Best of AP

AP draws on years of reporting and expertise to produce a powerful immersive fact check of Jan. 6

SEPT. 13, 2024

Over the past three and a half years, reporters Michael Kunzelman and Alanna Durkin Richer have spent countless hours inside the federal courthouse in Washington covering the hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants who have been charged and convicted in the riot. This included scouring thousands of documents and hundreds of videos and other evidence that […]

Standout series delivers novel, nuanced look into Chinese migration in the 21st century

SEPT. 13, 2024

Unbeknownst to them, three AP teams in different cities were independently pursuing stories with a common thread — a new wave of Chinese migrants arriving in their country or city. With smart reporting, planning and editing, these three stories eventually came together in a series that’s even greater than the sum of their parts: an […]

AP filmed migrants leaving French coast in overcrowded boat just hours after deadly sinking

SEPT. 13, 2024

Exceptional AP all-formats live coverage showed how the deadly trade this year in migrant crossings of the treacherous English Channel didn’t miss a beat even after a boat ripped apart and sank, killing 12 people. Hours after that sinking, the AP video and photo team of Mark Carlson and Nicolas Garriga scoured the coastline based […]

AP data analysis reveals how far behind FDA is on drug factory inspections

SEPT. 13, 2024

This idea grew out of years of reporting and AP health writer Matt Perrone’s deep knowledge of the FDA’s inner workings. In 2022, AP reported how FDA skipped thousands of inspections during COVID, including at a baby formula factory that triggered a national shortage. Then last year, after tainted eyedrops killed and blinded Americans, Perrone […]

Maine photographer captures the joy, wonder and grime of mud football in all formats

SEPT. 13, 2024

New England photographer Bob Bukaty had long wanted to photograph the annual Mud Bowl in Conway, New Hampshire. He had a vision for what would happen that was sure to delight. He pitched the story and set out to cover it in all formats, shooting his signature still photographs in a way few others can […]

AP team delivers compelling, chilling coverage in hours after Georgia high school shooting

SEPT. 13, 2024

A shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., put reporter Jeff Amy, chief photographer Mike Stewart and video journalist Sharon Johnson quickly on the road to the scene about an hour outside Atlanta. Amy arrived first. He sent a few still images of the scene, which got AP on the board until Stewart got […]

Packers and Eagles both wear green, a color disliked by the host of first NFL game in Brazil

SEPT. 13, 2024

AP Sportswriter Mauricio Savarese developed the idea for his story on the color controversy as he looked for unique ways to tell the tale of the NFL’s first foray into South America. Savarese’s knowledge of the region was invaluable in the lead-up to the game, particularly his understanding of the Corinthians soccer club and its […]

Do you understand how to speak Gen Alpha? Thanks to AP, now you can!

SEPT. 13, 2024

Last week, several news outlets did stories on Gen Alpha slang. Most, if not all, of them took a text-based approach, but at the AP, where we are pushing ourselves to try new storytelling forms, the team behind the quiz — Ed Medeles, Emily Olson and Caleb Diehl — took a different approach: Report out […]

AP shows damage caused to young girls’ skin and mental health by beauty products promoted on social media

SEPT. 6, 2024

Anybody who visits their local Sephora likely knows growing numbers of young girls have a fixation with beauty products.  Less widely known is the source of the obsession, and the damage it’s causing to preteen girls’ skin and mental health.  San Francisco-based education writer Jocelyn Gecker won the trust of two girls and their families […]

Boy’s ice cream stand dispute with town reveals unsavory side

SEPT. 6, 2024

When reporter Michael Casey saw a local news report about a Massachusetts boy whose charity ice cream stand was shut down by the city because of code violations, he knew the story would do well with a global audience. The boy had become a minor celebrity, and several businesses took up his campaign to raise […]

Education team caps back-to-school month package that drove conversation

SEPT. 6, 2024

The back-to-school period is the Education team’s Super Bowl. Every year, the AP team plans more than a month of spot enterprise, lasting from the earliest schools’ reopening in early August to the post-Labor Day stragglers. The biggest challenge: centering kids in reporting during the summer, when they’re not readily found in schools. Nevertheless, the […]

AP explores how, for some Americans, the Afghanistan war is not over

SEPT. 6, 2024

Santana, Amiri and Knickmeyer were working on similar topics separately and found each other. Former Baghdad bureau chief Santana had just finished a story on Iraq refugee issues and had talked to a man supporting an Iraqi translator he had worked with, so the idea of Americans helping former translators and staffers was on her […]