Best of the Week — First Winner

AP reveals how dirty US fuel byproduct contributes to India’s dangerously polluted air

Oil extracted from the tar sands of Canada has contributed to booming production among American refineries, but it also has created a messy legacy: Ton upon ton of a filthy byproduct called petroleum coke. U.S. utilities don’t want it because of its extremely high sulfur content, leaving refineries with one option – getting rid of it – because stockpiling had stirred community outcries. Tammy Webber, a Chicago-based reporter with the environmental beat team, wondered: If refineries couldn’t offload the substance in the U.S., what were they doing with it?

Through a year’s worth of detective work, Webber and her beat team colleague in New Delhi, Katy Daigle, traced the shadowy network that trades in oil refineries' bottom-of-the-barrel leftovers. They found that India was the leading destination of “petcoke” from the U.S., and Indian officials had no idea the amount of petcoke flowing into the country was 20 times more than just six years before. Nor did they know how it was being used in a country already choking on some of the world’s dirtiest air.

Within 24 hours of the story hitting the wire, India’s government announced it would phase out imports of petcoke and had begun working on a policy to end the practice.

For revealing the secretive transport of petroleum coke from the U.S. to one of the world’s most polluted countries, and for drawing an immediate reaction from the government of India, Webber and Daigle win this week’s Beat of the Week.

Best of the Week — First Winner

Inside story: How Russia hacked the Democrats’ emails and Putin’s foes

“Hi,” the email from Google began, before turning more ominous. “Someone just used your password to try to sign in to your Google Account.” Change your password immediately, it urged, by clicking here. But the email wasn’t actually from Google, and it wasn’t sent randomly. It was from hackers connected to Russia who were targeting Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

What eventually emerged from the successful hack – thousands of embarrassing emails from campaign chairman John Podesta and others – was widely reported in the summer and fall of 2016. But the anatomy of how that hack occurred had never been revealed, until now. That investigative story, by Raphael Satter, Justin Myers, Jeff Donn and Chad Day, and a companion piece about wider Russian efforts targeting an array of Kremlin opponents, is this week’s Beat of the Week.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Provocative first interview with new Palestinian PM

for the first international media interview with new Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. Shtayyeh accused the United States of declaring “financial war” on his people and said a purported American peace plan will be “born dead,” a comment that prompted angry reaction from the White House. https://bit.ly/2VovBjB

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP exclusive video: Inside Borough Market during London Bridge attack

It began with a photograph showing one of the London Bridge attackers lying dead with a police officer standing over him. The Associated Press had bought it from a freelancer and now wanted to interview him. When it proved difficult to reach him by phone, AP producer Natalia Gohl friended him on Facebook and discovered something even more extraordinary: nine minutes of harrowing video of police hunting for the attackers that he streamed live during the assault.

Gohl’s discovery – the feed was private and had only a few hundred views – and the intense negotiations that followed to obtain the video led to a global exclusive. It is the Beat of the Week.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Breaking open UAE’s secret prisons in Yemen

for revealing the extent of the United Arab Emirates' network of secret prisons in southern Yemen – at least 18 black sites – and the pervasiveness of torture. Her work forced U.S. officials to confirm for the first time that American interrogators have questioned detainees from the prisons, a potential violation of international law that would counter efforts to disassociate the U.S. war on terror from the use of torture. http://apne.ws/2s5h22B

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Photographer leads dominant coverage of deadly typhoon

for delivering compelling photos and key story elements from Nagano, ground zero following Typhoon Hagibis, one of Japan’s worst typhoons in memory. Hong’s photos depicting victims coping with mass destruction in the storm’s wake dominated international play online and in print, including the front page of The Japan Times.https://bit.ly/2Pi6USKhttps://bit.ly/31I0EGq

Best of the States

AP Exclusive: Anti-outsourcing senator's family business uses Mexican labor

One of the most vulnerable senators up for re-election in 2018 – Democrat Joe Donnelly of Indiana - has staked his nearly two-decade political career on opposition to outsourcing and free-trade agreements that ship American jobs abroad.

Following up on a tip from Washington, D.C., colleague Erica Werner, Indiana Statehouse reporter Brian Slodysko pulled together public documents and customs records to reveal that Donnelly has benefited financially from the very free trade policies he has decried since his first run for Congress. As Slodysko reported in his “Only on AP” story, Donnelly earned thousands of dollars in 2016 alone from stock in the arts and crafts business his family has owned for generations, which ships raw materials to its Mexican factory that produces ink pads and other supplies.

For shining light on something a politician would have preferred left unknown to his constituents, Slodysko wins this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP owns Spanish front pages with Barcelona march photos

for dominating coverage of a pro-Spanish demonstration in Barcelona that was splashed across the front pages of all four of Spain’s top newspapers in a highly unusual sweep of the photo play. Several competitive international agencies shared a crane for overhead photos of the rally, but Morenatti’s photos won decisively, this following two weeks of prominent photo play in Spanish and international media for AP’s team coverage of demonstrations both for and against the Catalan independence movement. https://bit.ly/2q5ertl

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP: Rohingya women methodically raped by Myanmar armed forces

When AP Australia correspondent Kristen Gelineau, Singapore photographer Maye-E Wong and New Delhi video journalist Rishabh Jain entered the sprawling refugee camps in Bangladesh that are sheltering Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, they did not need to coax the women they found to talk.

Accounts of cruelty, violence and rape at the hands of Myanmar armed forces poured out of the survivors.

After only one week in the camps, Gelineau had interviewed 27 women and girls to gather evidence that Myanmar’s armed forces had carried out a pattern of sweeping, systematic rape across Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Joined by Wong and Jain during her second week in the camps, the team revisited several of the women Gelineau had interviewed to capture haunting photos and video. Gelineau and Wong then interviewed two more rape survivors, bringing to 29 the number of women struggling to survive in squalid conditions who were desperate to tell the world what had happened to them. The images of their tear-filled eyes, peering out over brightly colored headscarves, conveyed a depth of suffering almost impossible to describe.

For their searing account in words, photos and video, Gelineau, Wong and Jain have earned the Beat of the Week.

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP Exclusive: China forces Uighurs to cut births with IUDs, abortions, sterilization

The shocking story exposed a serious human rights issue: The Chinese government has forced the use of IUDs, abortions and sterilization on members of China’s Muslim minority in an apparent effort to reduce its population. 

The piece, which ran without a byline for security reasons, established that China is imposing birth control on Uighurs and other Muslims in a far more widespread and systematic way than previously known. The exclusive reporting drew on Uighur and Kazakh sources, research by a prominent China scholar and hours-long interviews with ex-detainees, family members and even a former detention camp instructor. 

The story elicited a strong global response from government officials, news media and the public.

For uncovering another major chapter on the plight of the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China, the unidentified AP reporter wins this week’s Best of the Week award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Global teamwork delivers exclusive coverage of Nobel Prizes

used exceptional planning, nimble teamwork and multiformat expertise to elevate AP’s annual Nobel Prize coverage with a string of exclusives, first interviews, live video and sharp reporting overall.Starting on Monday, Oct. 4, with the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine awarded to two scientists based in the United States, AP quickly tracked down laureate David Julius. New York-based video journalist Ted Shaffrey convinced the winner to join a special zoom booking that was left open for the duration of the awards to expedite interviews with the laureates.That early success was repeated by AP staffers across continents and formats as the awards were announced throughout the week, including the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to journalist Maria Ressa in the Philippines and journalist Dmitry Muratov in Russia. Southeast Asia news director Kiko Rosario used his deep contacts in the Philippines to get the first external on-camera interview with Ressa, the first Filipino winner of the peace prize, while in Russia, AP offered an exclusive live video interview with Muratov. Shortly afterwards, video journalist Kostya Manenkov and senior photo editor Alexander Zemlianichenko had exclusive access as Muratov celebrated his win with champagne in front of his colleagues.AP’s comprehensive coverage was fast and accurate and the workflow smooth as Berlin-based correspondent Frank Jordans anchored the text reporting, working with specialist writers in each case. Stockholm-based video journalist David Keyton coordinated the spot coverage of the announcements and the subsequent global reactions.https://apnews.com/hub/nobel-p...https://aplink.news/ikuhttps://aplink.video/a04https://aplink.video/fgqhttps://aplink.news/wwzhttps://aplink.video/hn0

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Nevada sought to use Chinese COVID tests from UAE

joined forces for this rare hybrid story of state and international politics, revealing how the rush for medical supplies amid the pandemic raised new concerns about international trade and safety. Price used Nevada public records to report that one way the state tried to secure testing kits was by leveraging a former MGM CEO’s connections with the United Arab Emirates, which partnered with MGM to build a $9.2 billion multi-resort development in Las Vegas. The UAE donated 250,000 Chinese-made test kits that weren’t eventually used because federal officials raised concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and the involvement of a Chinese company that is the world’s largest genetic sequencing firm. Gambrell framed the reporting around U.S. officials’ concern that foreign powers could exploit the pandemic to access medical histories and genetic traits of test takers. https://bit.ly/37mUYIl

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP shows how legal loophole creates bizarre DC pot bazaar

for combining source development and persistence to produce a wonderful text story and video about the bizarre marijuana trade in the nation's capital. http://bit.ly/2yKEHYV

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Melania Trump’s solo Africa trip revealed first by AP

for being ahead on the news that First Lady Melania Trump’s first big international solo trip will be to Africa. https://bit.ly/2N61Kby

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP reveals: Pakistani Christian girls trafficked to China as brides

for an excellent example of cross-regional cooperation that uncovered how Pakistan’s poor Christian population has become a new target in China’s market for foreign brides, leading to hundreds of girls being trafficked to China – a trade that has not been previously reported in international media. In the slums around Punjab, Gannon immersed herself in Pakistan’s Christian community, meeting a dozen brides and girls, and finding brokers and local priests complicit in the trade. Kang, meanwhile, worked the China side. With Wang’s help he eventually tracked down one husband in a small village, providing the other side of the story. The result was the first story on the subject beyond small stories in Pakistani media that didn’t capture the full scope of the trade. https://bit.ly/2PSpNtDhttps://bit.ly/2VDl1q7

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Federal grand jury probing GOP fundraiser Broidy

for breaking news that a federal grand jury is investigating top GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy and whether he used his role as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders. https://bit.ly/2JyrREc

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Smart, resourceful effort yields scoop on crew of stricken tanker

for using their years of experience in Dubai to get around restrictions, sending exclusive video, photos and text as the crew of an oil tanker that had been attacked in the Gulf of Oman arrived in the city-state. Advised by correspondent Nasser Karimi that there was only one flight the crew could take from Iran, Gambrell and Abuelgasim rushed to Dubai’s airport, leaving their gear in the car to avoid the attention of authorities. When the sailors arrived the pair sprang into action, shooting photos and video with their iPhones as the crew left the airport.https://bit.ly/2L0D96thttps://bit.ly/2ZwjjUM

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP unmatched in multiformat coverage of Saudi consulate investigation

The disappearance and killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey has been one of the biggest, and most competitive, stories in the world this month, and the AP’s team in Turkey dominated coverage last week with its reporting surrounding a crime scene search of the consulate.

When crime scene investigators arrived at the consulate without notice on Oct. 15, Turkey news editor Ayse Wieting already had one camera fixed on the consulate door for 24-hour live coverage and quickly scrambled two more cameras with LiveU units. The AP beat the competition by more than two hours with the first edit of investigators entering the consulate.

On the text side, Ankara correspondent Suzan Fraser later got a high-level Turkish source to confirm that the consulate search turned up “evidence” that Khashoggi was killed there, a scoop that was cited across international and Turkish media.

And AP’s photo coverage of the story was also dominant, complementing the outstanding the video and text efforts. Photographers worked hard to find new angles on a visually challenging story, where often the only visible activity was people walking in and out of a building.

For impressive efforts and ingenuity in covering a worldwide top story of paramount importance to AP members and customers in all formats, the AP team earns Best of the Week honors.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats team dominates coverage of Italian train derailment

for quick work that positioned AP to own the international coverage of a deadly train derailment in Italy. https://bit.ly/2IZtEop

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

First AP/Frontline collaboration explores treatment of migrant children

for breaking the news that the U.S. government held a record 69,550 infants, children and teenagers in custody over the past year, published as part of a collaboration with PBS’s “Frontline.” The story and documentary were the result of a collaboration initiated by Burke and led by international investigative editor Ron Nixon. The joint project built on years of Burke’s work with Mendoza and many colleagues on the immigration beat team and in Latin America. Together, they contniued to press for access inside shelters, interview kids who had been detained, document the trauma risks, and garner interviews with officials responsible for the situation.https://bit.ly/35oq9yBhttps://bit.ly/2O5k4kKhttps://to.pbs.org/2s3fStf