Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP scoop: Dalai Lama to drop debut album

gave AP a six-hour beat on all competitors with a report that the Dalai Lama would release his first-ever album; the story was picked up by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard and other publications. The album, featuring teachings and mantras by the Dalai Lama set to music, is to be released July 6 on the religious leader’s 85th birthday. Fekadu’s story included the first interview with the musician who proposed the project to the Dalai Lama. https://bit.ly/3egDMVw

Best of the States

AP Analysis: After previous police killings, states slow to reform use-of-force

Calls for police reforms after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis have echoed the calls to action after a wave of killings of young black men by police in 2014. 

So what happened after those killings? 

Ohio statehouse reporter Julie Carr Smyth, working with AP colleagues around the country, found that while nearly half the states have since enacted some type of reform, only a third passed legislation limiting use of force. The reporting revealed that contributions from politically influential police unions were a key factor in stalling legislation, while a separate analysis by the data team showed that Minneapolis police disproportionately used force against blacks when compared with other racial groups. 

The day Smyth’s story moved, a number of states made proposals to limit the use of deadly force.

For quickly reporting out and leading a national look at what reforms have taken place in the last six years, Smyth wins this week’s Best of the States 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)

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)

AP analysis: Little evidence of radical left in protests

analyzed all the arrests over the last two weeks in Washington and Minneapolis, concluding that there is little evidence of “antifa” or “radical left” protest groups provoking violence as President Donald Trump claimed. The story, rich with detail, described who the real protesters were. Among them: a balloon artist, a cellist and a law student. But it was the heft of the reporting – acquiring and scouring hundreds of records in a limited amount of time – that made the anecdotal aspects of the story all the more credible. https://bit.ly/3f80JtW

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

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

First photos of migrants held on Malta tourist boats

captured Malta’s controversial practice of using harbor cruise ships as floating detention centers for migrants rescued at sea. No one had made photos of the ships until Rossignaud traveled to the area about 23 kilometers (14 miles) offshore in his own motorboat. His images, accompanied by D'Emilio’s story, created a stir in Europe and beyond, putting pressure on Malta to let the migrants disembark.https://bit.ly/2AlRl7a

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)

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

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.

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.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

With masks and gloves, Ukraine’s priests resume duties

teamed up for a deeply reported story on priests in Ukraine resuming religious services and visiting the sick and bereaved as the coronavirus pandemic’s grip slowly recedes.https://bit.ly/3gRBoGmhttps://bit.ly/3gURDT8

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP Madrid exposes failings at ravaged care home

followed up on their initial spot story about a Madrid nursing home that became a flash point when the Spanish army found the body of an 84-year-old resident locked in his room at the height of the virus outbreak. The AP team gained the trust of relatives of residents who had died as well as workers from the care home, learning that the 160-bed facility had seen widespread cost cutting for years and that management made a series of highly questionable decisions during the crisis.https://bit.ly/2U9jdCshttps://bit.ly/2XyMf0l

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

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. 

Best of the States

AP takes a rare behind-the-scenes look into the complex world of contact tracing

With contact tracing in the spotlight as one of the keys to stopping the spread of the coronavirus, journalists across the AP have sought access to the investigators, only to be rebuffed for privacy concerns. But Utah-based correspondent Brady McCombs convinced a county health department that he and photographer Rick Bowmer could show the world how contact tracing is conducted, while protecting private details. 

Once they were in the door, the curtain rolled back. The pair spent parts of five days shadowing investigators as they talked, commiserated and cajoled people to comply with tracing – something simply unseen in other coverage or descriptions of contact tracing. 

And in a major break, McCombs used social media to identify one of the subjects of tracing, getting exclusive all-formats access to tell the story of a family on the other end of a tracer’s call.

For a timely and revealing package on a vital element of the pandemic response, McCombs and Bowmer share this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP reveals efforts to bring IS to justice for slave trade

spotlighted efforts by international investigators to bring the Islamic State to justice for the slavery and sex trafficking of Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority. The story, which took nearly a year, built on investigators’ documents and El Deeb’s reporting in Iraq and Syria to track down former slaves, owners and those who witnessed the enslavement, all complemented by powerful photos and video of women who had been trafficked.https://bit.ly/2TN6bu9https://bit.ly/2X9imUg

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP finds states inconsistent in reporting virus test data

worked with AP statehouse colleagues around the country to find that several states – and even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – have lumped together coronavirus tests that measure differing things or are reporting data in different ways, often giving a confusing or misleading picture for people trying to make decisions based on the testing data. https://bit.ly/3eBZtzd