Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times took the top Pulitzer Prize for international affairs coverage, for his reporting on famine and conflict in East Africa, Columbia University said. The New York Times won two Pulitzers, for explanatory and international reporting.
The prize for investigative reporting went to Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of The Associated Press for spotlighting of the New York Police Department’s clandestine spying on Muslim communities in the city. As a result, the U.S. Congress had called for a federal investigation.
The Philadelphia Inquirer won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for its “exploration of pervasive violence in the city’s schools.” The committee cited the newspaper’s “powerful” narratives and videos to illuminate crimes committed by children against children.
The Times staff were also finalists for a Pulitzer Prize for its “powerful exploration” of Japanese authorities’ concealed mistakes after the giant tsunami caused a nuclear disaster in Fukushima last year.
The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, won for local reporting for breaking the Penn State sexual abuse scandal that eventually brought down legendary football coach Joe Paterno.
A second Pulitzer for investigative reporting went to The Seattle Times for a series about accidental methadone overdoses among patients with chronic pain.
The Huffington Post received its first Pulitzer, in national reporting, for its exploration of the challenges facing American veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A year after the Pulitzer judges passed on awarding any prize for breaking news, the staff of The Tuscaloosa News of Alabama won the award for coverage of a deadly tornado. By blending traditional reporting with the use of social media, the newspaper provided real-time updates and helped locate missing people, while still producing in-depth print coverage despite a power outage that forced the paper to publish at a plant 50 miles away.
The judges declined to award a prize for editorial writing.
The Pulitzers are given out annually by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of journalists and others. Each award carries a $10,000 prize except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.
Yahoo: 2012 Pulitzer Prize Winners
The 2012 Pulitzer Prize winners and nominated finalists were announced on Monday. The New York Times won a pair of Pulitzers—for explanatory writing (David Kocieniewski’s series on tax loopholes for the wealthy) and international reporting (Jeffrey Gettleman’s “vivid reports, often at personal peril, on famine and conflict in East Africa”)—while the Associated Press was recognized for an investigative series—by Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Chris Hawley and Eileen Sullivan—outlining the New York Police Department’s surveillance of minority and Muslim neighborhoods since the 9/11 terror attacks.
The Harrisburg, Pa., Patriot-News—led by Sara Ganim—was awarded a Pulitzer “for courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky.”
In two categories—editorial writing and fiction—no awards were given.
The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News won a Pulitzer for its coverage of 2011’s deadly tornado—including the paper’s use of “social media as well as traditional reporting to provide real-time updates, help locate missing people and produce in-depth print accounts even after power disruption forced the paper to publish at another plant 50 miles away.”
The Onion, the satirical newspaper that launched an elaborate, yearlong campaign to win a Pulitzer Prize, was not among the winners or finalists announced Monday.
The full list of winners:
JOURNALISM
Public Service – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Breaking News Reporting – The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News Staff
Investigative Reporting – Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the Associated Press and Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of The Seattle Times
Explanatory Reporting – David Kocieniewski of The New York Times
Local Reporting – Sara Ganim and members of The Patriot-News Staff, Harrisburg, Penn.
National Reporting – David Wood of The Huffington Post
International Reporting – Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times
Feature Writing – Eli Sanders of The Stranger, a Seattle (Wash.) weekly
Commentary – Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune
Criticism – Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe
Editorial Writing – No award
Editorial Cartooning – Matt Wuerker of Politico
Breaking News Photography – Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse
Feature Photography – Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post
LETTERS, DRAMA and MUSIC
Fiction – No award
Drama – “Water by the Spoonful” by Quiara Alegría Hudes
History – “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention” by the late Manning Marable (Viking)
Biography – “George F. Kennan: An American Life” by John Lewis Gaddis (The Penguin Press)
Poetry – “Life on Mars” by Tracy K. Smith (Graywolf Press)
General Nonfiction – “The Swerve: How the World Became Modern” by Stephen Greenblatt (W.W. Norton and Company)
Music – “Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts” by Kevin Puts (Aperto Press)
