Best of the Week — First Winner

Portraits of heroes: AP documents courageous health professionals in Italy

With a powerful and evocative photo gallery, AP journalists in Italy captured the heroism of 16 Italian medical personnel on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. 

Photo editor Alberto Pellaschiar proposed the idea, and hospitals – reassured by AP’s reputation for professionalism – permitted photographers Antonio Calanni and Luca Bruno and chief photo editor Domenico Stinellis to make photos of the doctors and nurses during breaks or as they finished their shifts. 

The intimate portraits conveyed the fatigue and determination of the men and women working round-the-clock to save lives. Chief correspondent Nicole Winfield studied the portraits and interviewed some of the subjects to put their struggle into words.

The impact was tremendous – the stark, understated images and accompanying story riveted audiences around the globe. 

For conceiving and executing a brilliant series of images that captures in human terms the battle against the disease, Pellaschiar, Stinellis, Calanni, Bruno and Winfield win AP’s Best of the Week.

Best of the States

Surviving the coronavirus upheaval may depend on your paycheck – a tale of 2 families

California's Bay Area is full of extremes: poverty and wealth; homelessness and opulence; high-end industry and the service workers who support it. Those extremes matter when it comes to weathering the shutdown in response to the coronavirus.

 Jocelyn Gecker and Olga Rodriguez set out to show how that divide plays out, telling the stories of Rebecca Biernat, a San Francisco attorney, and Sonia Bautista, a hotel worker, and their families. With photographer Jeff Chiu they developed an intimate portrait of the two families – what they have in common and the differences in how they are adjusting to the shutdown.

 For doggedly seeking out the right subjects, overcoming distancing restrictions and expertly weaving together two tales to tell a deeper story about inequality amid turmoil, Gecker, Rodriguez and Chiu earn this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP examines reliability of ‘game changer’ rapid tests for coronavirus

teamed up for a close look at the reliability of rapid tests being developed to track the spread of the new coronavirus. In a prime example of AP bureaus collaborating to elevate a story from a national to a global level, reporters in Spain, Britain and the U.S. worked together to reveal that while some were touting the rapid tests as a breakthrough in detecting and tracking the disease, scientists in several countries cast doubt on the tests’ reliability. Spanish scientists said the rapid tests they reviewed were less than 30% accurate. The more established lab tests for coronavirus were about 84% accurate. https://bit.ly/344pzqm

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

‘One Good Thing’ highlights humanity in the time of coronavirus

From the weepy New Jersey pizzeria owner reflecting on the kindness of his customers to tales of balcony applause and serenades for first responders in Europe, AP’s daily “One Good Thing” feature has highlighted our better selves amid the coronavirus landscape. The series has proven a hit with readers looking for glimmers of hope and humanity during the pandemic. https://apnews.com/OneGoodThing

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Testing blunders slowed coronavirus response

created a detailed timeline and cohesive narrative to reveal just what went wrong with the coronavirus tests that led to the crippled U.S. response to the outbreak. The team traced the U.S. testing response since the first cases emerged in China, including the changing government directives about who could be tested and the daily totals for how many patients had been tested during the critical month of February. Other news organizations were days behind AP’s reporting. https://bit.ly/2UQZKWy

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Telling the story of NYC’s virus-besieged emergency rooms

told the story of New York City’s besieged emergency rooms, where overwhelmed nurses, doctors and paramedics face warzone-like conditions. The reporting team mined sources developed over the years and others on social media to reveal caregivers contending with a flood of sick and dying patients, equipment shortages and the impossible task of deciding who lives and who dies. With hospitals closed to cameras, photo staffers, notably Mary Altaffer and John Minchillo, documented the story with shots of exhausted-looking health workers and paramedics coming and going from hospitals amid makeshift morgues and lines of anxious people waiting for tests.https://bit.ly/2w423guhttps://bit.ly/2R7dY4F

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Young Italian man describes desperate effects of virus

conducted a gripping video interview with a 33-year-old Italian lawyer and water polo player about the man’s battle with COVID-19, underscoring how the disease not only hits the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. Santalucia interviewed Andrea Napoli by Skype and filmed him waving from a hotel that is being used for patients recovering from the coronavirus. The video and a text story by Milan correspondent Colleen Barry won widespread play. https://bit.ly/39x7cLX

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP exposes empty promise of hospital stimulus funds

used data analysis and sourcing to reveal that a $2 trillion relief package wouldn’t be enough to address shortages of crucial protective equipment, and that the shortage that would likely get worse. The detailed, deeply reported story was developed through a variety of sources, exposing America’s broken medical supply chain, price gouging and a frontline nurse’s fear that she is inadvertently spreading COVID-19. https://bit.ly/341EiT0

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive reporting on police contracting COVID-19

coordinated with colleagues around the AP to track how many police officers were getting sick with the coronavirus. Documented with exclusive nationwide data and illustrated with photos from multiple datelines, the result was a richly reported and deeply researched story on how police departments are struggling to manage the growing tally of sick officers, which rose from a few dozen to nearly 700 in a week - including Detroit’s chief of police. https://bit.ly/39vzdmY

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Only on AP: Better that submariners ‘know nothing’ of virus

found an unconventional angle on the coronavirus, revealing that the crews aboard nuclear-armed submarines are almost certainly being kept in the dark about the extent of the coronavirus pandemic while at sea, deliberately shielded from morale-busting bad news. Leicester, reporting in text and video, tracked down and interviewed a former chief medical officer who had served aboard a French sub, as well the former commander of the French ballistic submarine fleet who told AP: “Since (a submariner) cannot do anything, better that he know nothing.” https://bit.ly/2waaXcyhttps://bit.ly/3dODoNV

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive reporting on federal prisons amid COVID-19 fears

have dominated reporting on the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the dysfunction inside. Their latest exclusive used rich sourcing to reveal how the system is struggling to manage the coronavirus in federal prisons. The pair heard from inmates who said there has been little guidance on what to do if they experience symptoms, and very little social distancing. Corrections officers described a lack of supplies inside prisons, and rules on protective gear that vary widely from prison to prison. Balsamo and Sisak highlighted scattershot policies that show zero uniformity despite growing fears over outbreaks of the virus. https://bit.ly/2R1aOiG

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Scoop on death of former FBI agent Levinson in Iran

scored a pair of scoops, exclusively obtaining the FBI’s first acknowledgment of the presumed death of the agency’s long-missing former agent Robert Levinson in Iran. He was also the first to report that information about Levinson’s fate had come from Iran’s foreign minister. https://bit.ly/2RkMqJh

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Some national parks insist on staying open

were out front with widespread coverage as many national parks insisted on remaining open during the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering health concerns in neighboring towns. Seattle photographer Ted Warren showed visitors enjoying Mount Rainier National Park, and while some parks closed, others remained open with entrance fees waived by the Trump administration and promised federal guidelines still in limbo.https://bit.ly/2UCB1Xbhttps://bit.ly/2xFR3qa

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP is there: Exclusive access to the first human trial of coronavirus vaccine

The world had been waiting for this moment: the start of a clinical study searching for a vaccine for the new coronavirus – but no one knew when exactly the first shots would be given. AP reporters in Washington, D.C., learned where and when it would take place, laying the groundwork for an all-formats team to witness the start of the experiment in Seattle.

The result: AP was the only news organization present, sending updates in real time as the first participants received an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The newsroom at AP’s New York headquarters erupted in cheers when the exclusive crossed the wire; text, photos and video swept play worldwide.

For ensuring AP was the only news organization in the room at a critical juncture of the coronavirus pandemic response, and for delivering distinctive journalism to customers worldwide, the team of Lauran Neergaard, Ted Warren, Carla K. Johnson, Michael Ciaglo, Federica Narancio and Marshall Ritzel wins AP’s Best of the Week award.

Best of the States

Fast, definitive work on US price gouging complaints amid coronavirus crisis

When reporters Justin Pritchard and Reese Dunklin were asked to look into price gouging and profiteering off the coronavirus crisis, they  sought to go deeper by employing a key part of their investigative reporting toolkit: a systematic reporting strategy.

The pair quickly executed a plan to question attorneys general in all 50 states, resulting in the most comprehensive look yet at the problem across the nation. In just two days of reporting, Pritchard and Dunklin uncovered more than 5,000 reports of everything from price gouging on toilet paper and masks, to scams offering tests and even cures for the illness. 

Their brightly written story won strong play on a busy day of coronavirus news, hitting the wire hours before Attorney General William Barr announced new actions against such crimes.

For fast, aggressive work that tapped into a topic on the public’s mind, AP recognizes Pritchard and Dunklin with this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

In the time of coronavirus, a study of Tokyo in black and white

Tokyo photographer Jae C. Hong documented in stark black and white the unsettling new norm of Japan’s largest city during the coronavirus pandemic. Struck by the contrast of the white protective masks against the shadowed buildings and backdrops, Hong thought black and white photography would convey the right tone. He produced a stunning package, unique among the global flood of coronavirus images.https://bit.ly/3dsTIE9https://bit.ly/33RxV4Ihttps://bit.ly/2x4TjXE

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive AP access to overwhelmed Italian hospitals

continued to provide exclusive, heart-wrenching visuals and text from the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy, including powerful interviews with doctors and families of victims and exclusive access to hospitals.https://bit.ly/3bteZLThttps://bit.ly/2UGJHus

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

DC reporters pull off scoop on new travel restrictions

scrambled to confirm a source’s weekend tip that President Donald Trump was extending stringent European travel restrictions to the U.K. and Ireland amid the coronavirus crisis. They had the alert and story out a full hour ahead of the president’s news conference, leaving other news organizations to widely credit AP. https://bit.ly/2xptEt4https://bit.ly/2xsbVk

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Rare access, all-formats package on storied paratroopers

secured rare access to accompany paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division on a South American training exercise in partnership with Colombia, producing a compelling narrative in text, photos and video as the troops simulated the taking of an airbase.https://bit.ly/3dAdZaXhttps://bit.ly/3bn2Eci

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Chronicling the flood of US jobless claims

and a network of statehouse reporters anticipated the flood of jobless claims that were inundating state unemployment offices, aggressively reporting on astronomical increases in unemployment, including examples like Pennsylvania’s 70,000 new claims in one day. This did not sit well with the Labor Department, which a day later issued a memo to state unemployment offices saying they should not release their jobless numbers unilaterally, but rather wait for the weekly federal report to be released. https://bit.ly/33MUt6w