Pulitzer Prizes Awarded; L.A. Times Wins Five

The L.A. Times also won Pulitzers in criticism, editorial writing, feature photography and national reporting for its look at the tactics that have made Wal-Mart the largest company in the world.

As word of the L.A. Times’ five Pulitzers reached the paper’s newsroom, staff members broke into cheers and applause.

“My feeling is this reflects the depth of talent at this paper and the depth of dedication across all departments,” Times editor John Carroll told the staff.

The prize for investigative reporting went to Michael Sallah, Mitch Weiss and Joe Mahr of the Toledo Blade for their series on atrocities the U.S. Army unit Tiger Force committed during the Vietnam War in 1967.

After hearing the news, the Blade’s executive editor Ron Royhab shouted, “We won!” to a crowded newsroom.

The New York Times won the public service award for the David Barstow and Lowell Bergman articles examining death and injury among American workers.

Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post was awarded the prize for international reporting, for what the Pulitzer board called his “extraordinary ability to capture, at personal peril,” the voices and emotions of Iraqis.

Kevin Helliker and Thomas Burton of the Wall Street Journal won the explanatory reporting award for their groundbreaking examination of aneurysms, a medical condition that kills thousands of Americans each year.

Daniel Golden’s beat reporting earned the Journal its second award. He was recognized for his “compelling and meticulously documented” articles on admission preferences given to the children of alumni and donors at American universities.

The Pulitzer for editorial writing went to William Stall of the L.A. Times for his pieces that analyzed California’s troubled state government.

The commentary award went to Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. for his “fresh, vibrant columns that spoke, with both passion and compassion, to ordinary people on often divisive issues.”

The criticism prize went to Dan Neil of the L.A. Times for his reviews of cars.

The editorial cartooning prize went to Matt Davies of The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y.

The board made no award in the feature writing category. The last time the board did not award a prize was in 1993 for editorial writing.

Carolyn Cole of the L.A. Times won the feature photography prize for her behind-the-scenes look at the effects of civil war in Liberia.

The photo award for breaking news went to David Leeson and Cheryl Diaz Meyer of The Dallas Morning News for their photographs depicting the war with Iraq.

The Pulitzer Prize for fiction was awarded to Edward Jones for “The Known World,” a historical novel about a black slave owner.

When asked in a 2003 NewsHour interview why he became a writer, Jones replied, “We’re compelled to do certain things, you know. Some people are compelled to sing songs, some people are compelled to paint pictures. I’m just compelled to tell stories.”

The Pulitzer for drama went to Doug Wright for “I Am My Own Wife,” the story of a real-life German transvestite who survived both the Nazis and the Communists.

William Taubman earned the Pulitzer Prize in biography for “Khrushchev: The Man and His Era.”

In history, the award went to Steven Hahn for “A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South From Slavery to the Great Migration.”

The prize for general nonfiction was awarded to Anne Applebaum for “Gulag: A History.”

Franz Wright’s “Walking to Martha’s Vineyard” won for poetry.

The award for music went to “Tempest Fantasy” by Paul Moravec.

Each prize receives a cash award, except for public service writing, which is recognized with a gold medal.

Columbia University awards the Pulitzers on the recommendation of the 18-member Pulitzer board, which considers nominations from jurors in each category.