Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Dogged reporting, spycraft expose Texas attorney general scandal

used source work, non-public documents and a technique borrowed from spycraft to connect recent criminal allegations against the Texas attorney general to the conservative Republican’s previously unreported extramarital affair.In late September, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s top deputies accused him of criminally abusing his office to help a wealthy donor. Bleiberg spent weeks building sources in his aggressive pursuit of answers to what was behind these explosive, but unspecified, allegations.Those efforts paid off last week when Bleiberg was able to obtain a private transcript of real estate developer Nate Paul acknowledging that the attorney general recommended he hire a woman whom Paxton was rumored to have had an affair with. The sensitive document was picked up at a “dead drop” – a prearranged drop spot – by Austin reporter Paul Weber.Bleiberg then worked sources he’d developed while breaking earlier stories to identify people whom the attorney general may have told about his affair. His relentless outreach ultimately turned up two people with firsthand accounts of Paxton acknowledging the affair in 2018.The reporting allowed AP to draw back the curtain on one of America’s most prominent conservative legal crusaders and break major news on a highly competitive story. It revealed a relationship that’s almost certainly at the center of an ongoing federal public corruption probe. https://bit.ly/2UnuZc1

Best of the States

AP analysis: Sports betting has not been the jackpot some states expected

When the Supreme Court allowed all states to offer betting on sports, some lawmakers across the country saw an opportunity: Here was a way to bolster state budgets with revenue from an activity that was already happening in the shadows. But an AP review showed that actual tax revenue has yet to match expectations in the majority of states that legalized sports gambling.

State government team reporter Geoff Mulvihill, based in New Jersey, and Rhode Island statehouse reporter Jennifer McDermott looked through monthly state revenue reports and then compared the tax revenue generated to the original estimates in the legislation that authorized sports betting. They found that in four of the six states that legalized it last year – Rhode Island, West Virginia, Mississippi and Pennsylvania – tax revenue was far below what the state had projected it would be.

The revenue story was the latest in a string of distinctive stories from reporters working the sports betting beat. Many of the stories, including the state revenue piece, have been accompanied by a data set compiled by Mulvihill that tracks every piece of legislation related to sports gambling. It is being made available to all AP customers who subscribe to our data distribution platform and has been promoted to local reporters as a way to add context to their stories.

For revealing the difference between lawmakers’ promises on tax revenue and the reality, Mulvihill and McDermott win this week’s Best of the States prize.

Best of the Week — First Winner

At the intersection of politics and religion, AP reports from Michael Flynn’s Christian nationalist road show

Michael Flynn’s ReAwaken America cross-country tour has attracted lots of media attention, but journalists trying to cover it have faced a hostile environment. So correspondent Michelle Smith and photographer Carolyn Kaster simply bought tickets to the tour’s stop in upstate New York.

The decision to go as attendees made all the difference: The two were fully engaged in Flynn’s world for two days, documenting an event at the heart of an ascendent Christian nationalist movement. And Washington colleague Richard Lardner added more reporting as he monitored the event on livestream.

The trio’s story, part of an AP investigation in partnership with PBS “Frontline,” detailed how Flynn and allies are using ReAwaken America to spread divisive rhetoric and conspiracy theories targeting democratic ideas and institutions while urging people to join and take action. The compelling all-formats coverage has won strong play and readership.For an up-close, insightful package on a far-right movement spearheaded by a former general close to Donald Trump, Smith, Kaster and Lardner earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Grand jury report blasts NY foster care system

for exclusively obtaining a scathing grand jury report showing how better information-sharing among various agencies could have stopped the alleged abusive actions of a foster parent years before he was arrested. http://apne.ws/2m8RfHo

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP breaks more news on National Parks sexual harassment scandal

for breaking the latest fallout from a scandal involving sexual harassment and other misconduct around the National Parks Service: Disciplinary action would be taken against 10 people at Yellowstone National Park. http://bit.ly/2wsYfzX http://wapo.st/2ffQPwF

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP lands Newsmaker interview with fugitive auto executive Ghosn

had been maneuvering for an interview with Carlos Ghosn ever since the automotive executive escaped Japan inside a box 17 months ago. The senior producer, based in Paris, plied sources from Ghosn’s days at the top of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, and insisted that AP wanted a no-holds-barred, in-person session with the man once feted as a superstar and whose career came crashing down when he was arrested in Japan on accusations of financial misconduct. Schaeffer’s tenacity and insistence on high standards won AP an exceptional three-language interview that was Ghosn’s most comprehensive to date, making headlines on three continents on the eve of his latest legal drama. This was also a pioneering effort in AP’s Newsmaker Interview initiative and a stellar example of teamwork across AP’s formats and departments, including all the others in the room for the interview: regional news director Zeina Karam, photographer Hussein Malla, video journalist Alex Turnbull, senior producer Fay Abuelgasim and camera operator Fadi Tawil.https://bit.ly/34Md7g7https://bit.ly/2SY1MGY

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP reveals lack of coaching diversity in women’s college hoops

took a deep look into a diversity issue in women’s college basketball that has been mostly overlooked — of the 65 Power Five head coaches, only 13 are Black women.Walker, who is helping cover the tournament remotely, stepped away from the action on the court to highlight the low number of Black women in the top coaching jobs. She interviewed coaches and administrators to get answers as to why so few and what needs to happen for that to change. And she led off the story with a telling anecdote -- when Dawn Staley and Joni Taylor met up in the Southeastern Conference Championship, it was the first time in 41 years that teams led by Black women had faced off in a tournament championship. After the story was published, a Vanderbilt official summed up the responses to the article in a note to Teresa saying, “Crushed it!” https://bit.ly/3wfqMc3

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Documents reveal alleged links between Trump 2016 and PAC

exclusively obtained documents from a former Cambridge Analytica insider revealing what an election watchdog group claims was illegal coordination between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and a billionaire-funded pro-Trump super PAC. The cache of previously unreleased emails, presentations and slide decks was provided to the AP by Cambridge Analytica’s first business development director, Brittany Kaiser. Burke’s story detailed how Trump’s 2016 campaign coordinated behind the scenes with the political action committee, and provided rich detail on how some key 2016 staffers are involved in the president’s current re-election campaign.In a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission, the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center says the now-defunct British data analytics firm violated election law by ignoring its own written policy, blurring the lines between work performed for Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Make America Number 1 political action committee, largely funded by billionaire Robert Mercer. https://bit.ly/3dINJvqhttps://bit.ly/31tUnAy

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive photos as agents search ship for tons cocaine

for capturing exclusive images of agents searching a container ship found to be carrying more than 17 tons of cocaine. Rourke made the smart decision to shoot not at the Philadelphia port, where the massive ship was docked, but from a park across the river in New Jersey – enabling him to a make a variety of images of agents and drug-sniiffing dogs in action, while photographers at the dock were able to shoot little more than static photos of the ship. https://bit.ly/2Yqqg9C

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Acute shortage of public defenders in Oregon and beyond

picked up on a seemingly mundane local story: A state working group was looking into problems with Oregon’s public defense system. That seed led the Portland-based reporter to interview attorneys, private investigators and a suspect in an attempted murder, revealing that the combination of a post-pandemic glut of delayed cases and the state’s severe shortage of public defenders means hundreds of low-income defendants don’t have legal representation — sometimes in serious felony cases — and judges have dismissed several dozen cases.Flaccus found similar crises unfolding from Maine to New Mexico. And she showed the many painful repercussions of the problem, highlighting how young victims of sex abuse and trafficking are hesitant to come forward because of disillusionment with the system.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: More than 100 state lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct

for tallying more than 100 state lawmakers across the U.S. who had been credibly accused of harassment in the #MeToo era in the past three years – and what actions, if any, states have taken to address the problem. After a Michigan state lawmaker was accused by a young reporter and a fellow lawmaker of sexual harassment, AP moved quickly to provide a completely distinctive story – as well as an exclusive data set that members could mine for their own use. https://bit.ly/2GBJLFb

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

New Jersey fails to identify polluters; governor promises fix

for accountability journalism made possible through an open records request, reporting that New Jersey environmental regulators had failed for nearly a decade to put out a legally required annual report on water pollution that identifies the state’s worst polluters and how the state is holding them responsible. His exclusive story drew a pledge by the governor that the publication of the reports would resume, and kudos from the state’s major news outlets. https://bit.ly/2LysvUS

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP breaks news on Trump involvement in Michigan certification

delivered two jarring scoops as President Donald Trump shifted to a new tactic in his effort to upend the results of the 2020 presidential election.When the two Republicans on the Wayne County, Michigan, canvass board tried to rescind their vote to certify local results, White House Reporter Zeke Miller wondered if Trump was behind their move and started connecting the dots. Working with Washington colleague Colleen Long and others on the law enforcement team, Miller called around to sources he had developed around the country and uncovered major news: The president had made personal calls to the two canvass board members before they tried to rescind their votes. It showed that Trump’s game had shifted from the courtrooms, where his team was constantly losing, to personally trying to intervene. Miller’s scoop went viral — used by hundreds of websites and tweeted by every major election watcher in the country as a shocking example of the lengths Trump would go to in order to subvert the election. Lansing correspondent David Eggert, working with Miller and Long, followed up with a scoop of his own, reporting that state lawmakers had been summoned to Washington to meet with Trump. The trio’s stories on the drama in Michigan were stocked with news but also wove in critical context on the baseless and extraordinary claims that Trump was making and the damage he was doing to confidence in democratic traditions. Their stories were clear, authoritative, and comprehensive, including important fact check material. https://bit.ly/3lc8IJ6https://bit.ly/36huruX

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP team produces unmatched multiplatform coverage of Super Bowl LVII

swung into action starting Jan. 30 but took off the week of the big game. Sportswriters Rob Maaddi, Josh Dubow, Dave Skretta, David Brandt, John Marshall and Simmi Buttar stayed on top of news.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Lawmakers target loopholes for spouses who drug, rape their partners

for a distinctive and deeply reported legislative story on the so-called “marital rape exemption” or “spousal defense,” a legal loophole in many states that allows spouses to escape criminal prosecution for raping partners who are drugged, unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. Smyth and Karnowski reported that previous state legislative attempts to remove those exemptions have a mixed record, but that’s starting to change. https://bit.ly/2vLmScQ

Best of the States

APNewsBreak: Records show Montana official’s misuse of state vehicle

When the Helena Police Department cited the statute of limitations in declining to bring charges against Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton for misuse of a state-owned vehicle, Helena reporter Amy Hanson dug deeper.

After multiple public-records requests Hanson found that Secretary of State Corey Stapleton traveled tens of thousands of miles more than what had been previously reported, including many times when he had no official events on his calendar. And she found that the misuse continued until he turned in the vehicle in March, well within the statute of limitations.

For determined reporting that resulted in a textbook example of accountability journalism, Amy Hanson wins this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Vietnamese hero in fishing boat sinking was also the de facto captain

for exclusively getting the back story that boat modifications may have contributed to the capsizing of a fishing boat whose mixed nationality crew was saved through the actions of a young Vietnamese man who was the boat’s de facto captain, rather than the inexperienced American who was its captain of record. https://bit.ly/2GUuaim

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP Exclusive: Adoptee deported by US sues South Korea

for an exclusive interview with Adam Crapser, who was deported to South Korea four decades after his adoption by an American couple. Crapser, forcibly separated from his wife, children and friends in America, described his landmark lawsuit against the Seoul government and a private adoption agency in a case that highlights the shaky legal status of possibly thousands of Korean adoptees. https://bit.ly/2FKtGP1

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP Exclusive: Trump rape accuser seeking his DNA

for landing an exclusive report about the columnist E. Jean Carroll seeking a DNA sample from President Donald Trump to potentially back her accusation that he raped her in a department store dressing room. Peltz raised the question of DNA testing with Carroll’s legal team last November and stayed in contact with the team, prompting them to reach out with the news that they had tested the dress Carroll wore during the alleged assault. https://bit.ly/36ZTaRM

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Doris Day, actress who honed wholesome image, dies at 97

for swift collaborative action, first retracing a lost call from a source at Doris Day’s longtime animal foundation who confirmed that the much-loved actress and singer had died, and then assembling a series of urgent news updates and preparedness that moved before the competition. https://bit.ly/2EqBbIC