Best of the AP

Best of the Week - First Winner May 03, 2024

Rare multi-format interview with Hamas leader breaks news

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In an exclusive interview with AP, a high-ranking Hamas political official for the first time suggested that the militant group would put down its weapons with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, acknowledging that a two-state solution could be possible even if temporarily.

The interview, which came at a crucial time in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, was the result of persistence by AP staff and collaboration between the Beirut and Istanbul teams.

Having dealt with Hamas officials in Beirut regularly on stories before and after Oct. 7, Lebanon/Syria/Iraq news director Abby Sewell had requested an interview with one of Hamas’ senior officials, Moussa Abu Marzouk, and was told it would be granted and would take place in Istanbul.

While she was awaiting confirmation of the date, Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, showed up in Turkey and met with the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At that point, Istanbul-based photographer Khalil Hamra, originally from Gaza, suggested using his contacts to aim for the highest-ranking possible interview.

For persistence and collaboration to win a scoop on one of the world’s most pressing stories, Sewell, Hamra and Guzel are Best of the Week — First Winner.

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Best of the Week - Second Winner May 03, 2024

Dozens of deaths reveal risks of injecting sedatives into people restrained by police

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By digging into data, putting it in context and giving it a human face, Ryan Foley, Carla Johnson and Shelby Lum shed light on how and why injections of powerful sedatives were used as tools of control when police restrained people.

Foley aggressively dug into the details of 94 deaths involving sedatives that he and other reporters identified. He spoke with grieving family members, analyzed hundreds of documents and hours of body-camera footage, and astutely found ways around official efforts to suppress the release of crucial details.

Medical writer Carla Johnson interviewed doctors and paramedics, learning that a few experts were concerned about the dangers of sedation, but none knew how many people have died after injections.

Video journalist Shelby Lum’s nine-minute documentary artfully presented the problem and possible solutions.

The mainbar or state-specific stories won front page play in Dallas, Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, Tennessee and Wisconsin. An AP post on X generated 3.5 million views and garnered 11.6K link clicks.

Thanks to AP’s Localize It efforts, members produced their own coverage, using case files and video that AP provided.

For giving our audience a deep understanding of a practice that an early proponent of sedation said is leading to “an unending parade of unnecessary deaths,” Foley, Johnson and Lum are Best of the Week — Second Winner.

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