The British and French election teams earn a special citation for finding new ways to engage customers and digital readers with breaking election news through live blogs and “latests.” Both the UK and French elections were among the strongest performing liveblogs the AP has ever done. Both were used by thousands of AP customers, meaning tens of millions of eyeballs were on the AP’s turnaround coverage of international elections. In this year of elections (including India’s earlier election that also featured successful live blogging) the perfecting of the liveblog format is driving eyes to our coverage and new audiences that we expect will become permanent consumers of AP news. The consensus of the Best of the Week judges was that this needs to be called out and celebrated with a special citation.
The elections were distinct in their particulars. With France facing the prospect of the far right taking over the government for the first time since the Nazi era, AP’s Paris team and colleagues from around the world worked nonstop. Veteran political reporter Sylvie Corbet used years of sourcing and access to the Elysee Palace to ensure all AP formats were prepared for various outcomes and worked with Lori Hinnant to file aggressive alerts throughout the night. That in turn helped ensure that AP’s France elections live blog — expertly shepherded by live blogs editor Emily Olson — drove the news agenda when the results were unexpectedly a success for the left and center parties. Using deep knowledge of Paris and years of experience covering protests, senior producer Jeff Schaeffer ensured AP had a key top shot at Republique plaza for the aftermath, as well as other important vantage points that allowed us to run more than 24 hours of lives. Video journalist Helena Alves and others used the top shot for a variety of angles including close-ups of tear gas and the wide view showing the gathering was largely peaceful. The team efforts were highlighted by diverse photos throughout.
In the runup, investigative reporter Hinnant uncovered a broader-than-reported Russian cybercampaign targeting France’s elections and the Paris Olympics. John Leicester and Alex Turnbull produced exclusive AP footage and eyewitness testimony of antisemitic hate speech on the campaign trail.
They were among a tight-knit and hard-working team including other reporters, producers, video journalists, photographers and editors who made all this possible.
AP’s live shots drew more than 2,000 hits, with extensive use on Sky, Al-Jazeera, CBS, the NYT homepage and beyond. AP was first on several news alerts, including the crucial reactions from President Macron and the far-left leader, which also helped the live blog. AP was also first to ask questions to Marine Le Pen after her party failed to win a majority.
AP’s live blog became the most-read story on APNews all weekend, with half a million pageviews. The blog was a top competitor in both French and U.S. google for the bulk of the day, bringing over 206,000 new readers to apnews.com. The blog was also linked or shared by several other news outlets or aggregators, including the Drudge Report, which alone contributed an extra 100,000 pageviews. AP reporters were invited to speak by multiple media organizations about the confusing result.
The results of the UK election, a resounding win for Labour, were not surprising but underscored a historic shift for the country and Europe after 14 years of Tory rule. The core London team, of Jill Lawless, Danica Kirka, Brian Melley, Sylvia Hui, Pan Paylas for text; Kwiyeon Ha for video and Alastair Grant, Frank Augstein, Kirsty Wrigglesworth and Kin-Pong Cheung for photos, led exceptionally well by Bridget Virgo, has told some fascinating stories over the past six weeks that have given customers real insight into this election and its main themes and characters. From the moment the starting gun was fired in the pouring rain, through all the gaffes, the rise of Reform, the caution of Labour, all the way to their crushing landslide and the humbling of the Tories, The AP’s report was sharp and insightful. London also welcomed visitors from across the AP, including video coordinator Ted Tongas, video journalists Bela Szandelszky, Iain Sullivan and Tian Macleod Ji and photographer Vadim Ghirda, to augment the team effort, with help from editors, writers and producers around the world.
As in the French election, the live blog and latest got incredible numbers. There was great cooperation with digital to make sure the profiles, analysis and key takeaways were produced in a digital friendly way, with excellent reporter-led video explainers too. The blog was up to 1.8 million pageviews as of Friday July 5 morning, the day after the election, making it the No. 1 most-read live blog in AP news history.
For imaginative and innovative work, especially in live blogs, the British and French election teams share Best of AP — Special Citation.
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