While global tariff coverage has largely focused on major U.S. trading partners, a team of AP journalists came across a clothing factory in Lesotho that had largely closed its doors under the weight of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The team — on a reporting trip in the area for another story — seized the opportunity to produce an all-formats piece that cast rare light on the tariffs’ impact on workers in far-flung places with lopsided U.S. trade ties.
The impact on Lesotho, a small country once known as Africa’s denim capital, wasn’t unnoticed by news outlets. But the story wasn’t told in full until the AP journalists stepped inside the Tzicc factory in the capital city of Maseru, where the whirring sounds of sewing machines had gone silent.
To gain access, local fixer Pascalinah Kabi made repeated calls and visits to the factory. The efforts allowed AP journalists to witness and document the scene: a mostly deserted factory with dust gathering on hundreds of sewing machines that just weeks before had roared and provided a living for more than 1,000 people and their families.
Journalist Renata Brito delved into the human impact of the closure by interviewing workers and provided context by speaking with the country’s trade minister. Visual journalists Nqobile Ntshangase and Bram Janssen captured video — including drone footage — and photos of the factory and surrounding area in both large-scale and intimate ways.
Janelle Cogan of the Top Stories hub edited the text to give depth to the story. Dario Lopez worked with the team to provide a compelling digital presentation for APNews, with images and text complementing each other.
Judges were impressed by the team’s instinct to jump on the story and its well-orchestrated efforts to tell the tale of the factory via powerful visuals and thorough, authoritative reporting.
For their stellar team effort on a multiformat package showing the impact of a defining Trump administration policy, Renata Brito, Nqobile Ntshangase, Bram Janssen and Dario Lopez win this week’s second citation for Best of the Week.
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