NEW YORK – The New York Daily News and ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for uncovering how police abused eviction rules to oust hundreds of people, mostly poor minorities, from their homes.
In a year when the tumultuous presidential campaign dominated U.S. news, David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post was honored with the Pulitzer for national reporting for exposing questionable practices at Donald Trump's charitable foundation. The award for commentary went to Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal for columns that the judges said "connected readers to the shared virtues of Americans during one of the nation's most divisive political campaigns."
The New York Times' staff received the international reporting award for its work on Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to project Moscow's power abroad. Times writer C.J. Chivers won the feature writing award for a story about a Marine's descent into violence after returning home from war, told "through an artful accumulation of fact and detail."
Winners ranged from journalism partnerships spanning hundreds of reporters to small newspapers. Art Cullen of The Storm Lake Times, a twice-weekly, 3,000-circulation family-owned paper in Iowa, won the editorial writing award, with the judges saying his "tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writing" successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in the state.
In troubled times for newspapers, "the work that wins Pulitzer Prizes reminds us that we are not in a period of decline in journalism. Rather, we are in the midst of a revolution," with new partnerships, technology and media taking the field in new directions, prize administrator Mike Pride said.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, McClatchy and the Miami Herald — which amassed a group of over 400 journalists to examine of the leaked "Panama Papers" and expose the way that politicians, criminals and rich people stashed case in offshore accounts — won the Pulitzer for explanatory reporting.
Eric Eyre of The Charleston Gazette-Mail won the investigative reporting prize for writing about the scourge of opiate painkillers in poor parts of West Virginia.
The staff of the East Bay Times in Oakland, California, received the breaking news reporting award for its coverage of a fire that killed 36 people at a warehouse party and its follow-up reporting on how local officials hadn't taken action that might have prevented it.
The staff of The Salt Lake Tribune received the local reporting award for its work on how sexual assault victims at Brigham Young University are treated.
Hilton Als, a theater critic for The New Yorker, won the prize for criticism, with judges praising how he strove to connect theater to the real-world, "shifting landscape of gender, sexuality and race." The award in editorial cartooning went to Jim Morin of The Miami Herald for work "that delivered sharp perspectives through flawless artistry, biting prose and crisp wit."
Freelancer Daniel Berehulak won the breaking news photography award for his images, published in the Times, of the toll of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on drug dealers and users. Berehulak won the feature photography Pulitzer in 2015 for his work on the Ebola outbreak in Africa.
This year's feature photography winner was E. Jason Wambsgans of the Chicago Tribune, for his portrayal of a 10-year-old boy who had been shot.
Considered the most distinguished awards in American journalism, the Pulitzers are handed out in 14 categories of reporting, photography, criticism and commentary by newspapers, magazines and websites.
Arts prizes are awarded in seven categories, including fiction, drama and music.
This is the 101st year of the contest, established by newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. Public service award winners receive a gold medal; the other awards carry a prize of $15,000 each.
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