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.
