Paris-based senior producer Jeff Schaeffer, video journalist Nicolas Garriga, correspondent Sylvie Corbet and freelance photographer Thomas Padilla, working with national security reporter Tara Copp scored two interviews with U.S. military chief Gen. Mark Milley in Normandy and unrivaled access to veterans at the 79th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Schaeffer’s long-term planning and aggressive source building secured AP the best access to sites and veterans across three days of coverage, and working with Copp, delivered two full-camera interviews with the Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Mark Milley, in which he talked about Ukraine's counteroffensive and the legacy of D-Day.
In all, the team produced more than a dozen videos, newsroom ready and consumer ready, from Normandy, scores of photos and six text stories. No other media matched that volume or scope and even competitor agencies on site were impressed by AP’s dominance of the story. In addition, the team produced a play-winning package on Papa Jake, a 100-year-old World War II veteran who has become a TikTok star.