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OF SPECIAL NOTE:
DIVIDED AMERICA-MILLENNIALS
The oldest millennials — already 20 when airplanes slammed into New York City’s Twin Towers — can remember the relative economic prosperity of the 1990s, and when a different Clinton was running for president. The nation’s youngest adults find it hard to recall a reality without terrorism and economic worry. More than 75 million strong, millennials edged out baby boomers this year as the largest living generation in U.S. history. How they vote on Nov. 8 will shape the political landscape for years to come. The Associated Press spent time with seven millennial voters in five states where their generation promises to have an outsized influence in November, and discovered a uniquely American mosaic, from a black teen in Nevada voting for the first time to a Florida-born son of Central American immigrants to a white Christian couple in Ohio. By Gillian Flaccus, Tamara Lush and Martha Irvine. SENT: 1,900 words, with an abridged version, on Aug. 18, for use after 12:01 a.m. Monday, Aug. 22. Photos, video and interactive.
NOTE: This is the latest story in AP’s continuing series Divided America, which explores the economic, social and political divisions in American society. Stories that moved previously are listed at the bottom of this digest.
FOR THIS WEEK (for immediate release, except as noted):
CAMPAIGN 2016-WHY IT MATTERS-INCOME INEQUALITY
It’s a troubling trend for the nation: The rich keep getting richer while more Americans are getting left behind financially, leading to a thinning out of the ranks of the middle class. By Economics Writer Josh Boak. SENT: 650 words on Aug. 18. Photo. Part of a series.
CAMPAIGN 2016-WHY IT MATTERS-OPIOID EPIDEMIC
More than 28,000 Americans died from overdosing on opiates in 2014 — a number that doesn’t include the millions of family members, first responders and even taxpayers who feel the ripple of drug addiction in their daily lives. By Kathleen Ronayne. SENT: 670 words on Aug. 17. Photos. Part of a series.
NIGERIA-SUBVERSIVE LOVE STORIES
Nestled among vegetables, plastic kettles and hand-dyed fabric in market stalls are the signs of a feminist revolution: Piles of poorly printed books by women that advocate forcefully against conservative Muslim traditions such as child marriage and quick divorce. Dozens of young women in the ancient city of Kano are rebelling by writing romance novels that rail against a strict interpretation of Islam propagated by extremist group Boko Haram. By Michelle Faul. SENT: 1,450 words on Aug. 17. Photos, video.
AFGHANISTAN-MENTAL HEALTH
After almost 40 years of conflict and crisis, experts say the vast majority of the Afghan population suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, yet arcane societal attitudes on mental health are holding back many from seeking help. By Lynne O’Donnell and Karim Sharifi. SENT: 1,080 words on Aug. 18. Photos.
RUSSIA-COUP ANNIVERSARY
Twenty-five years after a failed coup heralded the demise of the Soviet Union, The Associated Press talks to protagonists and witnesses who were there defending the spirit of democracy that day. By Nataliya Vasilyeva. SENT: 1,200 words on Aug. 17. Photos.
AP EXPLAINS-KASHMIR-DECADES OF CONFLICT
For 69 years, Kashmir has been torn by deadly strife. By Aijaz Hussain. SENT: 1,280 words on Aug. 16. Photos.
BACK TO SCHOOL-THINGS TO KNOW
No more staying up late during the week. Farewell to sleeping in. And, hello homework! Things to know as students around the country return to school. By Jennifer C. Kerr. SENT: 770 words on Aug. 16. Photos, graphic.
OLYMPICS FOR THE BLIND
How do the blind watch the Olympics? NBC helps them hear it. By Tali Arbel. SENT: 900 words on Aug. 17. Photos, video.
OLY–GOOD ENOUGH GAMES
For many athletes and fans at the Rio Olympics, the “go gold or go home” mantra couldn’t be further from the truth. Merely getting to the podium is more than just good enough for them — it’s cause for a national holiday. By Jon Krawczynski. SENT: 800 words on Aug. 17. Photos.
SKOREA-MEDALS OR MILITARY
South Koreans’ quest for Olympic glory is augmented by a powerful incentive that’s a leftover of the country’s military dictatorships: Medalists are exempted from the two years of military service that nearly all South Korean men have to perform. By Foster Klug and Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 770 words on Aug. 18. Photos.
CHINA-THE MUDSLIDES
In Rio, a new generation of Chinese Olympians are breaking the mold on the once-regimented team and shaking up social media. By James Ellingworth and Didi Tang. SENT: 1,010 words on Aug. 17. Photos.
MOVED PREVIOUSLY:
DIVIDED AMERICA – previous stories
Below are stories that moved previously in this continuing election-year series. Note: A separate advisory provides further details. For questions about the project, contact Brian Carovillano at [email protected] or the AP’s Nerve Center at [email protected].
DIVIDED AMERICA
Americans agree on this much: They are disgusted with politics. They look toward Washington and see a broken federal government, a place where politicians seem more interested in self-preservation than in We the People. Things don’t seem much better in state capitals. By Jay Reeves and Robin McDowell. SENT: 1,330 words, with abridged version. Photos, video, interactive.
DIVIDED AMERICA-AVERAGE ISN’T TYPICAL
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In cities and towns across the country, a disturbing pattern has emerged: The economic averages that reflect America’s recovery from the Great Recession don’t capture the experience of many typical people in typical communities. That’s because wealth is flowing disproportionately to the rich, skewing the data we use to measure economic health, resulting in an economy on paper that most Americans don’t recognize in real life. Take Memphis, for example. By Christopher S. Rugaber. SENT: 1,500 words, with abridged version. Photos, video, interactive.
DIVIDED AMERICA-ANXIOUS CHRISTIANS
BENTON, Ky. — Evangelical, conservative Christians feel under siege. Steadily, over decades, they sense that they have been pushed to the margins of American life, attacked for their most deeply held beliefs. Now, many evangelicals say liberals want to seal their cultural victory by silencing the church. By Religion Writer Rachel Zoll. SENT: 2,500 words, with an abridged version. Photos, videos, interactive.
DIVIDED AMERICA-THE REFUGEE RIFT
MISSOULA, Mont. — This election year’s heated rhetoric over immigration has found a home on the range, and discouraging words abound. What started as a clash over a single issue — whether to welcome a small number of refugees to a peaceful corner of western Montana — soon erupted into a larger feud over Islam, big government and the idea that Americans should “take care of our own” before worrying about newcomers. Demonstrators took to the streets carrying signs with wildly divergent views. By National Writer Sharon Cohen. SENT: 2,670 words, with abridged version. Photos, video, interactive.
DIVIDED AMERICA-MISSING MINORITIES
JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri — As Virginia’s only Latino state lawmaker, Alfonso Lopez made it his first order of business to push for a law granting in-state college tuition to immigrants living in the U.S. illegally since childhood. The bill failed. Again and again. “If we had a more diverse (legislature) and more Latinos in the House of Delegates,” he says, “I don’t think it would be as difficult.” But truly diverse legislatures are rarity across the United States. While minorities have made some political gains, they remain severely underrepresented in Congress and nearly every state legislature, according to an analysis of demographic data by The Associated Press. The lack of political representation can carry real-life consequences. When the people elected don’t look, think, talk or act like the people they represent, it can deepen divisions that naturally exist in the U.S. By David Lieb. SENT: 2,500 words, with abridged version. Photos, interactive.
With: DIVIDED AMERICA-MINORITY REDISTRICTING and DIVIDED AMERICA-REDISTRICTING-GLANCE.
DIVIDED AMERICA-MEDIA RAMPARTS
NEW YORK — Meet Peggy Albrecht and John Dearth. Albrecht is a freelance writer and comedian from Los Angeles who loves Bernie Sanders. Dearth, a retiree from Carmel, Indiana, grew up a Democrat but flipped with Ronald Reagan. He’s Trump guy. They live in the same country, but as far as their news consumption goes, they might as well live on different planets. The growth in partisan media over the past two decades has enabled Americans to retreat into tribes of like-minded people who get news filtered through particular world views. Fox News Channel and Talking Points Memo thrive, with audiences that rarely intersect. What’s big news in one world is ignored in another. Conspiracy theories sprout, anger abounds and the truth becomes ever more elusive. By David Bauder. SENT: 2,000 words, with an abridged version. Photos.
DIVIDED AMERICA-GUNS
Wherever you look in this nation born of a bloody revolution of musket fire, chances are there’s sharp disagreement over firearms. Democrats war with Republicans, and small towns are against cities. Women and men are at odds, as are blacks and whites and old and young. North clashes with South, East with West. By National Writer Matt Sedensky. SENT: 1,440 words, with abridged version.
With:
BC-DIVIDED AMERICA-GUNS-GLANCE.
DIVIDED AMERICA-URBAN VS RURAL
ROCKY FORD, Colo. — From where Peggy Sheahan stands, deep in rural Colorado, the last eight years were abysmal. The county where she is steadily losing population, middle-class jobs have vanished, crime is up as heroin use rises. In Denver, 175 miles to the northwest, things are going better for Andrea Pacheco. Thanks to the Supreme Court, the 36-year-old could finally marry her partner, Jen Winters. After months navigating Denver’s superheated housing market, they snapped up a bungalow at the edge of town. It is no coincidence that Sheahan backs Donald Trump, while Pacheco supports Hillary Clinton. Town and country represent not just the poles of the nation’s two political parties, but different economic realities that are transforming the 2016 presidential election. By Nicholas Riccardi. SENT: 2,580 words on July 4. Photos. A 960-word abridged version also moved. Highlighting video US DA URBAN RURAL (CR).
DIVIDED AMERICA-POLICE AND THE POLICED
NEW YORK — As Americans struggle to make sense of senseless deaths, Staten Islanders have the dubious distinction of being a step ahead. Since Eric Garner’s death during his arrest in July 2014, they have confronted a measure of the anger, pain and alienation that the nation now shares. In this island borough, police and the policed have had to coexist. The highly publicized deaths of black men in encounters with police across the country, and now the sniper killing of five Dallas officers, have focused new attention on the chasm between police and minorities. Years of tension have left people wary in both the policing community and in minority neighborhoods, with many yearning for one another’s respect. But it’s not simple to change the way people see each other. By National Writer Adam Geller, SENT: 3,000 words, with abridged version, moved in advance for release 12:01 a.m. Thursday, July 14, and thereafter. Photos. Video.
DIVIDED AMERICA-AMERICAN MOMENTS
A woman sleeps in her car, waiting to receive free dental care at a clinic in rural Virginia. Another peers though a fence at the Mexican border to see the grandmother she left behind 18 years before, when she was brought to the United States as a toddler. Health care and immigration are two of the most contentious issues of this most contentious election year, but they are not merely grist for politics and politicians. Americans like these women are dealing with them in nearly every moment of their everyday lives. A team of AP photographers across the country set out to record those moments. Each set out to capture a single, intimate image to illustrate the human side of immigration, the economy, the environment, gun rights, social values like abortion, gay rights and conservative Christian beliefs, and race. Each offers a personal story that illuminates the campaign’s headlines. SENT: 200 words on July 15, with photo gallery and interactive.
DIVIDED AMERICA-LEFT BEHIND
LOGAN, W.Va. — There are places like this across America — poor and getting poorer, feeling left behind while the rest got richer. But nowhere has the plummet of the white working class been as merciless as here in central Appalachia. And nowhere have the cross-currents of desperation and boiling resentment that have devoured a presidential race been on such glaring display. The mines are idle, there are no jobs, families are fleeing, drug abuse is rampant. Even cremations are up at the funeral home down the street, because people can’t afford caskets anymore. For many, Donald Trump is their last chance. If this great disrupter can’t make it right, they say, it’s all over. By Claire Galofaro. SENT: 2,000 words, with abridged version, on July 14, in advance for 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 18, photos.
DIVIDED AMERICA-WOMEN IN OFFICE
ATLANTA — Hillary Clinton may be closer than ever to shattering what she famously called “the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” but women in the U.S. remain significantly underrepresented at all levels of elected office. Although women comprise half the population, they serve as mayors of 19 percent of all cities with a population of 30,000 or greater and represent just a quarter of all state lawmakers. Just 12 percent of governors are women, and they comprise just one in five seats in Congress. While the election of a female president would be unprecedented in the U.S., at least 52 other countries around the world already had a female leader. By Christina A. Cassidy. SENT: 1,500 words, with an abridged version, for release on Monday, July 25, and thereafter. Photos.
With:
— LOCALIZATION OPPORTUNITY: Spreadsheets were made available ahead of the story’s release date: The number and percentage of women currently serving in each state legislature; All women who have served in the U.S. House of Representatives for each state; All women who have served in the U.S. Senate for each state; All women who have served as governor for each state; All current city mayors nationwide who are women.
— BC-US–Women in Office-Glance, various groupings of female representation in the states. This will include states with the highest and lowest percentage of women in their legislatures, and states that have never elected a woman to Congress, the U.S. senator or as governor.
DIVIDED AMERICA-WHAT UNITES US
SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Outside a flag-making factory here, a summer of discontent is brewing in a nation showing innumerable divides. Workers feel it inside, too — that gulf between rich and poor and left and right. Yet, as giant rolls of nylon take shape as perhaps the most unifying American symbol, the flagmakers sound far more similar than different. Whether for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, when asked if there are things that unite Americans, they instantly say yes. Gesturing to their handiwork, they invoke what it stands for: freedom, opportunity and pride. And across the fractured U.S., opinion surveys and interviews find unity on all kinds of issues, from Americans’ views of other nations and their religiosity to their love of dogs. By National Writer Matt Sedensky. SENT: 2,200 words, with an abridged version, for release beginning Aug. 3. Photos, graphic, video. With:
BC-US–DIVIDED AMERICA-ONE WORD, asked for a single word to define America, poll respondents reflect diversity and dissonance. Word cloud Graphic.
DIVIDED AMERICA-VIEW FROM ABROAD
The rest of the world may think Americans eat a lot of burgers, have huge shopping malls and are ruled by an arrogant government. But they’re also seen from afar as generous tippers, friendly, uncomplicated, rich and the standard bearers of freedom, equality, creativity and technological power. Here’s what The Associated Press found when it asked ordinary people around the world about their views of America. By Vijay Joshi. SENT: 2,000 words on Aug. 4. Photos.
DIVIDED AMERICA-EL VOTO LATINO
LAS VEGAS — It’s a persistent paradox in American politics: Many Hispanic families have an immense personal stake in what happens on Election Day, but despite population numbers that should mean political power, Hispanics often can’t vote, aren’t registered to vote, or simply choose to sit out. Enter Donald Trump, and the question that could make or break the election in key states. By inflaming the anti-immigrant sentiments of white, working-class men, has the Republican nominee jolted awake another group — the now 27.3 million eligible Hispanic voters long labeled the sleeping giant of U.S. elections? By Sergio Bustos and Nicholas Riccardi. 2,200 words, with an abridged version, moved for release Monday, Aug. 8. Photos, video, graphic.
DIVIDED AMERICA-CLIMATE
WASHINGTON — Before it got too overheated, America wasn’t that split by global warming, but now tempers are rising with the temperatures. Democrats (and scientists) have become more convinced that global warming is a real, man-made threat. Republicans and Tea Party activists have become more convinced that it is — to quote the repeated tweets of Donald Trump — a “hoax.” By Science Writer Seth Borenstein. 1,840 words, with abridged version, moved for release Monday, Aug. 15. Photos.
The AP