Oct. 20, 2016

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Divided America: The changing face of U.S. immigration

for an all-formats story showing how an influx of educated Asian immigrants is transforming the nation in ways largely ignored by today’s heated political rhetoric. The story, part of the Divided America series, punctured myths about U.S. immigration. Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed a sidebar explaining a crucial but often overlooked fact in the immigration debate: An estimated 40 percent of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally overstayed visas. http://apne.ws/2e1Hx3K

Oct. 25, 2019

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: U.S. Census Bureau asks states for citizenship information

for following up after President Donald Trump’s executive order asking federal agencies to seek citizenship information when the U.S. Supreme Court said the question couldn't be included in the 2020 Census. Schneider learned something the Census Bureau wasn’t eager to reveal – that they were in the process of asking motor vehicle divisions in all 50 states to provide information from driver’s license data, including citizenship status. https://bit.ly/32KWOO3

Dec. 01, 2017

Best of the States

AP staffers get exclusive interview with U.S. Rep. John Conyers

When BuzzFeed broke the news that the longest-serving current U.S. House member had settled a sexual harassment complaint, one notable thing missing was comment from U.S. Rep. John Conyers himself. The 88-year-old Conyers rarely gives interviews anymore, deferring to his staff to issue statements or simply not responding.

Congress was on Thanksgiving break, but News Editor Roger Schneider suggested that video journalist Mike Householder and reporter Corey Williams drop by Conyers’ Detroit home. They knew it was a long shot – Corey and Mike had been to Conyers’ house before, and knew it was gated.

To their surprise, Conyers answered their ring.

Conyers answered a few questions, giving Williams and Householder a major beat: He denied settling sexual harassment claims and other allegations of inappropriate touching of staffers.

For aggressive reporting that paid off with an exclusive on one of the week’s top stories, Williams and Householder share this week’s Best of the States prize.

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May 07, 2021

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Beat reporting uncovers U.S. Catholic bishops’ plan to confront Biden

reported exclusively that a group of U.S. Catholic bishops was working to pressure President Joe Biden to stop taking Communion due to his public advocacy for abortion rights.The story came together after Crary, New York-based national writer, decided to update his reporting on the uneasy relationship between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Biden, only the second Catholic president and the first to publicly support abortion rights in contradiction of church teaching. Early on in his reporting, Crary learned that the USCCB’s doctrine committee had been assigned to prepare a document addressing Biden. Using his contacts, Crary was able to arrange interviews with two archbishops, who made clear for the first time their goal to publicly confront Biden and urge that he refrain from receiving Communion. https://bit.ly/3elE27U

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April 02, 2021

Best of the Week — First Winner

A master class: AP teams deliver sweeping coverage of the migrant surge at the US-Mexico border

When the U.S.-Mexico border became a major front-page story again in recent weeks, the AP set out to tell the story of newly arriving Central American children and families in trademark AP fashion: with compelling all-formats journalism and richly reported viewpoints from migrants to bring perspective to readers on the topic of immigration.

Photographers Julio Cortez and Dario Lopez-Mills, reporters Adriana Gómez Licón and Elliot Spagat, and video journalists Eugene Garcia and John Mone answered the call and more, delivering a string of stories last week that amounted to a master class in how to cover the border.

Among the highlights were the story of a 7-year-old girl crossing the border without her parents in the middle of the night, the story of migrant families dumped by the Biden administration in a dangerous Mexican border town while other families in the same circumstance gained entry into the U.S., and in-flight coverage of a 5-year-old Honduran immigrant en route to Baltimore. The immersive multiformat work received tremendous play. 

For bringing to life the human stories of those seeking entry to the United States, especially the sharp increase in the number of families and children in recent weeks and the struggles of border officials to cope, Gómez Licón, Cortez, Mone, Spagat, Lopez and Garcia share AP’s Best of the Week honors.

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May 07, 2021

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Persistence pays off with scoop on U.S. plan to share vaccines

scored an exclusive, on-the-record interview about U.S. plans to share 60 million doses of vaccine with the world.Miller, who has turned COVID reporting into a fulltime beat at the White House, repeatedly prodded officials on a matter of keen global interest — an explanation for why the U.S. wasn’t sharing more of its vaccine supplies with the rest of the world. Just days after Miller had teamed up with reporters around the globe for a story on the growing calls for the U.S. to start sharing doses with poorer countries, the White House responded to Miller’s latest request with a promise: “Do we have some news to share with you.” Ninety minutes later, Miller was on the phone with COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and his deputies who outlined plans to share millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.AP had the story exclusively, with the only on-the-record comments from Zients. Other major news organizations scrambled to match the news, some with anonymous sourcing. Miller’s scoop scored the most use by AP customers for the day. https://bit.ly/3vME9Q6

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