Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

pulitzer 2008

Monday was a big day for The Washington Post, which won six Pulitzer Prizes for reporting done in 2007.

• Public Service - “For the work of Dana Priest, Anne Hull and photographer Michel du Cille in exposing mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital, evoking a national outcry and producing reforms by federal officials.”
• Breaking News Reporting - Staff of The Washington Post. “For its exceptional, multi-faceted coverage of the deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, telling the developing story in print and online.”
• National Reporting - Jo Becker and Barton Gellman of The Washington Post. “For their lucid exploration of Vice President Dick Cheney and his powerful yet sometimes disguised influence on national policy.” (I wrote about the online design of this series when it first came out in June.)
• International Reporting - Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post. “For his heavily reported series on private security contractors in Iraq that operate outside most of the laws governing American forces.”
• Feature Writing - Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post. “For his chronicling of a world-class violinist who, as an experiment, played beautiful music in a subway station filled with unheeding commuters.”
• Commentary - Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post. “For his insightful columns that explore the nation’s complex economic ills with masterful clarity.”

Movie critic Ann Hornaday also was a finalist in the Criticism category.

Some washingtonpost.com colleagues and I went downtown for the official announcement in the Post newsroom, and it was both a thrill and an honor to be a part of it all.

Incidentally, this was only the second year that online components were permitted with Pulitzer submissions.

[Pulitzer Administrator Sig] Gissler said that 44% of Public Service entries had an online component, while 25% of investigative and explanatory entries did. Asked if the awards would ever create a Web-only category, Gissler said, “we have no plans, but we are carefully monitoring it. The question is to what extent do you depart from the intention of the Pulitzer Prize.”

(Editor and Publisher: “Inside Word at Pulitzer Announcement: Entries Down, But Online Up” - 04/07/2008)