The New York Times led the Pulitzer Prizes with awards for its coverage and photos of the Ebola crisis in Africa and a shared nod for investigative work. Bloomberg News won its first Pulitzer for Zachary R. Mider’s reporting on corporate tax avoidance.
The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, garnered the coveted public service Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the deaths of women in the state. Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism announced the 99th annualPulitzer Prizes Monday in New York.
An 18-member board of editors, publishers, writers and educators voted on the winners in 21 categories of journalism, letters, drama and music. Winners in all categories except public service receive $10,000. The public-service prize, awarded to a news organization, is a gold medal.
Mider won for a “painstaking, clear and entertaining explanation of how so many U.S. corporations dodge taxes and why lawmakers and regulators have a hard time stopping them,” the university said in its statement.
The award is for explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear presentation, using any available journalistic tool, according to the statement.
“This award is a testament first to Zach and his extraordinary journalism, but it is also a tribute to Matt Winkler who, along with Mike Bloomberg, built this news organization from scratch into what it is today,” said John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News. “Zach’s reporting is the kind of journalism that is the heart of what Bloomberg does to bring transparency to markets.”
Investigative Journalism
The award for investigative reporting went to both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The Times’ Eric Lipton won for “reporting that showed how the influence of lobbyists can sway congressional leaders and state attorneys general, slanting justice toward the wealthy and connected,” the Pulitzer committee said.
The Journal staff won for “Medicare Unmasked,” which the panel called “a pioneering project that gave Americans unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of their health care providers.” It’s the first for reporting for the newspaper since Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. took ownership in 2007.
The Seattle Times won for its breaking news coverage of a landslide, while the Torrance, California, Daily Breeze garnered a Pulitzer for its coverage of local school district corruption. The Los Angeles Times won for criticism in a piece about the TV industry and a feature about the California drought.
Expanded Eligibility
The Pulitzer Prize panel expanded eligibility this year for two categories, investigative reporting and feature writing, to include online and print magazines.
The board also changed its rules on partnerships, letting news organizations nominate journalists who work at partnering outlets even if those groups aren’t eligible to compete. The panel cited “the growing number of joint journalistic projects being undertaken by newsrooms, and the value of these partnerships to high quality journalism.”
WINNERS IN JOURNALISM CATEGORIES:
PUBLIC SERVICE
The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina, for “Till Death Do Us Part,” a riveting series that probed why South Carolina is among the deadliest states in the union for women and put the issue of what to do about it on the state’s agenda.
BREAKING NEWS REPORTING
The Seattle Times Staff for its digital account of a landslide that killed 43 people and the impressive follow-up reporting that explored whether the calamity could have been avoided.
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Eric Lipton of The New York Times for reporting that showed how the influence of lobbyists can sway congressional leaders and state attorneys general, slanting justice toward the wealthy and connected.
The Wall Street Journal Staff for “Medicare Unmasked,” a pioneering project that gave Americans unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of their health care providers.
EXPLANATORY REPORTING
Zachary R. Mider of Bloomberg News for a painstaking, clear and entertaining explanation of how so many U.S. corporations dodge taxes and why lawmakers and regulators have a hard time stopping them.
LOCAL REPORTING
Rob Kuznia, Rebecca Kimitch and Frank Suraci of the Daily Breeze, in Torrance, California, for their inquiry into widespread corruption in a small, cash-strapped school district, including impressive use of the paper’s website.
NATIONAL REPORTING
Carol D. Leonnig of The Washington Post for her smart, persistent coverage of the Secret Service, its security lapses and the ways in which the agency neglected its vital task: the protection of the President of the United States.
INTERNATIONAL REPORTING
The New York Times Staff for courageous front-line reporting and vivid human stories on Ebola in Africa, engaging the public with the scope and details of the outbreak while holding authorities accountable.
FEATURE WRITING
Diana Marcum of the Los Angeles Times for her dispatches from California’s Central Valley offering nuanced portraits of lives affected by the state’s drought, bringing an original and empathic perspective to the story.
COMMENTARY
Lisa Falkenberg of the Houston Chronicle for vividly-written, groundbreaking columns about grand jury abuses that led to a wrongful conviction and other egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems.
CRITICISM
Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times for savvy criticism that uses shrewdness, humor and an insider’s view to show how both subtle and seismic shifts in the cultural landscape affect television.
EDITORIAL WRITING
Kathleen Kingsbury of The Boston Globe for taking readers on a tour of restaurant workers’ bank accounts to expose the real price of inexpensive menu items and the human costs of income inequality.
EDITORIAL CARTOONING
Adam Zyglis of The Buffalo News, who used strong images to connect with readers while conveying layers of meaning in a few words.
BREAKING NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Photography Staff for powerful images of the despair and anger in Ferguson, MO, stunning photojournalism that served the community while informing the country.
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel Berehulak, freelance photographer, The New York Times, for his gripping, courageous photographs of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
