Chief Washington photographer Evan Vucci, reporter John Leicester in Kiev, White House correspondent Zeke Miller and White House reporter Aamer Madhani dominated with lightning fast and in-depth stories and exclusive photos from President Joe Biden’s secret trip to Ukraine.
Vucci was selected to accompany Biden on the trip as part of just a two-person press pool. Madhani put together extensive prep for a potential detour to Ukraine. John Leicester got a cryptic invitation from officials to come to Kyiv’s Intercontinental Hotel for a “VIP” appearance. Miller roused before 5 a.m. to anchor the filing, took Madhani’s authoritative prep and combined it with detailed feeds from Leicester to file a rapid-fire alert, fast file and multiple updates at head-snapping speed — seven writethrus in the first hour and 24 by day’s end.
Vucci's fast and artful photos were virtually the only pictures available. The fast-evolving main story and TikTok both stood out from the competition by the speed with which they rolled out on the wire and by their authoritative depth and context. The main story dominated front pages around the country and world, notched top page views of more than 366,000 and was No. 1 across all traffic sources. Vucci’s photos commanded front pages of major U.S. newspapers, including the LA Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.