Matthew Lee, diplomatic writer, Washington; Josef Federman, news director, Jerusalem; and Jon Gambrell, news director, Persian Gulf, dominated from the start with fast, comprehensive and nuanced reporting on the diplomatic ties initiated between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Lee had a heads-up that the deal was in the offing hours ahead of the announcement and obtained a copy of the forthcoming statement. That gave Federman and Gambrell time to prewrite a story and an alert ahead of the anticipated tweet from President Donald Trump. When Trump’s tweet duly landed, AP’s NewsAlert moved a minute later, just before White House reporters entered the Oval Office. And another minute later, a 1,000-word, triple-byline story hit the wire. Meanwhile AP broadcast colleagues, also alerted, were well ahead of the competition with coverage of developments and reaction from Middle East points.
Sourcing, hustle put AP far ahead with story of Israel-UAE ties
The City Hall in Tel Aviv, Israel, is lit up with the flag of the United Arab Emirates as the UAE and Israel announced they would be establishing full diplomatic ties, Aug. 13, 2020.
AP Photo / Oded Balilty