Best of AP

Novel approach engages audience on Venezuela election 

JULY 26, 2024

Ten years into Venezuela’s economic and social crisis, it’s difficult to find new ways to engage audiences: The story is complex and nuanced, and the sheer length of crisis means many people have tuned out. That’s what makes Regina Garcia Cano’s story about couples breaking up because one member is leaving the country so good. […]

The biggest of stories came to the small city of Butler. AP showed how its newspaper met the moment

JULY 26, 2024

Media reporter David Bauder of the Trends+Culture unit thought a unique angle for the weekend after the Trump shooting would be to explore how Butler’s local newspaper — like so many, struggling in a jumbled journalism economy — responded when the world’s biggest story unfolded in its backyard. Photographer Matt Slocum and video journalist Joe […]

Persistence, source building and originality leads to critical, in-depth coverage of working conditions in greenhouses

JULY 26, 2024

When climate and agriculture reporter Melina Walling was covering the rise of vertical farming in greenhouses last year, she approached workers from the vertical farm AppHarvest to find out more about the trend. It quickly became apparent that the workers had negative feelings toward the company, and Walling visited them in Kentucky several times to find […]

AP photographers Vucci and Puskar and reporter Carr Smyth dominate with photos and account of assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump

JULY 19, 2024

Evan Vucci, the AP’s chief photographer in Washington, captured the defining image of the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. Pittsburgh-based photographer Gene Puskar and Ohio political reporter Julie Carr Smyth displayed immense courage and sharp journalistic instincts. The three earn Best of AP for extraordinary performances. Seconds after rifle shots rang […]

AP exclusive series shows how Russian invasion is dismantling Ukraine as an Olympic powerhouse

JULY 19, 2024

In 2023, multimedia reporters Hanna Arhirova and John Leicester identified Ukraine’s sporting decline as a must-have story for AP before the Olympics this month. Through months of aggressive reporting and source-building — squeezed into their jobs of news reporting in Ukraine and France — the pair identified, tracked down and interviewed athletes, coaches and others […]

AP delivers fast, definitive coverage of stunning end to Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial

JULY 19, 2024

Quick work by the Baldwin trial team delivered the news quickly, across formats, that the involuntary manslaughter case was abruptly ended by a judge in New Mexico, mid-trial. Santa Fe reporter Morgan Lee was in the courtroom daily and delivered a crucial heads up that the dismissal was coming, allowing an alert to be sent […]

AP journalists highlight climate change threat to Indigenous traditions in comprehensive, empathetic coverage

JULY 19, 2024

AP journalists John Locher and Melina Walling spent months of source building with members of the Ojibwe and other tribes in the northern Great Lakes to produce stunning and comprehensive coverage of the threat of climate change to the centuries-old tradition of spearfishing walleye and how tribe members are working to protect this. Thanks to […]

AP’s coverage of Euro 2024 stands out including the story on Spain star Lamine Yamal’s viral baby photo with Messi

JULY 19, 2024

The AP team in Germany delivered superb coverage of the men’s European Championship, one of the world’s most important soccer tournaments, including fast and engaging game stories, smart sidebars and distinctive enterprise aimed for a digital audience, with particular attention to cross-over stories. Sports writers Steve Douglas, James Ellingworth, Ciaran Fahey, Daniella Matar, Graham Dunbar […]

AP produced competition-beating live blog and top shots for historic elections

JULY 12, 2024

The British and French election teams earn a special citation for finding new ways to engage customers and digital readers with breaking election news through live blogs and “latests.” Both the UK and French elections were among the strongest performing liveblogs the AP has ever done. Both were used by thousands of AP customers, meaning […]

Extreme climate turns personal as woman gives birth on a boat in an Indian monsoon

JULY 12, 2024

An AP photographer had a rare opportunity to document the harrowing experience of a family displaced by extreme weather in the most personal of circumstances. Photographer Anupam Nath realized he was about to witness something extraordinary: a baby’s delivery on a boat rushing a family to a medical center. Covering the effects of climate change, […]

In a competitive landscape, New Mexico statehouse reporter uses expertise to land an Alec Baldwin-related scoop

JULY 12, 2024

Morgan Lee reported exclusively that producers for the Alec Baldwin movie “Rust” were denied tax incentives from the state of New Mexico. Morgan Lee has been on the “Rust” beat since the 2021 fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Given that the man with the gun was Alec Baldwin, an actor who has long […]

AP breaks news on Chinese doping investigation in the US

JULY 12, 2024

Geneva-based sportswriter Graham Dunbar had been keeping a close eye on the story of the 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a banned substance in 2021 yet were allowed to continue competing after Chinese authorities blamed the positive tests on food contamination. The New York Times broke the initial story earlier this year, […]