Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Sensitivity, persistence yield uncommon look at challenges facing Baltimore addicts

used persistence and thoughtfulness to gain access to a drug treatment van and its patients.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

DEA’s No. 2 quits amid reports of previous consulting work for Big Pharma

AP broke the story of how the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s second-in-command quietly stepped down after they had reported that he had previously done extensive consulting work for pharmaceutical companies, including the drug maker that became the face of the opioid crisis, Purdue Pharma.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP story shows US abortion debate threatens global HIV treatment, putting lives around the world at stake

AP’s coverage showed how the political fight in Washington over abortion threatens global HIV treatment supplies for millions of people.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Body cam catches elite federal prosecutor offering his Justice Department card in DUI crash arrest

AP obtained exclusive body-cam video showing an elite federal prosecutor offering his Justice Department card in a DUI crash arrest. Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP team illustrates how billions in opioid settlement might be spent

AP produced a deep all-formats package about a community that serves as a model for what others could do with proceeds from a $50 billion opioids settlement to fight the opioids epidemic.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP reveals how Tennessee GOP plans to intertwine gun rights and voting rights restoration

Source work set AP up for a scoop on how Tennessee’s GOP plans to tie voting rights restoration to gun rights.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Secret US spying program targeted top Venezuelan officials

AP exclusively obtained a secret memo detailing a yearslong covert operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that sent undercover operatives into Venezuela to record and build drug-trafficking cases against the country’s leadership — a plan the U.S. acknowledged was arguably a violation of international law. Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Keen eye, sharp beat work spin exclusive enterprise off routine Legislative coverage

Sharp beat work and a keen news sense helped AP elevate routine Legislative coverage of a drug bill into an all-formats feature that used the gut-wrenching story of a tribe that’s losing one member a week to opioid overdose to illustrate why readers should care about an obscure bill overlooked by every other media outlet.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Data provides base for telling a deeply human story about Venezuela migrants

AP noticed a trend in the monthly Customs and Border Protection data that no other news outlet did — the plummeting number of Venezuelans entering the U.S. — and then quickly used its international footprint to tell the story of Venezuelans struggling under Mexico’s crackdown.Read more