AP News Director for the Persian Gulf and Iran, Jon Gambrell, AP Senior Producer Bassam Hatoum, and AP Photographer Fatima Shbair (formerly based in Gaza) travelled alongside AP 360’s Head of UK and Middle East News Events Julian Jones, to cover the first round of Iran-US talks that took place in Muscat, Oman. Read the article below about AP’s coverage and how our team managed to gain unparalleled access on the ground.
Relying on the AP Dubai bureau’s years of expertise in covering the region, our team was one of the first to arrive on the ground ahead of the nuclear talks. While the Dubai team drove across the border through the mountain town of Hatta, making it safely into the capital with broadcast equipment after five hours of driving, AP 360’s Julian Jones arrived ahead of time from London.
“We were able to leverage the special relationship built up between AP and the Omani authorities to enter the country for the US-Iranian nuclear talks and provide live stand-up positions; the only crew broadcasting from the country.” – AP 360 Head of UK and Mideast Special News Events
Exclusive Reporting On the Ground
Successfully entering Oman was only the first step for our team on the ground, the bigger challenge being successfully determining where the secretive talks would be held. The AP was able to exclusively stand watch,a short distance away, during the hours the talks took place.
AP News filed 5 NewsAlerts and had exclusive photos, video, and a live shot of Muscat that ran for 12 hours and was used by key broadcast clients in the Middle East. The AP 360 team was able to set up an additional live position servicing broadcasters across the globe.
Seamlessly Setting up a Live Studio
Providing a live stand-up position was no easy task for our producer on the ground. The difficulty of obtaining permits to operate a live studio from the sultanate was met with professionalism and wit by our very own Julian Jones, who managed to set up the rooftop position in record time, ahead of the talks. Reporting live from Muscat, Jon Gambrell provided our clients with up-to-date analysis on the ground.
Our AP News colleagues based in Tehran were able to provide more details for our team by monitoring Iranian state media and getting details of the talks from their government sources.
“These talks were a historic first step in negotiations between the Trump administration and Iran, so being there was both important for the AP from an editorial standpoint. Being able to work with AP360 clients provided away for me to leverage my knowledge and decadelong experience covering Iran’s nuclear program to help our clients with their newscasts as well. Live reporting also provides a ‘stress test’ of our own reporting and often sparks new lines for us to pursue as well.” — AP News Director – Gulf and Iran, Jon Gambrell
Interdepartmental Teamwork
One of the AP’s great strengths is being able to get many of our departments to work on the same story, in this case video, photos, text, and our own AP 360 live position. Our long interdepartmental cooperation was key in making our coverage of the nuclear talks a success. Our experience has also given us crucial insights into operating in Oman, which will be particularly useful as a second round of talks approaches.
