New York: The Times-Picayune daily of New Orleans and The Sun Herald of Biloxi, Mississippi, shared the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for excellent coverage of hurricane Katrina on Monday.
The Pulitzer Prize, the top US journalism award, went to the Times-Picayune "for its heroic, multifaceted coverage of hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, making exceptional use of the newspaper's resources to serve an inundated city," said the statement by the Pulitzer Prize Board.
The Times-Picayune also won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of Katrina. The 90th annual prizes were announced at Columbia University.
The New Orleans newspaper's offices and plant were flooded, and many of its staffers were left homeless when the levees broke during the August 29 storm. Much of the staff was forced to evacuate the city.
The Sun Herald won "for its valorous and comprehensive coverage of hurricane Katrina, providing a lifeline for devastated readers," the board said.
The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography went to the staff of The Dallas Morning News, for its photographs that "depicted the chaos and pain" of the hurricane.
Pulitzer Prize winners |
 Public Service - Two prizes: The Sun Herald of Biloxi, Mississippi, for its valorous and comprehensive coverage of hurricane Katrina and The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, for its heroic, multifaceted coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath even after evacuation of its newspaper plant. |
| Breaking News - The staff of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, for its coverage of hurricane Katrina, overcoming desperate conditions facing the city and the newspaper.. |
| Investigative Reporting - The Washington Post's Susan Schmidt, James V Grimaldi and R Jeffrey Smith for their probe of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, which exposed congressional corruption and produced reform efforts.. |
| Explanatory reporting - The Washington Post's David Finkel for his case study of the US government's attempt to bring democracy to Yemen. |
| Beat reporting - The Washington Post's Dana Priest for her reports on secret "black site" prisons and other controversial features of the Bush administration's counter-terrorism campaign.. |
| National reporting - Two prizes: The New York Times' James Risen and Eric Lichtblau for stories on secret domestic eavesdropping, and the staffs of The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service, with notable work by Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer, for their disclosure of bribe-taking that sent former Rep. Randy Cunningham to prison.. |
| International Reporting - The New York Times' Joseph Kahn and Jim Yardley for stories on ragged justice in China as the booming nation's legal system evolves.. |
| Feature writing - The Rocky Mountain News' Jim Sheeler for his story on a Marine major who helps the families of comrades killed in Iraq cope with their loss and honor their sacrifice.. |
| Commentary - The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof for columns that focused attention on genocide in Darfur.. |
| Criticism - The Washington Post's Robin Givhan for her fashion criticism.. |
| Editorial Writing - The Oregonian's Rick Attig and Doug Bates for editorials on abuses inside a forgotten Oregon mental hospital.. |
| Editorial Cartooning - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mike Luckovich for his powerful cartoons on an array of issues, drawn with a simple but piercing style. |
| Breaking News Photography - The staff of The Dallas Morning News for its vivid photographs depicting the chaos and pain after Hurricane Katrina engulfed New Orleans.. |
| Feature Photography - The Rocky Mountain News' Todd Heisler for his behind-the-scenes look at funerals for Colorado Marines who return from Iraq in caskets. |
| Letters and Drama Prizes |
| Fiction - "March" by Geraldine Brooks (Viking) |
| Drama - No award. |
| History - "Polio: An American Story" by David M. Oshinsky (Oxford University Press) |
| Biography - American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (Alfred A. Knopf). |
| Poetry - Late Wife by Claudia Emerson (Louisiana State University Press) |
| General Nonfiction - Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya by Caroline Elkins (Henry Holt) Prize in Music. |
| Piano Concerto: 'Chiavi in Mano' by Yehudi Wyner, premiered February 17, 2005 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Associated Music Publishers) |
| Special Citations |
| Edmund S. Morgan for a creative and deeply influential body of work as an American historian that spans the last half century. |
| The late American composer Thelonious Monk for a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz. |
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