Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Reporter’s flight gains attitude as pilot uses ‘coded crudity’

was taking some much-deserved time off for a trip with her mom. But a good reporter and good timing came together for a very good story.The ultimate news hook fell out of the sky, almost literally, as she flew from Houston to Albuquerque. The Southwest Airlines captain signed off his greeting to passengers with the “Let’s Go Brandon” phrase that is a right-wing euphemism for an expletive against President Joe Biden.Coincidentally, Long — with contributions from fellow AP Washington reporters Aamer Madhani, Mary Clare Jalonick, Brian Slodysko and Will Weissert, and Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, North Carolina — had been working on an explainer about the origin of the phrase, which she coined a “coded crudity.” The pilot’s announcement was the perfect peg. She immediately sent an update to her story back to the Washington bureau and emailed the airline for comment. Then, as she departed the plane, she asked permission to knock on the cockpit door and speak with the pilot. She was firmly instructed by flight attendants to exit the plane.Long’s story, laying out how the phrase began at a NASCAR race and had become part of insult culture, was the most-read on apnews.com with more than a million page views, and the Southwest angle featured prominently on Twitter, amplifying the story. The piece also generated follow-up stories by major news outlets, many citing Long's eye-witness account. Southwest initiated an investigation of the incident and denounced the pilot’s conduct.https://aplink.news/r1zhttps://aplink.video/yy9

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP journalists deliver global coverage of dire UN climate report

definitively examined, from six continents and in all formats, the impact of climate change, merging the science behind a major — and sobering — United Nations report with the voices of people who are living it.Weeks before the Feb. 28 release, climate news director Peter Prengaman, reporters Seth Borenstein and Frank Jordans, both veterans of climate coverage, and Stockholm-based video journalist David Keyton brainstormed the plan, putting AP’s global footprint to use: Instead of just one big, all-formats story — the norm for previous reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — AP would use the report as a jumping-off point to explore the state of climate change from each continent. Read more

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP’s team in Ukraine delivers unparalleled coverage of Russian invasion

From images of a young girl killed by shelling to an eyewitness account of a makeshift maternity ward inside a bomb shelter, AP’s team of more than two dozen journalists across Ukraine documented for the world in vivid detail how the Russian invasion is playing out on the ground.

The all-formats coverage began as Russian troops massed at Ukraine’s borders and has not let up since the assault began more than a week ago.

AP staffers across the world have been vital in explaining the economic, political and social repercussions of the war, but the journalists in Ukraine have been the anchor — setting AP’s coverage apart, delivering memorable images and authoritative text as the story develops by the hour.For tenacity and bravery in chronicling the Russian invasion, the team in Ukraine earns the respect and gratitude of their colleagues worldwide and is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats sweep as AP breaks news of Supreme Court nominee

beat all the competition, breaking the news of President Joe Biden’s nominee for the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy. AP flooded the media space with content on every platform, delivering a comprehensive package that told customers and readers everything they need to know about federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, what comes next and who bears watching in the process.The initial scoop came from smart source work, and the impressive range of content that quickly followed was made possible by advance coordination across formats and departments — AP was poised with thorough preparation on each of the front-runners for the nomination. Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Enterprising reporters reveal another China far from Olympic bubble

delivered two compelling stories far from the hermetically sealed and officially sanctioned Olympic bubble, focusing on marginalized people in Chinese society and official efforts to suppress unflattering media.Resourceful reporting by Kang and McNeil revealed the success of Chinese government efforts to subdue unrest in Tibet, the site of violent protests during the 2008 Summer Games hosted by China.And Wu reported the story of a chained woman 500 miles from Beijing who was shown in a viral video with a chain around her neck, her circumstances unclear. Chinese authorities tried to block the video but Wu revealed another side of China, where creative netizens stay one step ahead of the censors to keep injustices from obscurity.AP’s Tibet story was unmatched in any format. Other Chinese and foreign outlets covered the chained woman story, but not with the depth and detail of AP. Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Tip unleashes blizzard of AP coverage on Breyer’s SCOTUS retirement

met the highly anticipated moment, leveraging a tip to deliver fast, sweeping coverage on the retirement of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats team reveals Brazil’s alleged Bitcoin pyramid schemes

traveled to Cabo Frio, a tourist city a couple hours north of Rio de Janeiro which has been wracked with problems and violence following a surge of Bitcoin pyramid schemes. Reporting in all formats, their trip followed Brazil’s federal police bust last April of three people loading a chopper with $1.3 million in neatly packed bills.Brazil-based text stringer Jeantet obtained hundreds of police and prosecutors’ reports regarding the alleged pyramid scheme run by the town’s top dog, Glaidson dos Santos. She sorted through the reports, crafting a gripping narrative of the man's rise to power and fortune, and his eventual imprisonment. But she also discovered the story was more complex, with many of dos Santos’ former clients swearing that he was being wrongly accused for having the audacity to beat a rigged financial system at its own game.Such nuance gave the reader an inside look at why Bitcoin has become hugely popular in Brazil. Senior cameraman Lobão delivered video footage produced by Tatiana Pollastri, and photo freelancer Prado made the stills. The text story was published in English, Spanish and Portuguese, picked up by publications from USA Today to The Times of India.https://aplink.news/j5xhttps://aplink.video/5s2

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Elite California suburb clamps down on water wasters

reported exclusively on a California water district — home to Kim Kardashian and other celebrities — that may have the state’s harshest water restrictions during the current drought.The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, just north of Los Angeles, is among districts that rely almost exclusively on state water supplies. Ronayne, Sacramento-based environment/climate reporter, learned of the district’s new penalties for water wasters while reporting that in the midst of drought, local districts may not get any of the state water supply they’d requested in 2022. She decided to find out more, reasoning that what’s being imposed in Las Virgenes may serve as a model for other water districts as the drought continues.When Las Virgenes officials explained they would slow water flow to a trickle for households that keep wasting, Ronayne knew she had a story. With further reporting, she confirmed that the district's conservation tactics went further than others.Ronayne’s exclusive on the district’s approach hooked AP customers and readers, partly because Las Virgenes serves celebrity-filled neighborhoods. District officials said many rich residents don't bother to cut back when fined; water isn't an expensive commodity for them and the penalties aren’t significant — until the water slows to a trickle. https://aplink.news/1dv

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP investigation: Myanmar reverts to massacres as weapon of war

used interviews with dozens of witnesses, social media, satellite imagery and data on deaths to expose a campaign of massacres conducted by Myanmar’s military.Since it took over the government last February, the Myanmar military has been escalating its violence against both the opposition and civilians, and has reverted to scorched-earth tactics as a weapon of war.Reporting out of Myanmar is difficult at the best of times, with the constant danger to sources and the lack of access. This story was particularly challenging as the reporters pulled it off in three weeks, start to finish, working through vacations and holidays. Special credit goes to AP’s stringers, who found and interviewed 40 witnesses.The team — video journalists McNeil and Jain, and Asia reporter Rising — also brought important context and understanding to the subject that comes from the AP’s previous coverage of Myanmar. They noted that the massacres and burnings signal a return to practices the military has long used against ethnic minorities such as the Muslim Rohingya — this time applied also to the Buddhist Bamar majority. In recent months, most of the massacres have happened in the country’s northwest, including in a region that is largely Bamar.The story was also timely, coming just days after a massacre of at least 35 civilians by the military on Christmas Eve.https://aplink.news/615https://aplink.video/33k

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Iraq team reports on wave of migrant smuggling, families risking all

used interviews with returnees from Europe, relatives of some who drowned in the English Channel and both smugglers and travel agents who arrange the perilous journeys, to provide a sweeping, vivid look at how northern Iraq has been shaken by the migration crisis.The story, challenging to report, was the latest in a series by Baghdad reporter Kullab and producer Salim, in which they follow the troubled exodus of Iraqi Kurds who make up the majority of Middle Eastern migrants heading to Europe. Their reporting was anchored in the town of Ranya in northern Iraq, an impoverished region where the plight of the migrants is the talk of the town and smuggling networks are particularly active.Using Salim’s excellent contacts in the Kurdish region, the team found a family that had spent days anxiously waiting for news of their young son, who was lost at sea in the English Channel. They fear that the 18-year-old may have drowned along with at least 26 others when their flimsy boat sank near the French coast last week.The story, with photos by Baghdad chief photographer Mohammed’s and interview video for AP clients, captures the agonizing, life-changing decisions the families make, and why they risk everything for a more decent life abroad.The reporting went further still, looking at how the smuggling networks operate. AP talked to travel agents who arrange the trips and act as middle men with the smugglers abroad.https://aplink.news/49w

Best of the States

As wells dry up in parched US West, AP reports on residents now without running water

The extreme drought in the American West has already taken a dramatic toll. And now, near the Oregon-California border, as many as several hundred wells have dried up in the past few weeks, leaving dozens of homeowners in the parched region with no running water at all. Reporter Gillian Flaccus and freelance photographer Nathan Howard documented the residents’ plight and the challenges facing authorities responding to the situation.

Flaccus used sources she had built in months of reporting on the dire conditions in the Klamath River Basin, convincing people to let Howard depict their hardship over water in photos and video. Digital storyteller Samantha Shotzbarger then weaved all the elements into a compelling multimedia offering. The story drew widespread play in the U.S., especially in the West.

For continuing to shine light on the effects of the drought afflicting the U.S. West, Flaccus, Howard and Shotzbarger win this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP reveals Alaska tribes in crisis as salmon runs disappear

documented the plight of remote Alaska Native tribes facing a lean winter because the once bountiful salmon runs on the Yukon River have all but stopped, likely due to climate change.Freelance photographer Howard traveled to Stevens Village, more than 300 miles north of Anchorage along the Yukon. He made striking images and drone video as hunters tracked moose and caribou, hoping to get enough to replace what would usually be a large bounty of salmon dried and smoked for winter months. The hunters worked nearly around the clock, even cleaning and gutting moose under the northern lights.Flaccus reported from Oregon, describing how tribal members are upset they haven’t received more help from state and federal authorities. Some feel their plight isn’t getting as much attention as farmers, ranchers and others affected by climate change in the lower 48.The pair’s vivid text and photo package led reader engagement for the weekend and was near the top in pageviews for the same period.https://aplink.news/ndm

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP reports on communities suffering loss of Black morticians

teamed up to chronicle the toll the pandemic has taken on Black funeral directors in the U.S. Some 130 Black morticians have died since the onset of COVID-19, leaving holes not just in their families but in their communities, where they have long played a prominent role. Often admired for their success in business, a number have been elected to political office, served as local power brokers and helped fund civil rights efforts.Geller interviewed the families of Black morticians who died, and Breed shot emotional video and photos of Mullins, South Carolina, funeral director Shawn Troy, who suddenly finds himself trying to fill his father’s shoes. The result is a powerful look at a unique toll that COVID has taken in many Black communities.https://aplink.news/f8shttps://aplink.video/b4a

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP investigation reveals pattern of beatings, shrouded in secrecy, by Louisiana State Police

Law enforcement reporters Jim Mustian and Jake Bleiberg built on their previous reporting to document a devastating pattern of violence and secrecy at the Louisiana State Police, identifying at least a dozen beating cases over the past decade in which troopers or their bosses ignored or concealed evidence, deflected blame and impeded efforts to root out misconduct.

Their exclusive investigation stems from the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene — initially blamed on a car crash. That case was blown open this spring when the AP published long-withheld video showing state troopers stunning, punching and dragging the Black motorist as he pleaded for mercy. Mustian and Bleiberg proceeded to scour investigative records and work sources, finding a disproportionate use of force against Louisiana’s Black population and an absence of transparency and accountability in the agency.

Impact from this latest story was swift, from the head of the state police to a Louisiana congressman and others calling for investigation and reform.

For dogged reporting that peeled back the layers of case after case to reveal a pattern of abuse — and is effecting change in Louisiana — Mustian and Bleiberg earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats exclusive reveals deadly spread of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict

were the first to report on one of the deadliest battles of Ethiopia's 10-month conflict in Tigray. Kiyaro's reporting and images showed for the first time fresh graves and traumatized residents on the shifting front lines.After being contacted by the Nairobi bureau, all-formats freelancer Kiyaro, based in Addis Ababa, reached out to regional authorities and other sources and, in coordination with AP Global Security, was able to establish that the scene of the fighting was accessible. He went north from Addis, renting a car to take him closer to the scene, then walking in the rain with Ethiopian forces for several hours to reach the village of Chenna Teklehaymanot. Fleeing villagers told him how they had already buried scores of their dead, including women, children and priests trapped during the fighting with advancing Tigrayan forces.Kiyaro’s careful planning had him back in Addis the same night, where he worked swiftly to file video and photos, and worked with East Africa correspondent Anna to produce a text story describing what he had seen. The quick handling delivered video and photos used widely around the world. A Human Rights Watch researcher said: “The complexities of how the conflict is unfolding in Amhara region hadn't been really captured until your piece.” Even competitive agencies complimented the remarkable work.https://aplink.news/sfnhttps://aplink.video/h7w

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Sweeping team coverage as wildfire threatens Lake Tahoe

teamed up across formats, beats and states, drawing on AP resources throughout the West to dominate coverage of the high-profile Northern California wildfires that threatened an international gem, Lake Tahoe.Striking photos by Noah Berger and Jae Hong captured the drama as the fire raged toward the resort city and a vast swath of the Sierra Nevada. Report for America journalist Sam Metz was indefatigable on the ground, interviewing rescue workers, residents and firefighters, then capturing the chaos of the evacuation. Reporters John Antczak, Janie Har and Jocelyn Gecker worked the phones from Los Angeles and San Francisco providing detail and context as they wrote the spot stories. Video journalist Terence Chea and Michelle L. Price reported on people who refused to leave.For this latest in a series of major blazes, the West region dug to identify wildfire-related stories of interest beyond the breaking news, including Tom Verdin’s story on the special sites that were threatened, Don Thompson’s assessment of what went wrong in fighting the blaze, Brian Melley’s report on canceled vacations nationwide and a piece by Metz and Scott Sonner on price gouging.https://aplink.news/rwdhttps://aplink.news/qo4https://aplink.news/slxhttps://aplink.news/cp0https://aplink.video/4jlhttps://aplink.video/a3bhttps://apnews.com/hub/wildfires

Best of the Week — First Winner

Resourceful post-hurricane reporting yields exclusives on Louisiana oil spills

As Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana — launching strong AP coverage that would stretch from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast — Washington-based investigative reporter Michael Biesecker contacted federal and state officials who kept telling him they had no confirmed reports of oil or chemical spills along the coast.

But Biesecker’s inspection of aerial photos by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told a different story. He found a worrying miles-long oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico off the region’s main oil and gas port, and another sheen coming from a massive oil refinery along the Mississippi River.

His persistence led to a series of exclusives on the two oil spills, including the news that divers had identified a broken undersea pipeline as the apparent source of the offshore slick.

For smart reporting that put AP ahead of the competition — and even ahead of the government and energy companies themselves — on an important environmental story in the wake of Ida, Biesecker is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Transatlantic teamwork launches early coverage of Tennessee floods

teamed up from the moment it became clear that Tennessee flooding was causing death and destruction on a catastrophic scale, capturing the full dimensions of the tragedy.Late Saturday, Atlanta desk editor R.J. Rico moved aggressively in pursuit of the story. Acting on information unearthed by user-generated content sleuth Nishit Morsawala in London, Rico conducted a late-night interview with Kansas Klein, the owner of a pizzeria in Waverly, Tennessee, who described standing on a bridge and watching two girls holding a puppy and clinging to a wooden board sweep past in the water below. The early presentation, which included compelling UGC video of the devastation, was so vivid that AP Deputy Managing Editor Noreen Gillespie said it felt like AP was already on the ground in Middle Tennessee.Reporter Jonathan Mattise and photographer Mark Humphrey set out at first light Sunday to McEwen and Waverly where they captured personal stories and heartbreaking images of the destruction wrought by 17 inches of rain in a single day. Working with colleagues John Raby in West Virginia and Jeffrey Collins in South Carolina, and freelance photographer John Amis, Mattise and Humphrey delivered a moving portrait in real time of a storm that took the lives of at least 22 people, left dozens of others missing and the remaining residents of a rural Tennessee community straining to cope with the devastation. The widely played all-formats coverage deftly examined the unusual nature of the storm and its likely connection to climate change, laying out its impact for a global audience that will almost certainly be experiencing similar storms going forward.https://aplink.news/zw1https://aplink.video/bdlhttps://aplink.news/qfb

Best of the Week — First Winner

Dual winners: Resourceful AP teams deliver smart, fast, exclusive coverage in Afghanistan, Haiti

From Afghanistan to Haiti, AP staffers and stringers on two sides of the world were challenged last week to cover fast-breaking news while keeping themselves and their families safe. They excelled at both; AP’s coverage of Afghanistan’s fall to Taliban insurgents and the deadly earthquake across Haiti share Best of the Week honors.

In Afghanistan, with events unfolding at a breakneck pace, AP journalists amid the turmoil on the ground were complemented by colleagues in several countries and time zones collaborating to confirm the news and get it out.

AP sent out 17 alerts on Sunday alone, as city after city surrendered to the Taliban. And AP was among the first — perhaps the outright first — to report that President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country and Taliban forces were entering the capital.

That same weekend, when a powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southwestern Haiti leaving hundreds dead, AP journalists on the island scrambled to get to the area within hours. Editors outside Haiti jumped in to help gather and verify content, and a second team arrived in-country within a day to reinforce the coverage. AP stood out in all formats, including first live video of the disaster and photos that landed on front pages.

For outstanding breaking news coverage under extreme circumstances, the AP team in Afghanistan with their international colleagues, and the AP team covering Haiti — Pierre Luxama, Evens Sanon, Joseph Odelyn, Mark Stevenson, Fernando Llano, Matías Delacroix, Marko Alvarez and Fernando González — are co-winners of AP’s Best of the Week award.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP story resonates globally: New Hampshire hermit loses home, finds himself back on the grid

The vividly told AP story of an 81-year-old man’s quest to remain in an isolated New Hampshire cabin hooked readers around the world, led to an outpouring of support and eventually prompted the man to reconsider his hermit lifestyle.

Reporter Kathy McCormack had begun by looking into a legal fight involving David Lidstone, a spritely man known locally as “River Dave.” He’d been living peacefully in a makeshift home for 27 years when the property owner moved to evict him. Lidstone refused to leave and was jailed in July; while he was in jail, his cabin burned to the ground.

McCormack’s reporting turned Lidstone’s difficulties into a powerful story, fleshing out the details of his life and the local efforts to help him stay put. The piece was an immediate hit, ultimately capturing more than a half million pageviews on AP News, making it the site’s most popular story of the week. McCormack and colleagues followed up with subsequent developments, including the groundswell of international attention Lidstone received and his move away from the reclusive life.

For bringing this engaging story to life and her persistence in following it through, McCormack wins AP’s Best of the Week award.