Report that revealed massive US government surveillance among top finalists for Pulitzer Prize

FILE - A Sunday, June 9, 2013, file photo provided by The Guardian newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the U.S. National Security Agency, in Hong Kong. A report that revealed the massive U.S. government surveillance effort is among the top finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. The stories were based on thousands of documents handed over by Snowden. The reports were published by Barton Gellman of The Washington Post and Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewan MacAskill of The Guardian. (AP Photo/The Guardian, File) (The Associated Press)

A report that revealed the massive U.S. government surveillance effort is among the top finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.

Journalism's highest honor will be announced on Monday.

Revelations about the National Security Agency's spy programs were first published in The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers in June. The disclosures showed the government has collected information about millions of Americans' phone calls and emails based on its classified interpretations of laws passed after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The stories were based on thousands of documents handed over by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. The reports were published by Barton Gellman of The Post and Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewan MacAskill of The Guardian.