Alaska paper, ProPublica win Pulitzer
NEW YORK — The Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for illuminating public safety gaps in Alaska, revealing that a third of villages had no police protection.
The “riveting” series spurred legislative changes and an influx of spending, the judges noted in an announcement postponed several weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The New York Times won the investigative reporting prize for an expose 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 Times also was awarded the commentary prize for an essay that Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote as part of the paper’s ambitious 1619 Project, a wide-ranging examination that followed the throughlines of slavery in American life to this day.
The Washington Post’s work on the environmental effects of extreme temperatures was recognized for explanatory reporting.
In a development that recognized how podcasting has brought new attention to reporting aimed at listeners rather than readers or viewers, a first-ever award for audio reporting went to “This American Life,” the Los Angeles Times and Vice News for “The Out Crowd,” an examination of the Trump administration’s
“remain in Mexico” immigration policy. The judges called the reports “revelatory, intimate journalism.”
The staff of The CourierJournal of Louisville, Kentucky, took the breaking news reporting award for unpacking racial disparities and other issues in a spate of governor’s pardons.
Two different projects — ProPublica’s look at deadly accidents in the U.S. Navy and The Seattle Times’ examination on design flaws in the troubled Boeing 737 MAX jet — won the national reporting award.
The local reporting award went to The Baltimore Sun for shedding light on a lucrative and previously undisclosed financial relationship between the mayor and the public hospital system, which she helped oversee.
The Associated Press won the feature photography prize for images made during India’s clampdown on Kashmir, where a sweeping curfew and shutdowns of phone and internet service added to the challenges of showing the world what was happening in the region of 7 million people.
Reuters won the breaking news photography award for its coverage of protests that shook Hong Kong.
The initial Pulitzer ceremony, which had been scheduled for April 20, was pushed to give Pulitzer Board members who were busy covering the pandemic more time to evaluate the finalists.
The awards luncheon traditionally held at Columbia University in May will be postponed, as well. Details of a fall celebration will be announced at a later date, the Pulitzer Board said.