The New Orleans Times-Picayune and the Biloxi, Miss., Sun Herald shared the Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina, as journalism's top awards focused on the cataclysmic storm, ethics scandals in Washington and controversial Bush administration tactics in the war on terrorism.
The Washington Post received four Pulitzers, the most in its history, including one for stories about secret CIA prisons overseas; and the New York Times received three, sharing the national reporting prize for disclosing the government's warrantless wiretapping of terrorism suspects calling the United States.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday April 19, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 82 words Type of Material: Correction
Pulitzer Prizes: An article in Tuesday's Section A on the Pulitzer Prizes said that New York Times reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau shared the $10,000 prize for national reporting with Copley News Service reporters Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer. In fact, Risen and Lichtblau shared the reporting prize with the staffs of the San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service, with notable work by Stern and Kammer. Risen and Lichtblau will receive $10,000. Copley, which owns the Union-Tribune, will receive $10,000.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday April 21, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 36 words Type of Material: Correction
Pulitzers: A correction in Wednesday's Section A clarifying who received $10,000 in Pulitzer Prize money for national reporting implied that Copley News Service owned the San Diego Union-Tribune. Both organizations are owned by Copley Press Inc.
Following those traditional journalistic powerhouses, the Times-Picayune and the Rocky Mountain News of Denver took two each. The only win by a California newspaper went to the San Diego Union-Tribune and its Copley News Service in Washington for disclosing the bribe-taking that sent former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe) to prison.
Around the nation, reporters and editors at dozens of newspapers hovered over their computer screens at 3 p.m. Eastern time, awaiting news about the awards, administered by the Columbia University School of Journalism.
The newsrooms in New Orleans and Biloxi broke into applause, and some tears, when wire service alerts flashed that the two papers would share the award for public service -- each receiving the gold medal that goes to winners of what is considered the competition's top honor.
The journalists' joyous but muted response was in recognition that they and many of their readers continued to struggle to obtain insurance payments, rebuild their homes and return to normality after the costliest natural disaster in modern American history.
In place of the traditional champagne, Sun Herald staffers sipped sweetened tea and ate chocolate chip cookies. The Times-Picayune scratched the brass band that greeted its last Pulitzer victory, also for two prizes, in 1997.
"There was a lot of joy in our newsroom, but it was all in the context of the horrific tragedy that has happened to our community and in our lives," said Times-Picayune Editor Jim Amoss. "I think that made us sober.... It's not a champagne-and-confetti moment."
The Pulitzer board honored the paper -- which has recouped about two-thirds of its previous weekday circulation of about 269,000 -- "for its heroic, multi-faceted coverage of Hurricane Katrina ... even after evacuation of the newspaper plant."
