Best of the States

AP's 50-state analysis: State legislatures lack public records of sexual misconduct claims

As the #MeToo movement spread to state capitols, AP statehouse reporters filed uniform FOIA requests with every legislature seeking information about past sexual misconduct cases and payouts to victims. The coordinated effort, overseen by State Government Team reporter David Lieb, produced some interesting numbers: roughly 70 complaints and nearly $3 million in sexual harassment settlements over the past decade.

But the real story was the information that wasn’t released.

In fact, a majority of states would not disclose records related to sexual misconduct among lawmakers. The most common response was that they had received no such complaints over the past decade, did not keep a record of any such complaints or were not legally bound to disclose the records. But Lieb's research revealed that even states with documented cases of lawmaker sexual harassment were not releasing records about those allegations – and potentially others.

Lieb worked with data editor Meghan Hoyer to organize and analyze the responses from our statehouse reporters in every state. The resulting spreadsheet was distributed to AP bureaus and customers weeks ahead of publication to allow for localizations. AP reporters in 19 states did just that, producing sidebars that in many cases landed on A1.

The mainbar and the state-by-state list of accused lawmakers received wide interest on the APNews app. The story also landed on at least 20 front pages.

For their 50-state accountability project on a topic that continues to rattle state capitols, Lieb and Hoyer win this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

States divided on combating sexual misconduct

for a story showing the vast majority of state legislatures said they intended to make changes to sexual harassment policies this year in the wake of the #MeToo movement, but half of the chambers have made no changes yet at all. http://bit.ly/2NtCZ5W http://bit.ly/2NqmYOb

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive: Widespread state action on gun control unlikely

for his exclusive story, based on 50-state reporting, that the public should not expect widespread action on gun control this year from state legislatures despite student walkouts nationwide. http://bit.ly/2FDF27Z

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

States tackling shortcomings in sexual misconduct policies

for revealing that a third of all state legislative chambers do not require sexual harassment training for lawmakers and a majority have no process for independent review of allegations. http://bit.ly/2DMhmtI http://bit.ly/2mnYqtc

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: States receiving disproportionate shares of virus aid

revealed that some of the least-populated states with relatively few coronavirus cases received an outsized proportion of the $150 billion in federal money that was designed to address virus-related expenses. The AP analysis found that much of the aid went to states where there was relatively little need. Alaska, Hawaii, Montana and Wyoming all received from $2 million to more than $3 million per COVID-19 case. The hardest-hit state, New York, received just $24,000 per case and New Jersey slightly more. https://bit.ly/2YZWQ5n

Best of the States

Intern’s rape accusation against Idaho lawmaker prompts AP national review of state legislatures

When a 19-year-old legislative intern reported that a state lawmaker in Idaho raped her, she almost immediately faced a campaign of harassment from right-wing groups in the state, and even from other state representatives, who publicized her identity against her will. A legislative panel then forced her to testify from behind a screen at an ethics hearing, after which she was followed and subjected to still further abuse by the accused lawmaker’s supporters.

The sordid story of the young woman’s ordeal was covered with sensitivity by Boise correspondent Rebecca Boone in a series of pieces that included an exclusive interview with the alleged victim, and it prompted a wider look by AP’s State Government Team at allegations of sexual misconduct in statehouses around the country. That story, led by correspondent David Lieb and Report for America data journalist Camille Fassett, provided state-by-state details to AP customers and revealed public allegations against at least 109 state lawmakers in 40 states.

For aggressive yet respectful coverage that put one woman’s voice at the center of the story while providing distinctive national context, Boone, Lieb and Fassett share this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP: States passing tough abortion laws often have weak social programs

collaborated with a team of AP state reporters on an analysis of federal data, finding that states passing the toughest abortion restrictions are generally the most challenging places for people to have and raise children. With the U.S. Supreme Court widely expected to roll back abortion rights later this year, the data and reporting revealed a weak network of social services in many of these states for women who become pregnant and may be unable to obtain an abortion.AP’s analysis, led by data journalists Fassett and Lo, looked at seven social safety net measurements collected by the federal government; visualized in an engaging interactive by the data team’s Gorman. The reporting team, led by Utah statehouse reporter Whitehurst, interviewed parents, researchers and nonprofit groups that provide support to pregnant people, new parents, infants and young children. And while the data overwhelming showed that Republican-controlled states with strict abortion laws performed the worst on these social services, the reporting also came with the important caveat that a few Democratically controlled states with more permissive abortion laws also measured poorly in some categories.Read more

Best of the States

AP Analysis: After previous police killings, states slow to reform use-of-force

Calls for police reforms after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis have echoed the calls to action after a wave of killings of young black men by police in 2014. 

So what happened after those killings? 

Ohio statehouse reporter Julie Carr Smyth, working with AP colleagues around the country, found that while nearly half the states have since enacted some type of reform, only a third passed legislation limiting use of force. The reporting revealed that contributions from politically influential police unions were a key factor in stalling legislation, while a separate analysis by the data team showed that Minneapolis police disproportionately used force against blacks when compared with other racial groups. 

The day Smyth’s story moved, a number of states made proposals to limit the use of deadly force.

For quickly reporting out and leading a national look at what reforms have taken place in the last six years, Smyth wins this week’s Best of the States award.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP finds many states failed to stockpile medical supplies

harnessed AP’s nationwide statehouse presence to report that before the coronavirus outbreak most states had failed to build their own stockpiles of medical supplies, and in many cases the supplies they did have were well past their expiration dates. https://bit.ly/2zFhU6F

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

AP examines states’ readiness for contact tracing

led a team of AP reporters to determine if state governments are prepared to conduct contact tracing, a key requirement for restarting state economies. They began by putting a series of detailed questions to state health officials. The AP review found a patchwork of systems around the country, with many states unable to keep up with caseloads and scrambling to hire and train enough people to handle the task for the months ahead. https://bit.ly/35jbrdk

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Exclusive: States, cities stockpiling unproven hydroxychloroquine

used AP feeds from across the country to report exclusively that millions of doses of hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug touted by President Trump, were flowing from private companies and the federal stockpile to states and cities, despite warnings from doctors that the drug was unproven for treatment of COVID-19. https://bit.ly/2zJ7fYP

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)

AP investigation: States spent billions on medical supplies

took the lead in obtaining and analyzing public records that disclosed state coronavirus-related spending that had largely been kept from the public. The reporters filed Freedom of Information Act requests in all 50 states seeking purchase order records to determine how much was being spent on what items, which suppliers the states were using and how the spending compared across the states.The findings revealed that overall the states spent at least $7 billion on medical gear in the first few months of the pandemic, a massive amount that had not been reported until AP’s investigation. Even lawmakers in most states did not know the scope of spending, much of which was inflated by competition between states and huge price markups for routine items.The project reflected a signature goal of the AP news department this year: to “connect the dots” across the states for our U.S. customers in a way that only AP can. After months spent analyzing the state-by-state information, the data team made all the information available in an easy-to-use format for AP members and for our own state reporters. In addition to the national stories, more than a dozen AP reporters wrote state sidebars, receiving prominent play online and in print. https://bit.ly/37HJS07

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

States await election security reviews as primaries heat up

for an AP survey of all 50 states that revealed that very few state systems had an election security review from the Department of Homeland Security, even though many have asked for it amid concerns about Russian meddling in this year’s election. http://bit.ly/2rmi8b4

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Women make big gains in state capitols; men still wield power

for leading an AP review across 50 state capitols showing that even though women made historic gains in state legislatures in 2018, men still hold the vast majority of top leadership roles. https://bit.ly/2MIgafu

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Illinois statehouse correspondent scores consecutive NewsBreaks

for beating the competition with scoops about Gov. Bruce Rauner and the state's financial problems on two consecutive days. http://trib.in/2njVsUL

Best of the Week — First Winner

Deeply reported package explores the shift away from fossil fuels, impact on states, communities

AP reporting on energy policies in all 50 states led to an unexpected discovery: Roughly two-thirds of states in the U.S. plan to use nuclear power as an essential part of their plan to replace fossil fuels.

That resurgence in nuclear energy, despite its downsides, launched AP coverage of the latest nuclear technology and the impact on local communities, particularly those dependent on coal: a small Wyoming town replacing its coal plant with a nontraditional nuclear reactor by a Bill Gates-founded company, and a town in Colorado where coal is being phased out after generations, with no plans to replace it. “We can’t recover from that,” a former mayor told the AP.

The all-formats work showed the nation’s struggles as it shifts energy sources to stave off the worst effects of climate change. And showcasing the AP’s 50-state footprint, a localization guide enabled AP’s customers to bring the debate home for their own audiences. The package played widely at home and abroad, from local papers to national news outlets.

For superior coverage bringing to light developments in energy policy across the country and the effects on people at a local level, the team ofJennifer McDermott, Brady McCombs, Mead Gruver, Patty Nieberg, Rick Bowmer, Elaine Thompson, Manuel Valdes and Natalie Behring is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Statewide scoop: NC Supreme Court chief justice resigning

who used years of source building to scoop the rest of the state’s media, reporting that the state Supreme Court’s chief justice was resigning to take a job at a Virginia law school. https://bit.ly/2G0P02R

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

State government reporters score on major midterm election issues

Mulvihill broke the news that a record number of women had won their races for state legislative seats around the country, and Lieb gave a clear analysis of the results of gerrymandering in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.http://bit.ly/2RUzzLGhttp://bit.ly/2DNC4fB

Beat of the Week

(Honorable Mention)

Email: State opioid talks fail, Purdue bankruptcy filing expected

for obtaining an email providing the first on-the-record report on the status of closely-watched settlement talks between the states and OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. State attorneys general said that Purdue was expected to file for bankruptcy after settlement talks with the states over the nation’s deadly overdose crisis hit an impasse. https://bit.ly/2m5lkJd