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NY Times snaps 5 Pulitzer awards amid crisis
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-21 16:33

The only multiple winner besides The New York Times was the St. Petersburg Times. It was honored for national reporting for fact-checking what the candidates said during the 2008 White House campaign, and for feature writing for Lane DeGregory's story on a neglected girl who was unable to talk or feed herself.

The presidential race also figured in the Pulitzer awarded in commentary: Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post was honored for his columns on Obama's run for the White House.

NY Times snaps 5 Pulitzer awards amid crisis
This undated photo released by the Pulitzer Board shows the Pulitzer Prize Public Service Medal, awarded to the Las Vegas Sun Monday, April 20, 2009. [Agencies]

The prize for editorial cartooning went to Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune, which was sold last month to a private equity firm after its advertising plunged and employees were forced to take unpaid furloughs.

No Pulitzers were awarded for coverage of the biggest financial crisis since the Depression, even though five finalists -- including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times -- were recognized for their coverage of some aspect of the meltdown. Among them was Times columnist Paul Krugman, who was commended for his "prophetic columns" on the economic perils.

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Some suggested the lack of financial news winners could be a criticism of the press for not sounding enough of an alarm before the crisis.

"If I had to guess, I feel like there is going to be some reluctance to give prizes for after-the-fact reporting no matter how good it is, period," said Dean Starkman, managing editor of Columbia Journalism Review's The Audit, which focuses on the business press.

Gissler said the meltdown of the world economy may have come too late in 2008 to have much impact in the Pulitzer competition, but "I don't think we've heard the last of this story, by a long shot."

In addition to winning in the breaking-news category for the Spitzer scandal, The New York Times collected Pulitzers for international reporting for its coverage of deepening US involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan; for criticism, for Holland Cotter's art reviews; for feature photography, for Damon Winter's coverage of Obama's campaign; and for investigative reporting to David Barstow, for revealing how the networks used military commentators who had ties to the Pentagon or defense contractors.

The five Pulitzers won by The Times are the second-highest total in the newspaper's history; it received seven in 2002, in large part for its coverage of the 9/11 attacks.

The prize for explanatory reporting went to the Los Angeles Times for its coverage of the cost and effectiveness of efforts to fight wildfires across the West.

In the breaking news photography category, Patrick Farrell of The Miami Herald won for his images of the humanitarian disaster that unfolded in Haiti after Hurricane Ike.

"I'm walking on Cloud Nine. I'm overwhelmed, I'm humbled, it's such a huge honor," exulted Farrell, 49. But noting the cutbacks that have swept the Herald, he said: "This is the last week for a few of our colleagues. I would prefer not to have won this in this climate, but I'm just grateful."

Mark Mahoney of 32,000-circulation Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y., received the Pulitzer in editorial writing for his pieces on government secrecy and the public's right to know.

"If I'm going to win, I'm glad it's for that," Mahoney said. "I think this indicates that we really are making a difference."

Among other journalism categories, The Associated Press was a finalist in two -- international reporting, where reporter Rukmini Callimachi was considered for her investigation of labor-exploited children in Africa, and breaking news photography, where the AP staff was nominated for its photo coverage of earthquake-ravaged Sichuan, China.

The Pulitzers are the most prestigious awards in journalism and are given out annually by Columbia University on the recommendation of a 19-person board. Each award carries a $10,000 prize except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.

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