from various locations on the day of the anniversary.

For rich, thorough, revealing and thoughtful coverage of the anniversary, the Ukraine war anniversary team is this week’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP journalists overcome odds to cover powerful quake that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and Syria 

More than a dozen AP journalists worked non-stop with translators and drivers, crisscrossing a battered landscape, driving on icy roads for up to 10 hours on any given day to reach some of the hard-hit areas. They defied freezing temperatures to capture the big and the small: the scale of the destruction, and the tales of hope that came with each and every new rescue. 

The 7.8 earthquake and the ensuing 7.5 temblor that followed struck southeastern Turkey and northern Syria on Feb. 6. It will go down in history as the deadliest natural disaster in modern times in a region already battered by years of conflict.

Years of experience working in Turkey, Syria and Lebanon translated into a quick response in the field and aggressive reporting under extremely challenging circumstances.

For their extraordinary display of bravery, skill and dedication, AP’s Turkey and Syria earthquake teams are this week’s Best of the Week – First Winner. 

From Turkey’s capital, Ankara, to the earthquake’s hardest-hit Hatay province to rebel-held northwestern Syria, AP journalists worked day and night, risking injury and worse, to produce heart wrenching coverage.

For their extraordinary display of bravery, skill and dedication, AP’s Turkey and Syria earthquake teams are this week’s Best of the Week — First Winner. 

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Italian designer Stella Jean quits Milan fashion week over lack of inclusion

reported first that the only Black designer on the Italian fashion council, Stella Dean, quit Milan fashion week over the lack of diversity, signaling the end of nearly three years of collaboration with the council on promoting young designers of color.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Nashville AP team lands scoop on lawmakers’ plan to reject federal school funding 

got wind of an audacious plan by the state’s Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton to reject federal education funding and quickly turned around a scoop that earned wide play.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Former Kabul AP staffer tells story of Afghan migrants on the streets of Brussels

told the story of Afghan asylum seekers sleeping on the streets of the EU's capital, in a flagrant example of the bloc's failures to manage migration humanely.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP team reveals broad scope of classified documents mishandling by top US officials

quickly pivoted off the spot news that Mike Pence was the latest high-profile figure to have classified records in his possession after he left office to lay bare the broad scope of documents mishandling by top officials.

Their story contained new revelations showing even more extensive issues with classified documents than previously known, including how former President Jimmy Carter found classified materials at his home in Plains, Georgia, on at least one occasion and returned them to the National Archives. Read more.