A video of a passenger plane plunging in a flat spin sparked horror in Brazil on a Friday afternoon. By the time that footage first emerged, the AP’s Tatiana Pollastri was already nearing the crash site where 62 people died outside Sao Paulo and, within an hour of its first report, had a live transmission up and running.
No other international media had yet arrived, and the only Brazilian media were smaller outlets, which allowed her exclusive access to user generated content video from residents of the gated community that remote staff swiftly vetted and published, along with screen grabs to transmit images to photo clients before other agencies.
Quickly picking up content from television network Globo’s chopper also provided crucial aerial video. Photographer Andre Penner reached the site and was the first agency photographer to get images to clients. Despite restrictions on access to the actual plane, his photos of the general scene as well as the UGC screen grabs were used by major clients including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Times (UK) and The Guardian.
That speedy reaction set the tone for the following days of coverage, with dedication and teamwork between journalists on site and those supporting their efforts that ensured the breadth of coverage our clients demand for a major breaking news story.
In the first four days, AP produced eight video packages, five digital videos, five text stories, three live transmissions and two fast files, all of which had intense use, particularly those in the accident’s immediate aftermath. Video put up massive numbers, with more than 2,500 downloads among clients in the first 24 hours, and the text story on the day of the accident was the third-most-read across the AP’s website over the preceding week, with 557,000 hits.
The AP also produced dozens of photos, including vital aerial shots during a brief window that authorities weren’t preventing drone flights, which some other media failed to capture.
Judges believe the coverage demonstrated impressive efforts in moving quickly to nail down highly valuable UGC and getting a live feed up, as well as all-around excellent teamwork.
For stellar work to record the worst passenger air disaster in the world since early 2023, the team of Tatiana Pollastri, Andre Penner, Mauricio Savarese, Maycron Abade, Gabriela Sá Pessoa, Lucas Dumphreys, Leo LaValle, India Grant, Rafael Castillo, Eleonore Hughes, Leslie Mazoch, Eraldo Peres and David Biller earn this week’s Best of AP — Second Winner.
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