Best of the AP

As the Pentagon stays quiet, AP reconstructs a US strike that killed over 100 Iranian children 

JULY 10, 2026

On the first day of the war with Iran, after the United States and Israel launched their strikes, footage emerged of what looked to be a bombed Iranian school, and state media reported the deaths of 150 students. The images were searing, but little information came out about what had happened, from either Washington or Tehran. That is, little did, until […]

AP Supreme Court writers lapped the field in delivering the court’s ruling on birthright citizenship 

JULY 10, 2026

The final days of the U.S. Supreme Court term are unlike any other assignment in American journalism. In less than an hour, the nation’s highest court can reshape immigration, elections, presidential power, civil rights and the limits of government.  AP Supreme Court writers Mark Sherman and Lindsay Whitehurst lapped the field in delivering the news with speed, clarity and […]

Exclusive reporting and innovative visual storytelling explain complex Russian security threat in Europe 

JULY 10, 2026

Combining exclusive sourcing and reporting with creative data visualization, Europe Security Correspondent Emma Burrows and Interactive Artist Will Jarrett explained how Russia is believed to be using vessels from its so-called shadow fleet to launch drones into European airspace, monitor military sites, disrupt civilian aviation and probe NATO defenses.   Based on her reporting on Russia’s sabotage campaign across Europe, the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London offered Burrows advance access to their […]

AP investigation shows how AI and other American technologies are abused to fuel scam industry

JULY 10, 2026

Rome-based investigative reporter Erika Kinetz and colleagues produced a multi-format package showing how American technologies are used to fuel the global scam industry.   Using a screenshot an Indian man smuggled out of a Myanmar scam compound, Kinetz and C4ADS, a global security nonprofit, identified software used to target tens of thousands of victims monthly. Kinetz learned the tools were built using AI models from major American companies, chiefly OpenAI. An analysis of cryptowallet addresses enabled Kinetz to connect these tools with scam networks that have taken in tens of millions of dollars. Exclusive data from devices used at Myanmar scam compounds showed […]

AP provides in-depth coverage of a historic schism in the Catholic Church 

JULY 10, 2026

Nicole Winfield has been tracking a traditionalist group in the Catholic Church, the Society of St. Pius X, for years while covering the Vatican, but hadn’t been able to speak to itsleadership in a very long time and never had spoken to its faithful. When church officials announced they would be consecrating four bishops without the Pope’s consent, Winfield immediately recognized both the significance of the act and the unique, incredible opportunity to […]

AP delivers dominant live video, pre-wedding scoops on Swift-Kelce nuptials 

JULY 10, 2026

AP delivered stellar coverage of the runup to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding and its live video won the day with customers and viewers on YouTube eager to catch any glimpse of the nuptials. Details about the wedding were sparse – with many doubting it would happen at Madison Square Garden – until law enforcement reporter Jake Offenhartz scored back-to-back stories confirming […]

America 250 polling reveals depths of nation’s divisions ahead of US anniversary 

JULY 10, 2026

An all-formats package of poll stories, published across the month of June, revealed the depths of divisions among Americans about core values and national pride, while highlighting moments of unity over the importance of civil rights.  The package, including video and custom data visualization, drew on a large AP-NORC survey of more than 2,500 U.S. adults, as well as a separate […]

Building on beat expertise, reporters connect wildland firefighter deaths to policy changes 

JULY 10, 2026

Reporters Martha Bellisle and Matthew Brown combined their expertise on changes to federal land agencies since U.S President Donald Trump retook office with their deep knowledge of the west and wildfires to deliver an accountability story examining how the new Wildland Fire Agency was promoting a widely discredited policy. The pair had been reporting out the story when three wildland firefighters died […]

Defining the story: AP’s comprehensive coverage of Venezuela’s double earthquake   

JULY 6, 2026

The AP’s coverage of Venezuela’s back-to-back magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes delivered the first authoritative reporting and established the AP as the global leader on one of the year’s biggest breaking news stories through first-to-air reporting, powerful visual journalism and exceptional teamwork. Within minutes, video journalist Juan Pablo Arraez went live from his apartment as […]

A vivid multiformat rendering of the consequences of outdated flood maps 

JULY 6, 2026

After the worst flooding many residents could remember struck Northern Michigan, a reporting team led by Tammy Webber set out to answer two critical questions: Why were so many people caught by surprise, and what does it mean for communities across the country? The multiformat package by Webber, data reporter M.K. Wildeman, video journalist Julian […]

Staggering amounts of fentanyl hit streets as the DEA watched and took no action, records show 

JULY 6, 2026

Investigative reporters Jim Mustian and Josh Goodman paired exceptional tradecraft with relentless source development to break an explosive accountability story revealing that the DEA allowed hundreds of thousands of deadly fentanyl pills to flow onto the streets of New Mexico. Working backward from a heavily redacted government document that mistakenly left the final letter of […]

Powerful collaboration and visual journalism reframe America’s anniversary through the lens of voting rights   

JULY 6, 2026

In a moving and visually arresting package, reporter Gary Fields, video journalist Sophie Bates and photographers Gerald Herbert and Mike Stewart coordinated across regional bureaus to connect a seismic Supreme Court ruling with the lived history of the civil rights movement. Moving past routine legal coverage of the court’s decision to dismantle core components of […]