Alaska and Russian president exposés win Pulitzer prizes
The Anchorage Daily News and Propublica have won the Pulitzer Prize in public service for illuminating the sparse policing of remote Alaska villages as a delayed awards ceremony recognised writing, photos and – for the first time – audio reporting on topics ranging from climate change to the legacy of slavery.
The public service winners contacted 600 village, tribal and other local governments. They travelled by plane, sled and snowmobile to reveal that a third of rural Alaska communities had no local police protection, among other findings.
The “riveting” series spurred legislative changes and an influx of spending, the judges noted in an announcement postponed several weeks and held online because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Anchorage Daily News editor David Hulen said the series “called attention to some really serious problems in Alaska that have needed attention for a long time”.
The New York Times won the investigative reporting prize for an exposé of predatory lending in the New York City taxi industry and also took the international reporting award for what the judges called “enthralling stories, reported at great risk,” about Russian president Vladimir Putin’s government.
The Washington Post’s work on global warming was recognised for explanatory reporting. The newspaper tracked nearly 170 years of temperature records to show that 10 per cent of the planet’s surface has already exceeded a rise of 2C over pre-industrial times.