AP was one of the very few major news outlets to reach the French territory of Mayotte to report on the aftermath of Cyclone Chido, the worst in nearly a century.
Amid a wrecked airport and no electricity or water, West Africa multimedia reporter Sam Mednick and freelance photographer Adrienne Surprenant fought their way to the poorest corner of the European Union, securing a safe place to stay and to transmit video and photos.
Phone connections were down on most of the island territory, complicating every step of their reporting. Hotels were damaged or requisitioned for the military-run aid operation. They slept on the floor of the local TV station, which had no running water and whose windows had been blown out by debris.
They hunted for the rare spots with enough communications signal to file, or spots with enough electricity to file using a Starlink. The team reported on the issues of climate change and migration tensions, with sensitivity and respect for desperate residents. They recorded the reactions to the promises of President Emmanuel Macron for the long-neglected island. Mednick’s videos included atmospheric on-camera explainers.
The team’s reporting topped global online searches for Mayotte for days. Surprenant’s photos dominated the front pages of websites and newspapers worldwide, even French publications.
The team also recruited potential new freelancers, laying the groundwork for future competitive reporting on the still-uncertain death toll, climate, migration and post-colonial inequality issues in Mayotte. It was a powerful example of AP’s exceptional global reach and commitment to first-hand journalism, which served AP customers and viewers alike.
The judge’s noted Mednick and Surprenant’s tenacity in reporting under extraordinarily difficult conditions, along with the unique story angles they surfaced.
For their ingenuity and resourcefulness to reach Mayotte instead of relying on UGC or remote reporting, and showing the world a location that most had never heard of before the cyclone, Surprenant and Mednick win this week’s Best of the AP.
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