Washington Post Honored with 4 Pulitzers
The Washington Post took home four prestigious Pulitzer Prizes Monday for international reporting, feature writing, commentary and criticism.
The New York Times won two — for national reporting and explanatory reporting.
The Herald Courier of Bristol, Va., won the Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for its reporting on the mishandling of natural gas royalties owed to thousands of landowners in Virginia.
ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative-journalism service, won one of two Pulitzers awarded for investigative reporting for a story on the life-and-death decisions made by doctors at a New Orleans hospital during Hurricane Katrina. The story was a collaboration with The New York Times Magazine.
The other prize for investigative reporting went to the Philadelphia Daily News for exposing a rogue police narcotics squad.
The Seattle Times staff was honored in the breaking news category for its coverage of the shooting deaths of four police officers in a coffee shop. The Pulitzer for local reporting went to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for a series of stories on fraud and abuse in a child-care program for poor working parents.
The Dallas Morning News won for editorial writing.
Mark Fiore, a self-syndicated artist whose animated cartoons appear on the San Francisco Chronicle Web site, SFGate.com, was honored for editorial cartooning.
The Des Moines Register won for breaking-news photography for capturing a rescuer trying to save a woman trapped beneath a dam, and the Denver Post was honored for feature photography for a portrait of a teenager who joined the Army at the height of insurgent violence in Iraq.
The Herald Courier was honored for the work of Daniel Gilbert, whose reporting on natural gas royalties led lawmakers to take corrective action.
The Washington Post's award for international reporting went to Anthony Shadid for what the Pulitzer board called "his rich, beautifully written series" on Iraq as the U.S. military gets ready to withdraw. The newspaper's Gene Weingarten won in feature writing for a piece on parents who accidentally kill their children by leaving them in cars.
The Post also won in commentary for Kathleen Parker's witty columns on political and moral issues, and in criticism, for Sarah Kaufman's writing on dance.
The New York Times won for national reporting for a series of stories in print and online on distracted driving, and for explanatory reporting for exposing defects in federal food-safety regulations.
The Pulitzers are the most prestigious awards in journalism and are given out annually by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of distinguished journalists and others. Each award carries a $10,000 prize except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.
Meanwhile, "Next to Normal," a musical about the complexity and heartbreak of a woman's mental illness and its affect on her family, won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
"The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt," by T.J. Stiles won the biography prize, and "Tinkers," by Paul Harding, won the fiction award.
A posthumous Special Citation was given to Hank Williams for his "craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life."
Other winners were: "Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World," by Liaquat Ahamed, for history; "Versed," by Rae Armantrout, for poetry; "The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy," by David E. Hoffman for general nonfiction; and Violin Concerto by Jennifer Higdon, won the music prize.
Below is a full list of Pulitzer Prize winners:
Journalism
Public Service: Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier.
Breaking News Reporting: The Seattle Times staff.
Investigative Reporting: Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman of the Philadelphia Daily News and Sheri Fink of ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine
Explanatory Reporting: Michael Moss and members of The New York Times staff
Local Reporting: Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
National Reporting: Matt Richtel and members of The New York Times staff
International Reporting: Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post
Feature Writing: Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post
Commentary: Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post
Criticism: Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post
Editorial Writing: Tod Robberson, Colleen McCain Nelson and William McKenzie of The Dallas Morning News
Editorial Cartooning: Mark Fiore, self-syndicated, appearing on SFGate.com
Breaking News Photography: Mary Chind of The Des Moines Register
Feature Photography: Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post
Arts
Fiction: "Tinkers" by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press)
Drama: "Next to Normal," music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey
History: "Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World" by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press)
Biography: "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt" by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)
Poetry: "Versed" by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press)
General Nonfiction: "The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy" by David E. Hoffman (Doubleday)
Music: Violin Concerto by Jennifer Higdon, premiered Feb. 6, 2009, in Indianapolis (Lawdon Press)
Special Citation: Hank Williams