Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP scoop: Virginia to remove Robert E Lee statue

used a tip from a high-level state government source to break the news that Gov. Ralph Northam planned to remove the Gen. Robert E. Lee statue that has towered over Richmond for 130 years. Acting on the tip, Suderman relayed his reporting from the field to Rankin, who quickly filed the urgent series, adding important context from her years reporting on heated battles over monuments across the state.The pair’s AP Exclusive stood for more than half an hour before being matched by local and national outlets. https://bit.ly/3f5GzAE

Best of the Week — First Winner

As demand for medical oxygen soars, AP reveals inequality in the global supply

The AP story came to a startling conclusion: In much of the world, medical oxygen is expensive and hard to get – a basic marker of inequality both between and within countries. 

With the pandemic exposing this stark fact, AP looked primarily to Guinea to illustrate the global challenges of supplying bottled oxygen in the world’s least developed nations. Correspondents Lori Hinnant and Carley Petesch conducted scores of interviews with health officials and nongovernmental organizations around the world, while stringers Boubacar Diallo and Youssouf Bah reported from the heart of the pandemic in the West African nation. 

Their all-formats package, including wrenching accounts of families directly affected by oxygen shortages, sparked immediate reaction, including a plan outlined by the World Health Organization. 

For aggressive and resourceful coverage of lethal inequities in the supply of medical oxygen to the developing world, the team of Hinnant, Petesch, Diallo and Bah earns AP’s Best of the Week award.

Best of the Week — First Winner

White House homecoming photo speaks volumes on Trump’s Tulsa rally

Washington-based photojournalist Pat Semansky was assigned weekend White House duty – a routine gig that meant waiting for President Donald Trump’s overnight return from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his much-hyped rally didn’t meet expectations.

The president’s arrival rarely makes a memorable photo, but Semansky dutifully waited until well after 1 a.m., while many of AP’s competitors didn’t bother to cover. When Trump finally stepped off Marine One, Semansky proved the time well spent: His flash caught an atypically rumpled Trump crossing the South Lawn.

The photo quickly became the signature image of the night, capping days of smart AP coverage on the event itself. 

For making the most of a routine assignment to create what is likely to become an iconic photo of the Trump presidency, Pat Semansky wins AP’s Best of the Week award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive interview on Ethiopia’s controversial Nile dam

scored an exclusive interview with the Ethiopia’s foreign minister on the controversial dam the country is building on the Blue Nile, the main tributary to the Nile River. The project has caused mounting tensions with Egypt. Foreign minister Gedu Andargachew, spoke freely during the newsmaking interview, saying his country intends to start filling the dam, whether or not an agreement is reached with Egypt. Meseret’s story was widely used and prompted a response by Egypt’s foreign minister. https://bit.ly/2B3S8di

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP scoops celeb media on Billie Eilish hearing

was the only reporter who attended a hearing involving singer Billie Eilish, who sought a restraining order against a man who trespassed at her home. With Eilish and her family attending remotely, Dalton convinced a bailiff to let him in and was the only one in the courtroom aside from court staff. Other news outlets were forced to rely on details in his exclusive story for their own reporting. https://bit.ly/3fWVNZw

Best of the Week — First Winner

Race and Ethnicity team explores question: ‘What is a black life worth?’

In the course of covering protests and a memorial service for George Floyd in Minneapolis, AP race and ethnicity writer Aaron Morrison started thinking about other cases that began over minor offenses and ended with a black person dying. Morrison visited the scene where Floyd took his last breaths, talked to members of Floyd’s family and interviewed protesters with this question in mind: 

What is a black life worth? 

AP video journalist Noreen Nasir, also in the Twin Cities, was picking up on the same theme in her own reporting. Joined by New York-based photographer Bebeto Matthews, the team took a deep and unflinching look the at the circumstances behind Floyd’s death, and what many see as a pivotal moment in the struggle against institutional racism. Their story led the AP News site, was featured at the launch of the Facebook’s News Feed and was widely used by AP members. 

For sharp reporting and analysis that cast George Floyd’s killing in light of systemic issues of race inequality, Morrison, Nasir and Matthews win AP’s Best of the Week award.

Best of the States

AP teams deliver a deeply reported all-formats profile of George Floyd

The story of George Floyd’s death will likely endure as a pivotal moment in civil rights and police accountability, but his life – from a start in Houston public housing to his death in Minneapolis, where he hoped to start a new chapter – wasn’t lived in a spotlight. 

In a uniquely AP collaboration across states and disciplines, AP journalists turned to people who knew Floyd from his childhood through his adult years, weaving together his story in all formats, enhanced by existing video of the man. The result was a revealing, deeply reported profile, including Floyd’s brief turns as a football player, rapper and bouncer, time in prison and days spent trying to help mentor kids to avoid his mistakes. 

For persistent, collaborative and creative storytelling that goes to the heart of the tragedy that unfolded in Minneapolis, the multiformat team of Luis Andres Henao, Juan Lozano, Nomaan Merchant, Adam Geller, John Mone, David Phillip and Aaron Morrison shares this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

The Class of 2020: Stories of resilience amid crises

produced in text and video a compelling look at members of America’s high school Class of 2020, focusing on eventful lives shaped by a series of crises.

Irvine, collaborating with colleague Stephanie Mullen, set out to tell the story of a generation born in the aftermath of Sept. 11 that has faced a number of challenges – from the loss of a parent to wildfires and hurricanes, the Great Recession and, most recently, a pandemic and civil unrest over police brutality.

The result was a multiformat package with stunning portraits and a print story that took the reader through the graduates’ stories in order of the events that have impacted them. Irvine also produced a video that featured several photos interspersed with self-shot video of three of the graduates.https://bit.ly/37jR80ihttps://bit.ly/3cTBASh

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Unmatched coverage of a D-Day unlike any other

delivered compelling all-formats coverage of the D-Day anniversary at a time when most World War II veterans could not visit Normandy because of coronavirus restrictions – a local mayor called it “a June 6 unlike any other.” But the AP team helped absent veterans feel a part of the somber memorial services and observances at Omaha and other beaches with two days of nonstop coverage that no competitor could match.https://bit.ly/3cWQMydhttps://bit.ly/2ATuU9qhttps://bit.ly/2zpd51Ihttps://bit.ly/3cMIN6x

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Whiplash over troops in DC yields 2 scoops

scored two scoops in a single day: first, that the Pentagon was ordering active-duty troops deployed to the capital region to return to their home bases – followed hours later by Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s reversal of that order after visiting the White House. Baldor’s credibility with senior military officials gave her the sourcing to break both ends of that sudden turn of events, and sent other news outlets scrambling to match her reporting. https://bit.ly/3hieF6r

Best of the Week — First Winner

Blockbuster AP scoop reveals shelving of CDC guidelines on safe reopening

For weeks, critics had complained that the Trump administration was putting political concerns ahead of scientific recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control.

A blockbuster AP scoop amplified those complaints: Reporters Jason Dearen and Mike Stobbe worked sources to reveal that President Donald Trump’s administration shelved the CDC’s guidelines containing step-by-step advice to authorities on how and when to reopen businesses and other public places during the pandemic.

The story dominated news media and was by far the best-performing story on AP News for the week. And in a follow-up exclusive, Dearen reported on documents showing the decision to withhold came from the highest levels of the White House, and that the Trump administration ordered key parts of the CDC guidelines fast-tracked for approval after the AP’s story appeared.

For a major scoop that resonated among customers and readers and finally brought to light the scientists’ suppressed guidelines for how the country should reopen, Dearen and Stobbe win AP’s Best of The Week award.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP Exclusive: WHO’s behind-the-scenes frustration to get virus info from China

China and the Trump administration had opposing narratives about the early days of the new coronavirus epidemic: China bragged about providing information quickly to the world through the World Health Organization, while the Trump administration accused China and WHO of colluding to hide information.

It took The Associated Press – drawing on recordings, documents and interviews – to tell the definitive story: Rather than colluding with China, WHO itself was being kept in the dark, praising China in public to shake loose information while expressing considerable frustration in private.

AP’s widely praised story, months in the making, was so sensitive that we did not name the two main journalists to avoid blowback in China and to prevent anyone from identifying our sources.

For in-depth reporting that drew back the curtains and punctured the preferred narratives of China, WHO and the Trump administration at the same time, the AP reporters who produced this stunning piece earn Best of the Week honors. 

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Source work breaks story: Iran releases US veteran

broke the news that a U.S. Navy veteran detained in Iran for two years, Michael White, had been released from custody as part of a deal that resolved a Justice Department case against an American-Iranian doctor in the United States. The AP was far ahead of competitors with the breaking story and key details of the deal, the result of months of reporting by Lee and Tucker, including constant checks with sources in government and elsewhere. https://bit.ly/3cQC3or

Best of the States

AP takes an in-depth look at the life of Ahmaud Arbery, killed while running

When smartphone video emerged more than two months after Ahmaud Arbery was killed by a white father and son while running through a Georgia neighborhood, the case burst into the national consciousness. AP race and ethnicity writer Aaron Morrison headed to Brunswick, Georgia, seeking to tell the full story of the 25-year-old’s life. 

Morrison and video journalist Sarah Blake Morgan interviewed Arbery’s mother on the road where her son was killed. That conversation became a centerpiece of the text and visual package, with further reporting by Russ Bynum and Kate Brumback completing the picture. 

For a nuanced and unflinching profile of Arbery’s life that spotlights the racism experienced by many young black men and captures the pain of a grieving family, Morrison, Morgan, Bynum and Brumback share this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Through the eyes of children: The pandemic and beyond

collaborated on a multinational project, talking to kids about living with the coronavirus and asking them to use art to show what they believe the future might hold. Some sketched or painted, while others sang, danced ballet or built with LEGOs. A few just wanted to talk. The video interviews, story and photos, along with the kids’ art and a masterful presentation on AP News – brought their stories to the world in an intimate, engaging package.https://bit.ly/3cBzRAMhttps://bit.ly/2A4kOCr

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Amid pandemic, AP delivers on SpaceX launch

worked around the clock for days to cover a historic space launch while overcoming logistical hurdles during the pandemic. Their comprehensive all-formats coverage was a hit with AP customers, widely used by news outlets at a time when media access to the launch was limited by coronavirus restrictions.https://bit.ly/3eQ9f0vhttps://bit.ly/2AFu7sy

Best of the Week — First Winner

Coverage of Floyd protests, Brazil’s virus toll, commands global attention

The end of May saw unprecedented news: The coronavirus pandemic continued to spread infection and wreak economic havoc around the globe, while much of the world’s attention pivoted suddenly to protests across the U.S. that spread to Paris, London, Australia and elsewhere after the suffocation death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.

This week’s Best of the Week recognizes AP’s work surrounding each of those mega-stories, with top honors going to Baltimore-based photographer Julio Cortez for his iconic photo of a protester holding an American flag aloft, and to the AP all-formats team in Brazil for continuing coverage of the virus in a nation being ravaged by COVID-19.

Best of the Week — First Winner

Stories of lives lost, told with photos: 2 remarkable projects share Best of the Week

As the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world last week, and the confirmed U.S. death toll approached 100,000, AP photographers on two continents found unusual and meaningful ways to bring home the tragedy of lives lost. They were:

– Photographer David Goldman, who met with the families of COVID-19 victims at a Massachusetts soldiers’ home, literally projecting veterans’ images onto the exterior of the families’ homes for a series of arresting, ghostly and emotion-laden scenes.

– And Rodrigo Abd, who spent weeks with Venezuelan migrants collecting bodies in a poor area of Lima, Peru, showing the abject desperation of that city’s victims. Also honored is Lima reporter Franklin Briceño who accompanied Abd, documenting for text and video the funeral home workers on their grueling rounds.

Both projects had immense impact online and in print, drawing praise from readers and editors. For intrepid and creative multiformat storytelling emphasized by unforgettable images, Goldman, Abd and Briceño share AP’s Best of the Week honors. 

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Inside New York’s Latino congregations, united in grief

produced an important collection of three multiformat stories bringing to light the decimation occurring in New York’s Latino population, and especially the vibrant undocumented immigrant community that is among the most religious – but also the hardest hit segment during the pandemic.

The team first told the story of two congregations united in grief: Between them, the two churches have lost more than 100 members to the virus. They then took a poignant look at a priest who has endured the loss of his mentor, his father and congregation members. https://bit.ly/2ZksJpEhttps://bit.ly/3cW8ySQhttps://bit.ly/2LMVbZhhttps://bit.ly/3cTzenb

Best of the States

Inside the Navajo Nation as it endures the coronavirus outbreak

If the Navajo Nation were its own state, it would have the second highest per-capita rate of coronavirus cases in the United States, trailing only New York. 

AP’s Felicia Fonseca, one of the preeminent reporters covering Native issues for any news organization, and photographer Carolyn Kaster reported from the heart of the crisis. Donning full protective gear and a healthy measure of courage, they documented families, doctors and volunteers, while national writer Tim Sullivan added further reporting and masterful writing assistance from afar. 

The story and photos capture the vast beauty of the land and the intimate grief of the people, including one family that has lost four members to the virus. The package played heavily in the Southwest U.S. and was among AP’s most downloaded and viewed for several days.

For a revealing look at a Native community in the midst of the health crisis, Fonseca, Kaster and Sullivan share this week’s Best of the States honors.