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Southern New England
Killer Blue
The six years since U.S. troops invaded Iraq have been marked by many stories about the men and women at war and their families. AP photojournalists Evan Vucci, Maya Alleruzzo and Rick Bowmer brought those stories to life with "Killer Blue: Baptized by Fire," an extraordinary multimedia package that blended video, still photos and text. Killer Blue was one of the last Army units to serve a 15-month combat tour in Iraq.
Vucci and Alleruzzo lived with the troops for more than four months in Mosul, Iraq. Bowmer covered their return to Fort Hood, Texas. The package included a four-part online video series and interactive, 46 still photos and a cover story gleaned from poignant interviews conducted by Vucci and Alleruzzo in Iraq and Bowmer with family and friends in the U.S. The video documentary followed members of Killer Blue throughout their combat tour and upon their return home.
Drug war
Mexico City reporter Julie Watson wanted to use the scene in morgues to show the story about the escalating drug war in Mexico. The AP team tried for access to morgues in 
Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Stringer Mariana Martinez and photographer Guillermo Arias worked contacts in Tijuana, while stringer Marina Montemayor in Juarez did the same, with help from Watson. It took six weeks before Montemayor persuaded Juarez lab officials to meet with AP.
Watson, Montemayor, photographer Eduardo Verdugo and video stringer Arturo Perez pressed lab officials for access to the autopsy room. But several policemen had just been killed, and the morgue manager said it would be impossible to enter out of respect for their families. Watson managed to persuade the top director that AP's reach could have a broad impact across Mexico and in the U.S. Finally, the director agreed to let them watch an autopsy. Martinez and Arias obtained access in Tijuana. The resulting story and photos got front-page play in the U.S. and Mexico, while Univision used the AP video.
Iraq withdrawal
Pamela Hess and Anne Gearan of Washington got a three-hour scoop on one of the most important stories of the new Obama administration - the plan for withdrawal from Iraq. The story of how they got the beat is a model of collegial source reporting, involving more than half a dozen Washington reporters all under the aggressive baton of Stephen 
Braun, Washington's foreign affairs editor. Hess got the ball rolling at a lunch with a source who blurted out: "19." The source opened up with details of the administration plan to pull most U.S. forces from Iraq in 19 months.
AP military writer Anne Gearan nailed down a second source. Other well-sourced AP reporters quickly joined in to strengthen the initial story. Steve Hurst provided a top administration official's explanation of the timing of the planned announcement. Jennifer Loven added context, and Anne Flaherty, Lolita Baldor and Robert Burns dived in with details that enabled the AP to field a forceful story. The AP was credited by many, including NBC, The New York Times and the Huffington Post.