‘Times,’ online news organizations win Pulitzers
NEW YORK — The New York Times won two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday. It was the only multiple winner this year in the coveted journalism categories.
Two online news organizations, Politico and The Huffington Post, won their first Pulitzers.
Sig Gissler, administrator of the prizes, said the winners in this year’s 96th annual competition show that journalism is still a “vibrant force” as a public watchdog.
The Times’ David Kocieniewski won in the explanatory reporting category for a series that showed how the nation’s wealthiest citizens and corporations often exploited loopholes and avoided taxes. USA TODAY’S Thomas Frank was a finalist in the same category for a series of stories on inflated pensions for state and local employees.
Frank examined thousands of pages of pension laws from all 50 states to untangle the obscure language behind pension perks.
Susan Weiss, executive editor of USA TODAY, called Frank’s stories “classic explanatory journalism.”
“They are rooted in relentless research through government records to document how powerful groups around the nation are manipulating a system they control for personal and political gain,” she said. “Today we are reminded that our purpose in journalism is a great one, and we’re proud to say that through Tom’s hard work, USA TODAY was able to expose these wrongs.”
Two newspapers owned by Gannett, in addition to USA TODAY, were nominated as finalists in two other Pulitzer categories. The Arizona Republic staff was a finalist for its coverage of the mass shooting that killed six and wounded 13, including then-congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Alabama’s The Tuscaloosa News won the award for coverage of a deadly tornado.
Aki Soga and Michael Townsend, of The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, were finalists in editorial writing for a campaign that resulted in the state’s first changes in opengovernment laws in 35 years, reducing legal obstacles that helped shroud the work of officials. The judges declined to award a prize for editorial writing.