While searching for user-generated content related to the drowning of five people in an Ohio river, U.S. rapid response reporter Hallie Golden came across a photo a boater had posted of people fishing in the river. She reached out for clearance and ended up securing an exclusive interview with the photographer, conducted by video journalist Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos. The photographer, Marcus L. Martin, said he believed the photo was of the group that drowned. U.S. Assistant News Director Caleb Jones secured the raw photo with metadata so the AP could verify the location and ushered it through a Standards review process that cleared it for publication. Ohio journalist Julie Carr Smyth wrote a compelling story that ushered the all-formats exclusive onto the wire. The resulting package was a top-viewed story that was used widely by customers, exemplifying dogged reporting, verification skills, storytelling and collaboration.
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