Pulitzers Honor Coverage of War in Ukraine, Local Corruption

Journalist's look into her father's past uncovered abuse at residential school in Canada
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 8, 2023 6:50 PM CDT
Pulitzers Honor Coverage of War in Ukraine, Local Corruption
AP Executive Editor Julie Pace, left, Director of Photography David Ake, center, and Paul Haven, Director of Global Newsgathering, celebrate Monday in New York. The AP won two Pulitzer Prizes.   (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday. The winners, recognizing the best in journalism for 2022, per the AP, are:

  • Public service: Mstyslav Chernov, Lori Hinnant, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko, the AP. Their work was described as "courageous reporting" from the besieged city of Mariupol about the slaughter of civilians in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
  • Breaking news reporting: the Los Angeles Times. The paper's staff published a secretly recorded conversation among city officials that included racist comments, then followed up with in-depth coverage of the aftermath.
  • Investigative reporting: the Wall Street Journal. The paper's "Capital Assets" series analyzed the investments of about 12,000 federal officials and their families between 2016 and 2021. The staff collected and analyzed data on about 850,000 financial assets and more than 315,000 transactions.
  • Explanatory reporting: Caitlin Dickerson, the Atlantic. Dickerson conducted more than 150 interviews as part of an 18-month investigation into former President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy of child separation at the border.
  • Local reporting: John Archibald, Ashley Remkus, Ramsey Archibald and Challen Stephens, AL.com; Anna Wolfe, Mississippi Today. There were two winners; they don't share the category, but instead each receive the full prize amount of $15,000. The AL.com, Birmingham, reporters won for a series exposing how the police force in the town of Brookside preyed on residents to inflate revenue. The reporting freed people from jail, the outlet says, and resulted in resignations and new laws. Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe’s "The Backchannel" series detailed how state officials misspent millions in welfare money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in the United States. In one case, Wolfe wrote about how former Gov. Phil Bryant and NFL great Brett Favre worked together to channel at least $5 million of the state’s welfare funds to build a new volleyball stadium at University of Southern Mississippi, where Favre's daughter played the sport.
  • National reporting: Caroline Kitchener, the Washington Post. The reporter wrote about the consequences of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, including stories about women trying to navigate the aftermath.
  • International reporting: the New York Times. The paper's staff won for coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including an investigation into Ukrainian deaths in the town of Bucha.
  • Feature writing: Eli Saslow, the Washington Post. The Pulitzers called praised Saslow's "evocative individual narratives" about people struggling with the pandemic, homelessness, addiction, and inequality.
  • Breaking news photography: the AP. The team of photographers won for "unique and urgent" images of the first weeks of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
  • Feature photography: Christina House, Los Angeles Times. House provided "an intimate look" into the life of a pregnant 22-year-old woman living on the streets in a tent.
  • Commentary: Kyle Whitmire, AL.com. Whitmore wrote "State of Denial," a series of what the Pulitzers called "measured and persuasive columns" that documented how Alabama's Confederate heritage still lingers.
  • Criticism: Andrea Long Chu, New York magazine. Her book reviews used "multiple cultural lenses" to explore societal issues.
  • Editorial writing: Nancy Ancrum, Amy Driscoll, Luisa Yanez, Isadora Rangel, and Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald. Their series of editorials focused on the failure of Florida public officials to deliver on taxpayer-funded amenities and services long promised to residents.
  • Illustrated reporting and commentary: Mona Chalabi, the New York Times. Chalabi's illustrations combined statistical reporting with analysis to convey the immense wealth and economic power of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
  • Audio journalism: Gimlet Media, notably Connie Walker. "Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's" was an investigation into Walker's father’s troubled past, which revealed a larger story of abuse of hundreds of Indigenous children at a residential school in Canada.
(More Pulitzer Prize stories.)

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