Best of the Week — First Winner

AP’s global ‘Sacred Rivers’ series explores hallowed waterways and cultures under threat

Over the course of several months, more than 30 AP staffers across five continents teamed up to execute the illuminating and alarming six-part Sacred Rivers series. The ambitious project leveraged all-formats skills to tell lyrical stories, each with compelling images and presentation, engaging audiences with the intersection of spirituality, religion, Indigenous culture, business practices, energy, environmental degradation — even geopolitical conflicts.

The series resonated with AP’s readers and customers worldwide.

For an enterprising, inspiring and unmatched creative collaboration that showcased AP journalism at its best, the Sacred Rivers project team is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats interview with Yellen in Africa yields sharp comments on US debit limit impasse

, a treasury reporter in Washington, spent weeks negotiating a commitment for a rare all-formats interview with Janet Yellen during the treasury secretary’s visit to Africa. The interview couldn’t have happened at a better time, as Yellen took questions from AP in Senegal just two days after announcing the U.S. government had bumped up against its debt limit and would need to use “extraordinary measures” to avoid default.Read more.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

The AP Interview breaks news on IMF head's push for China to rethink zero-COVID policy

scored a rare sit down, on-camera interview with International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva that broke news: She urged China to rethink its zero-COVID policy and said the U.S. Federal Reserve has to keep raising rates for the good of the global economy.

Read more.

Best of the Week — First Winner

Monthslong investigation weaves sordid tale of debauchery within DEA

"The drug war is a game,” José Irizarry told two AP reporters during his final moments of freedom. “It was a very fun game that we were playing.”

Irizarry’s decision to spend some of his last few hours before beginning a 12-year federal prison sentence with two AP reporters in early 2022 was a moment years in the making that yielded a bombshell bacchanal of a story -- itself months in the making.

Four years ago, just before starting at The Associated Press, New York-based investigative reporter Jim Mustian received a tip about a DEA investigation into one of the agency’s own agents in Colombia. That spiraled into a string of AP scoops by Mustian and Miami-based Latin America correspondent Joshua Goodman on DEA corruption in Latin America, including an exclusive on the arrest of that agent. Irizarry had been accused of conspiring with Colombian drug cartels to divert millions from DEA money laundering stings in what prosecutors called one of the worst betrayals in DEA history.

For a deeply reported and compelling investigation, telling the tale of a former war-on-drugs warrior who crossed multiple boundaries, Mustian and Goodman earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Sweeping coverage puts AP ahead on Musk’s first week at Twitter

teamed up with a cast of AP colleagues to deliver scoop after scoop on Elon Musk’s tumultuous first week at Twitter. AP prevailed by placing a premium on one defining element of the storyline: How the platform is changing and how that affects regular people and their discourse on the platform.After Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion, the Technology team knew that the first week would be critical to determining what the celebrity CEO intended for the platform. As the company veered into uncharted territory, the journalists worked sources, aggressively but responsibly reporting what AP could see and confirm, ensuring reliable, fact-based coverage.From the chaotic layoffs to the fire sale on blue check marks to a sweeping look at Musk’s debut as Twitter CEO, the AP team broke news, setting the standard for coverage of the social media giant.Read more

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP Investigation: Moscow taking Ukrainian kids to raise them as Russians

Russia has been open about its desire to turn Ukrainian orphans into Russian citizens with Russian families — a flashpoint of the war. But whether or not they have parents, raising the children of war in another country or culture can be a marker of genocide, an attempt to erase culture and identity.

This investigative piece, reported from Ukraine, Russia and France, made AP the first news organization to show the disturbing process from beginning to end — and prove that many of the children are not orphans at all. The all-formats story led with the account of a Ukrainian mother who, against the odds, successfully retrieved six children who had been trapped in Mariupol and seized by pro-Russia forces.

The story won wide play online, was a hit on Twitter and was singled out during a State Department briefing.

For documenting a severe breach of human rights with a heart-wrenching story that resonated across audiences, Sarah El Deeb, Tanya Titova, Anastasiia Shvets, Elizaveta Tilna and Kirill Zarubin earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP documents efforts to save fish threatened by US wildfires

used multiformat field reporting and extensive research to document extraordinary efforts to save rare fish populations from the environmental effects of climate-fueled megafires across the western U.S.While interviewing biologists, environment writer Flesher learned details of a rescue of Rio Grande cutthroat trout and coordinated with Peterson who later shot photos and video, including underwater images of the fish's release 750 miles away in New Mexico’s Carson Nation Forest.The distinctive package played widely in the western U.S. and beyond, drawing readers and viewers.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Inside the lines: AP chronicles San Quentin prison tennis program

gained exclusive access to a tennis program in California’s San Quentin State Prison, producing a distinctive enterprise piece on sports behind bars.Bay area sports writer McCauley, a former college tennis player, had been invited to play tennis with inmates and requested permission from prison authorities to write about the program, which pairs inmates with a player from the outside community. She and photographer Vásquez were allowed into California’s oldest prison twice — McCauley as a player and reporter, and Vásquez to capture images of the program and the inmates’ stories.The result was an engaging account of a sports program seeking to build a stronger sense of community among inmates, as well as the connections they forge with players from the outside the prison.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP/‘Frontline’: Michael Flynn building Christian nationalist movement

teamed up with PBS “Frontline” on a deeply reported all-formats investigative package revealing how retired lieutenant general and former national security adviser Michael Flynn has used public appearances, endorsements and a network of well-funded groups to build a movement centered on Christian nationalist ideas.Smith spoke with more than 60 people, from Flynn’s family and friends to his opponents, examined dozens of Flynn’s speeches, interviews and other appearances, reviewed campaign finance records, corporate and charity filings, social media posts, as well as attending Flynn events. She also landed a rare interview with the retired three-star general — the footage edited by AP investigative video journalist Roosblad — and spent two days reporting on the ReAwaken America tour in upstate New York, along with photographer Kaster and a “Frontline” crew.The joint AP/“Frontline” reporting found Flynn deliberately and systematically driving a far-right political narrative with the goal of influencing elections this year and beyond.Read more

Best of the Week — First Winner

AP multiformat pair gains access to Midwest abortion clinics, documents one woman’s procedure

Two of the most challenging aspects of covering the ongoing abortion story in the U.S. are getting inside abortion clinics and telling the stories of women who have decided to end their pregnancies. So it was significant when two AP journalists gained exclusive access to a pair of abortion clinics — and to a woman who allowed them to follow her through the entire abortion process.

Medical writer Lindsey Tanner used her sources to find a clinic in Ohio sending patients to Indiana, where tighter abortion restrictions were still weeks away. She and video journalist Patrick Orsagos saw both clinics in operation, and they documented —with sensitivity and candor — patient Monica Eberhart’s experience, from her morning routine to the clinic room during her abortion. The resulting package delicately wove together Eberhart’s story with others who are navigating the ever-changing state laws on abortion.

For access and reporting that bought a rare and timely perspective to the issue of abortion, Tanner and Orsagos earn AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner honors.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP profiles amputee running 102 marathons — in 102 days

tells the feel-good story we needed, in the person of Jacky Hunt-Broersma — an amputee athlete from South Africa who’s closing in on a new world record: running 102 marathons in as many days.New England editor Kole himself has a dozen and a half marathons under his laces, and his social media feeds buzz with compelling news from fellow runners.But Hunt-Broersma’s story was special. Kole surfaced it for a global audience, telling the incredible story of a woman who lost one of her legs to a rare cancer, only to set a grueling goal: covering the 26.2-mile marathon distance each day for 102 days, all on a carbon-fiber prothesis.The story, pegged to Monday's 126th running of the Boston Marathon, won widespread play, readership and social media interaction.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP reports on consequences of shrinking US police ranks

spent weeks finding and reporting on real people across the country affected by the trickle-down effects of a shortage of police offers.Instead of focusing solely on the police, whose ranks are thinning because of burnout and other issues, Portland, Oregon-Based Flaccus, working with photographer Mitchelldyer, gave voice to the parents of a cold-case victim whose case was pushed aside because of rising gun homicides.In Philadelphia, Lauer and photographer Rourke showed how complaints have swelled over abandoned cars and other quality-of-life issues in low-income areas. And in Los Angeles, Dazio, video journalist Garcia and photographer Dovarganes found the problem has deeply impacted police homeless outreach.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

The AP Interview breaks news with General Motors CEO Barra

broke local, global and financial news by tapping AP’s broad reach and deep expertise to make the most of a rare interview with one of the business world’s most powerful executives: General Motors CEO Mary Barra.After securing the all-formats sit-down, veteran auto writer Krisher and the Business News team reached out to colleagues across departments and across the globe, as well as industry experts, to craft an interview plan that was sure to deliver news. Among the nuggets from the wide-ranging interview: Barra’s bold prediction to sell more electric vehicles than Tesla in just a few years, and her commitment to keep GM’s headquarters in downtown Detroit.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP investigation reveals childhood vaccine crisis in Venezuela

produced a distinctive, exclusive investigative story using data analysis and deep reporting to reveal that many Venezuelan children lack access to essential vaccines, putting the country among the world’s worst for inoculating children against potentially fatal diseases and leaving neighboring countries vulnerable to outbreaks.Data on vaccination rates is elusive in Venezuela, where institutions are shrouded in secrecy, corruption and bureaucracy. The country hasn’t published rates since 2015. But Garcia Cano, Caracas-based Andes correspondent, obtained rare government data from a source, as well as estimates from public health agencies, showing the vaccination crisis is growing.She also visited clinics, spoke with families and interviewed public health experts for a comprehensive look at the availability of vaccines in Venezuela’s unraveling health-care system.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP duo wins over Santorini’s cloistered nuns, tells their stories

gained unprecedented access to a convent housing 13 cloistered Catholic nuns on the trendy Greek island of Santorini, a favorite of tourists. The nuns devote their lives to praying for those visitors and for the world — their near-constant prayer deemed necessary to support more publicly engaged ministries.The AP pair won the trust of the nuns, who opened the doors to areas of the convent off-limits to visitors while sharing what calls them to this sequestered life of devotion to God. The result is a distinctive and revealing package of Dell’Orto’s illuminating text and Giannakouris’ equally compelling photography.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP Exclusive: FBI investigating abuse by New Orleans clergy

reported exclusively that the FBI has opened a sweeping probe into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans, marking a rare federal foray into such a case, looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them.Mustian’s scoop, based on law enforcement authorities and others familiar with the probe, marked a major shift in strategy for federal authorities, who have rarely opened investigations into the Catholic clergy abuse scandals, particularly cases built around the Mann Act, a century-old, anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits taking anyone across state lines for illicit sex.Mustian’s detailed reporting found that many of the cases the FBI is probing in New Orleans allege abuse by clergy during out-of-state trips, including to Mississippi camps or amusement parks in Texas and Florida.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Reporter’s persistence rewarded with exclusive Biden interview

scored an extremely rare one-on-one interview with President Joe Biden that yielded a half-hour conversation on topics ranging from the nation’s economic woes to its damaged psyche.Biden did no print interviews in the first 16months of his presidency, except for a few chats with columnists. That dry spell ended when Boak sat down with Biden on Thursday, the result of a year and a half of persistence by the White House reporter. The session made news as Biden told AP the American people are “really, really down” after a tumultuous two years, but he stressed that a recession was “not inevitable” and held out hope of giving the country a greater sense of confidence.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Even the competition uses AP’s interview with new Sri Lankan PM

used perseverance and preparation to land a timely, news-making interview with Sri Lanka's newly appointed prime minister. AP’s Asia team had pressed for an interview as soon as Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed prime minister for a sixth time, faced with a disastrous economic crisis that has nearly bankrupted the country.Once the interview was secured, the team strategized on how to make it stand out and break news. The careful planning paid off, delivering to a timely, news-making interview with Wickremesinghe saying that as his nation hunts desperately for fuel, he’d be willing to buy more Russian oil despite pressure to isolate Moscow.The story earned widespread international play and credits, and even a major competitor took the rare step of citing AP in its own story.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: Expanding Gulf Coast gas exports raise residents’ concerns

led an AP team producing a visually rich, deeply reported package examining a vast expansion of natural gas facilities in coastal Southwest Louisiana that is escalating greenhouse gas emissions, raising global temperatures, fueling extreme weather and imperiling communities.Reporting from coastal Southwest Louisiana, energy reporter Bussewitz and national multiformat journalist Irvine captured the lives of families hurt by extreme weather linked to a build-out of liquefied natural gas export terminals. But the two went further: They depicted an urgent concern: Where once it looked as if the nation might soon shift away from fossil fuel industries, a reversal has occurred. The U.S. has become the world’s largest exporter of LNG, with worrisome consequences for Gulf Coast residents and the planet’s climate.A few news organizations, mostly local or niche environmental publications, have reported previously on this issue, but none have had the depth and range of AP's package, with its data, visuals and reporting on human impact.Read more

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

All-formats package: Environmental workers facing violence

teamed up to vividly illustrate why environmental work is emerging as one of the world’s most dangerous professions, as seen through the lens of one such worker in Haiti. In 2020 alone, a record 227 environmental workers were killed globally, according to one human rights organization.Daniel reported from New York while Haiti video journalist Luxama and his colleague, photographer Joseph, followed marine biologist Jean Wiener during a rare trip to his native Haiti. Wiener has been forced to do most of his conservation work from afar because of rampant violence in his homeland.With tight collaboration between AP departments and bureaus, the compelling package of text and visuals transports readers to the ominously named Massacre River as Wiener confronts climate change in a poor nation hit hard by global warming — and violence.Read more