Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Character-driven coverage reveals unhealed wounds of Beirut blast

produced a sweeping set of stories to mark the first anniversary of the massive Beirut port explosion, with the emphasis on character-driven pieces that underscore the suffering experienced by survivors of the blast and families of the victims, one year later. With that in mind, reporter Mroue, senior producer Abuelgasim and photographer Hussein told the tragic tale of a 21-year-old nurse who died at work, weaving her story together with that of a couple whose son was born minutes later in the same hospital amid the chaos of the blast. The result was a stunning all-formats narrative embedded with dramatic family video and hospital-supplied footage from the day of the blast. The Beirut crew worked closely with digital storytelling producers and editors Raghuram Vadarevu and Natalie Castañeda. AP’s online video, created by deputy regional news director Balint Szlanko, was heavily used and widely shared on social media.Meanwhile, El Deeb reported — with photos by Ammar — on grieving families seeking justice and accountability for their deceased loved ones; she also collaborated with news director Karam on the anniversary mainbar which was accompanied by compelling photos and video by Abuelgasim and cameraman Tawil. El Deeb and Abuelgasim also teamed up with photographer Malla for a piece on conservators painstakingly rebuilding and restoring a landmark Beirut museum.In the days surrounding the actual anniversary, the staff shifted its coverage to breaking news as masses of protesters took to the streets, some clashing with police as they demanded that officials be held responsible for corruption and indifference leading to the tragedy.https://aplink.news/u59https://aplink.news/b1dhttps://aplink.news/dmjhttps://aplink.news/alyhttps://aplink.video/z0j

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Deep reporting exposes the missteps leading to Beirut blast

delivered a stunning and disturbing account of the years of dysfunction behind Beirut’s massive explosion that killed at least 180 people. Based on exhaustive reporting and source work, the AP team produced the most detailed, comprehensive lead-up to Aug. 4, including what is known of the cargo, paper trail, circumstances and missteps that led to the devastating blast. https://bit.ly/34JIJUK

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Fast, nimble response puts AP far ahead on major Beirut fire

delivered fast, outstanding coverage as a major fire broke out at Beirut’s port, site of last month’s massive explosion.Ammar was nearby when the fire broke out and within minutes was streaming live video using the Bambuser app. Malla and Tawil also rushed to the scene, Malla shooting stills and sending direct to AP’s Middle East photo desk from his camera while Tawil set up a second live shot. AP was streaming live video for more than an hour before a competitive agency had its live shot up.AP’s video edits were also superior and much faster than the opposition, running quick edits of the fire, helicopters dropping water and two powerful edits shot with a drone, captured by Malla, who deftly switched between his camera and operating his drone to capture aerial photos and videos.And thanks to Ammar’s early response, AP’s news alert moved at least 20 minutes ahead of other major news outlets, further cementing the competitive advantage.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Standout photo, video coverage of Lebanon demonstrations

for outstanding visual coverage of the protests that have enveloped Lebanon, including beautifully produced edits of clashes between anti- and pro-government demonstrators, dramatic live video that captured the destruction of the protest camp by Hezbollah supporters, and consistently powerful photo coverage.https://bit.ly/32rFtc5https://bit.ly/2pCXWFf

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP staff works through injuries and destroyed homes to cover Beirut blast

The deafening Tuesday afternoon explosion tore through Beirut and shattered everything in a few terrifying seconds, badly damaging the AP bureau and the homes of several AP employees in the Lebanese capital. Three employees were injured in their homes by broken glass.

But despite the mayhem and injuries, the AP team sprang into action to deliver standout all-formats coverage of an event that killed more than 170 people and injured some 6,000, sending a mushroom cloud over the city.

The remarkable work was magnified by the fact that a large majority of broadcasters and other news organizations didn’t have a journalist in Beirut, relying mainly on the AP and again affirming the value of the agency’s global footprint.

For their stunning coverage and selfless efforts, the Beirut staff wins AP’s Best of the Week award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Return to Aleppo: Strong all-formats coverage includes story of one family’s loss

for highlighting AP’s return to Aleppo for the first time in three years with an exclusive all-formats package on one family who returned to the city to find their home was ransacked and destruction all around. https://yhoo.it/2h3Azve

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

With Lebanon in crisis, AP team sheds rare light on the elderly

explored the Lebanon’s often-neglected elderly population, particularly those who suffer from poverty amid the country’s dual crises of the pandemic and a sinking economy. Lebanon has the greatest number of elderly in the Middle East, but most of the population above the age of 65 has no retirement benefits or health care coverage, leaving them to fend for themselves.The Beirut team’s moving and informative all-formats story leads with an elderly couple who received a one-time $15,000 payout when the husband retired 20 years ago. They have since depended on charity to cover almost everything; the cash they get from charitable sources every month, once amounting to $400, is now barely worth $40 as Lebanon’s currency collapses.The story played widely and the AP team received messages from people around the world asking how they can help those featured in the story. Al-Jazeera ran a gallery of Hassan’s photos, while among those sharing the piece was a U.S. diplomat in the region who described it as “horrifying details from Lebanon’s Year Zero.”https://aplink.news/mqqhttps://aplink.video/z53

Best of the Week — First Winner

Exclusive AP photo of missiles streaking over Damascus dominates global play

When President Donald Trump tweeted a warning last week about a possible missile strike on Syria, the AP was well ahead in its planning for what would eventually follow.

An AP cross-format team had applied for visas for Damascus a month ago. Last-minute negotiations and a bit of luck led to them being issued two days before air strikes by the U.S., France and Britain..

And when the missiles started raining down, Hassan Ammar, a Beirut-based photographer, captured the signature image of the Damascus night sky. His photo, which dominated world play, earns the Beat of the Week.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Under Assad’s grip, uneasy co-existence with former Syrian rebels

for making AP the first international media organization to enter the former rebel towns of Talbiseh and Rastan, north of Homs in central Syria, reporting on the uneasy coexistence between former rebels and President Bashar Assad’s troops. https://bit.ly/2OiPySv

Best of the Week — First Winner

Only on AP: In his last days, al-Baghdadi sought safety in shrinking domain

The death of the Islamic State group “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was one of the most competitive stories in the world in recent weeks. Journalists scrambled to uncover details of the U.S. operation and how the Islamic State leader ended up in a hideout in Syria.

Beirut-based Middle East reporter Sarah El Deeb put the AP out front with a story based on exclusive interviews recounting al-Baghdadi’s final days, as he was shuttled furtively around Syria by a dwindling circle of confidants. 

Enhancing the narrative were dramatic details from a teenage girl who had been enslaved by al-Baghdadi as he sought refuge. El Deeb elicited the previously untold details through sensitive and dogged reporting.

The story stood out from the many accounts that simply echoed the official account of al-Baghdadi’s death, demonstrating not only the AP’s dominance on a global story but also its trusted ability to provide facts-based reporting from the ground in the region.

For outstanding source work and reporting on a story of intense interest, Sarah El Deeb wins AP’s Best of the Week award.

 

Best of the Week — First Winner

​A father bids farewell to twin toddlers after Syria attack

What do reporters do when more than 300 war-ravaged miles separate them from an immense story – in this case, the gassing of civilians in Syria, allegedly by their own government? They work the phones, and the apps.

Which is how Beirut reporter Sarah El Deeb came to interview Abdel Hameed Alyousef, who lost his two children, his wife and other relatives in the attack on the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun. And how she persisted in finding ways to bring the family’s story to the world in all formats.

And it is how she won the Beat of the Week.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

US, allies evacuate Syrian White Helmets via Israel

for breaking the news of an imminent international plan to evacuate trapped Syrian White Helmets from southern Syria via Israel.https://bit.ly/2vwLplvhttps://goo.gl/3JfJ4v

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Priceless Jewish artifacts another casualty of Syria’s war

for exclusively reporting that priceless Jewish artifacts, including ancient parchment Torahs from one of the world’s oldest synagogues, have gone missing amid the tumult of war. https://bit.ly/2Mg3YkC

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Growing number of Syrian refugees are returning to the country

for their exclusive cross-formats story showing that a growing number of Syrian refugees are returning to Syria from Europe and neighboring countries. http://bit.ly/2EvOXuY

Best of the Week — First Winner

Rare multiformat interview with Hamas leader breaks news

In an exclusive interview with AP, a high-ranking Hamas political official for the first time suggested that the militant group would put down its weapons with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, acknowledging that a two-state solution could be possible even if temporarily.

The interview, which came at a crucial time in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, was the result of persistence by AP staff and collaboration between the Beirut and Istanbul teams.

Having dealt with Hamas officials in Beirut regularly on stories before and after Oct. 7, Lebanon/Syria/Iraq news director Abby Sewell had requested an interview with one of Hamas’ senior officials, Moussa Abu Marzouk, and was told it would be granted and would take place in Istanbul.

While she was awaiting confirmation of the date, Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, showed up in Turkey and met with the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At that point, Istanbul-based photographer Khalil Hamra, originally from Gaza, suggested using his contacts to aim for the highest-ranking possible interview.

For persistence and collaboration to win a scoop on one of the world’s most pressing stories, Sewell, Hamra and Guzel are Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

YouTube and Erasing the History of the Syrian War

for turning a spot story on YouTube’s removal of hundreds of thousands of videos from Syria into a wider look at how Syrian activists are scrambling to rescue their history. http://bit.ly/2xScoLJ

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP sources: Ukrainian grain shipments won’t solve food crisis

combined on-the-ground reporting, key analysis from experts and their own subject expertise to shed light on the real-world impact and limitations of renewed Ukrainian grain exports on the global food crisis.The team’s reporting reveals how everyone from Lebanese farmers and Syrian refugees to African aid groups don’t expect the much-publicized initial shipments to solve food insecurity as millions go hungry. The story builds on months of AP coverage showing how the Russia-Ukraine war has worsened the effects of drought, inflation, conflict and other factors in countries gripped by hunger.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP out front on US raid where leader of Islamic State group died

combined outstanding reporting in all formats and stellar coordination between the Washington and Beirut bureaus to put AP ahead with quick, thorough, vivid on-the-ground coverage of the U.S. raid in Syria’s Idlib province that left the Islamic State group’s leader dead.Source work by AP’s Pentagon staff gave the teams in Washington and the Mideast some advance notice of the operation, and after the raid, AP was quick to the Idlib site, filing photos, video, drone footage and eyewitness accounts. AP was ahead of the competition with its alert and a solid writethrus, as well as reporting of the death toll.Beirut added a substantive biographical piece on the dead IS leader who tried to rebuild IS from its defeat, and Washington put together a compelling timeline of the raid, from planning through aftermath.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Islamic State trying to keep people in Raqqa as human shields

for the first extensive look into what is going on inside Raqqa ahead of the U.S.-backed assault on the Islamic State group's de facto capital, revealing in particular the extent to which the militants are holding the population hostage. http://apne.ws/2p9m2l0

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP provides dramatic all-formats coverage of Iraq’s deadly protests

The calls on social media were informal and scattered, urging demonstrations Oct. 1 in Baghdad to protest deteriorating living conditions in the battered Iraqi capital. There was nothing to indicate that the protests would be more significant than previous actions. But Khalid Mohammed, AP’s chief photographer in Baghdad, had a hunch. He put the demonstrations on the bureau’s planner and urged all formats to be ready, despite the prevailing mood of skepticism.

Mohammed’s assessment proved prescient. The demonstrations erupted into five days of furious violence, the worst in the country since the quieting of its internal war against the Islamic State group. AP’s staff witnessed the first violence and stayed on the grueling story for days.

For their anticipation and courageous eyewitness journalism that set AP apart, Mohammed, photographer Hadi Mizban, video journalist Ali Jabar and reporter Qassim Abdul-Zahra share AP’s Best of the Week award.