Best of the AP

Best of the Week - First Winner Nov. 17, 2023

Data-driven reporting highlights outsized presence and influence of fossil fuels industry at climate negotiations

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Members of the AP Climate team were struck by the large size and flashiness of stands dedicated to oil and gas at last year’s COP27. The AP team wanted to get beyond the anecdotes to truly measure the presence and influence of fossil fuels industries.

Climate data journalist Mary Katherine Wildeman developed a methodology to cross reference, identify and categorize more than 24,000 participants at the summit that focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate reporter Seth Borenstein, Climate news editor Dana Beltaji and their colleagues found nearly 400 people from fossil fuels industries attended the summit, not always in a transparent way.

The analysis led to other stories from AP’s Climate team, including water reporter Suman Naishadham and video journalist Victor Caivano’s package about Canada’s commitments to climate. In a separate story, Wildeman, Climate editor Doug Glass and Climate news director Peter Prengaman pored over documents to find that despite lots of talk, oil and gas companies are not moving toward a transition to green energy.

Climate video editor Teresa de Miguel and Climate photo editor Alyssa Goodman developed creative visual plans for all three stories to elevate the data and storytelling.

For work that resulted in three exclusive stories ahead of COP28, the team of Wildeman, Borenstein, Naishadham, Caivano, Beltaji, de Miguel and Glass win Best of the Week — First Winner.

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Best of the Week - Second Winner Nov. 17, 2023

A family history inspires photo-led coverage of modern conflict at WWII internment camp site

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When Seattle photographer Lindsey Wasson proposed doing a photo-driven story related to a World War II prison camp in Idaho, she had a profound personal connection to it. Her grandfather was one of the 13,000 Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated at what’s now the Minidoka National Historic site after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Now, a huge proposed wind farm on Idaho’s high desert could cast shadows on the site if it’s built nearby, encroaching on what many consider sacred ground. Wasson teamed with Olympia, Washington, reporter Ed Komenda to document the clash that’s built around one of the too-often-forgotten stains on U.S. history.

The pair delivered evocative images and searing quotes from camp survivors and their descendants, showing their anger and unease about the proposed wind farm.

For delivering a poignant portrait that shed light on people hoping not to see their histories get further cast into the shadows, Wasson and Komenda are this week’s Best of the Week — Second Winner.

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