Best of the AP

Best of the Week - First Winner March 22, 2024

AP’s chilling exclusive of Russian ‘passportization’ inside occupied Ukrainian territories breaks just as Putin’s preordained election begins

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The Kyiv team, in partnership with Lori Hinnant of global investigations, gained exclusive access to a world clouded with hostile Russian propaganda in the occupied territories to report on the increasing Russian pressure on Ukrainians to accept their passports.

The team pooled their contacts to track down willing Ukrainians who had accepted the passports and managed to evacuate from occupied Berdyansk and Kherson.

A few brave Ukranians, fearing condemnation by their own people, overcame their fears after the team earned their trust through steadfast reporting over the past year.

Lawyers, experts, and Ukrainian officials revealed previously unreported information on the “passportization” policy and that Ukrainians were being forced to fight in the Russian army.

Stepanenko and Arhinova found families who had resisted, including a woman whose sons risked being drafted to fight against Ukrainian forces.

The story ran just as voting in the Russian election was getting underway, driving interest by major news outlets over the weekend.

For their commitment and resourcefulness against the odds, Hanna Arhirova, Susie Blann, Lori Hinnant, Samya Kullab, Evgeniy Maloletka, Illia Novikov and Vasilisa Stepanenko are Best of the Week — First Winner.

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Best of the Week - Second Winner March 22, 2024

AP Sunshine Week collaboration shines light on chronic barriers for open records

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The AP’s Local News Success team has made collaborations with key newspaper and member groups a cornerstone of their efforts. These member groups are drawn to the AP’s expertise to help connect the dots on major thematic coverage and the team contributes to building even stronger relationships with our members. This led to a top-notch collaboration to mark Sunshine Week, the annual event to support open government.

The AP collaborated with CNHI, a newspaper chain with dozens of newspapers around the country, to address a nagging question: Just how broken is the open records process?

The result was a 50-state package that included several dramatic examples of citizens facing whether to fork over thousands of dollars to bring lawsuits to access records that in theory should be available to all. The lead anecdote was a compelling underdog story — a nurse in Alabama who worked at a public hospital and wanted to know what executives at the facility earned. Josh Kelety helped flesh out the narrative to broaden beyond the one example. David Lieb contributed to a widely shared Localize It guide, Koko Nakajima delivered a visually appealing 50-state interactive, and Matt Rourke provided photos.

For delivering a standout package that offers a model for collaborating with AP members, Josh Kelety, Koko Nakajima, Matt Rourke and David Lieb are Best of the Week — Second Winner.

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