Quick, resourceful response dominates coverage of Christchurch mosque attacks
By Mark Baker and Nick Perry
AP staffers are often called the “Marines of journalism.” First in, last out.
Our small team in New Zealand of Mark Baker and Nick Perry showed what that looks like as they responded to horrific mass shootings at two mosques. Their swift response securing early,definitive images and witness accounts laid the foundation for the AP’s dominant, agenda-setting coverage of the tragedy in the hours and days that followed.
People wait for news outside a mosque where a mass shooting occurred in central Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019. – AP Photo / Mark Baker
A man sits on the ground as he speaks on his mobile phone across the road from a mosque where a mass shooting occurred in central Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019. – AP Photo / Mark Baker
A man reacts as he speaks on a mobile phone, then is escorted away by a police officer near a mosque where a mass shooting occurred in central Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019. – AP Photo / Mark Baker
A body lies on the footpath outside a mosque in central Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019, following a mass shooting that left 50 people dead at two mosques. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) – AP Photo / Mark Baker
Police move people away from a mosque where a mass shooting occurred in central Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019. – AP Photo / Mark Baker
A man talks on his mobile phone across the road from a mosque where a mass shooting occurred in central Christchurch, New Zealand, March 15, 2019. – AP Photo / Mark Baker
A police officer stands guard, March 17, 2019, in front of the Masjid Al Noor mosque, site of one of the previous day’s two mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. – AP Photo / Vincent Yu
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Students react as they gather for a vigil to commemorate victims of the March 15 mosque shootings, outside the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. – AP Photo / Vincent Yu
A girl lays flowers at the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 17, 2019, two days after mass shootings at two mosques killed 50 people. – AP Photo / Vincent Thian
Flowers stand at a roadblock, March 16, 2019, near the Linwood mosque, site of one of the previous day’s mass shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. (AP Photo/Mark Baker) – AP Photo / Mark Baker
A message card is attached to flowers placed at the Botanical Gardens in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 16, 2019, one day after mass shootings at two mosques. New Zealand’s stricken residents reached out to Muslims in their neighborhoods and around the country, determined to show kindness to a community in pain. – AP Photo / Vincent Thian
During a vigil to commemorate the victims of the March 15 mosque shootings, students perform the ceremonial haka outside the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. – AP Photo / Vincent Thian
A woman carries flowers, March 17, 2019, on her way to the Masjid Al Noor mosque, site of one of two mass shootings at mosques two days earlier in Christchurch, New Zealand. – AP Photo / Vincent Yu
Mourners pay their respects, March 16, 2019, at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque, site of one of the previous day’s two mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. – AP Photo / Vincent Yu
A mourner pays respects, March 16, 2019, at a makeshift memorial near the Masjid Al Noor mosque, site of one of the previous day’s two mass shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. – AP Photo / Vincent Thian
AP New Zealand staffer Mark Baker files photos from the Christchurch mosque shootings, March 15, 2019. – Photo courtesy John Kirk-Anderson
Baker,the Southeast Asia photo editor known widely as “Crusty,” lives in Christchurch,the town where the attack happened. He heard radio reports of a possible shooting at a mosque and quickly alerted Perry,the Wellington correspondent,to get words on the wire. Baker headed immediately to the scene,where his early images of survivors became the definitive shots of a tragedy that unfolded while much of the world was asleep. He handed his iPhone to witnesses,so Perry could interview them while he kept shooting. When he got his phone back,he started filming video, including a crucial interview with a former mosque president who gave an account of the shooter and the tragedy that unfolded.
Baker’s photos fronted the New York Times website and were surprisingly used by the New Zealand Herald,and received heavy use among customers across the world: The Washington Post,The Guardian,The Wall Street Journal,El Pais, the Los Angeles Times and UAE’s The National all went with AP.
Back in Wellington,Perry aggressively filed on breaking developments while video producer Moussa Moussa in Sydney,Australia,juggled additional video from New Zealand broadcasters. Perry eventually went to Christchurch, where he scored another major win for AP by interviewing an Afghan refugee who would be hailed as a hero for confronting the gunman,likely preventing more deaths. The New York Times and CNN later matched Perry’s story, while a correspondent from another major outlet sheepishly asked Perry for the man’s contact details.
New Zealand correspondent Nick Perry, center, and Tokyo videojournalist Haruka Nuga interview a survivor after the Christchurch mosque attacks, March 16, 2019. – AP Photo / Vincent Thian
Malaysia-based Chief Photographer Vincent Thian files photos outside Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. –
San Francisco News Editor Juliet Williams interviews Kawthar Abulaban, a survivor of the Christchurch mosque attacks, outside the Muslim cemetery where gravesites were being prepared for burials in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. – AP Photo / Mark Baker
Malaysia-based videojournalist Syawalludin Zain, right, prepares his camera and live gear to cover a special blessing outside Linwood mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. – AP Photo / Vincent Thian
Hong Kong photographer Vincent Yu files photos outside Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019. – AP Photo / Vincent Thian
Asia quickly deployed reinforcements, with cross-format teams ensuring AP kept up its advantage on the ground while colleagues from afar kept the story fresh as Asia slept.
For their quick response that showcased AP’s fundamental advantage when news breaks across the world, Baker and Perry share AP’s Best of the Week award.
