The Pulitzer organization announced its 2015 winners on Monday, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for investigative reporting, and The Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina for public service, which was awarded for the newspaper’s series on violence against women.
The Times added international reporting and feature photography awards to its prize for investigative reporting, which honored Eric Lipton’s report on the influence of lobbyists on congressional leaders and state attorneys general. The win came alongside The Wall Street Journal’s investigative prize for its project, “Medicare Unmasked,” which gave unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of health care providers.
The Post and Courier won the Public Service award for its series “Till Death Do Us Part,” which explored the reasons why South Carolina is among the nation’s deadliest states for women, eventually forcing the issue onto the state’s agenda.
Mike Pride, administrator of the Prizes, announced the winners from the Columbia University campus.
“Today they become the 99th annual class of Pulitzer Prize honorees,” Pride said, noting that the organization received roughly 1,200 journalism entries, 1,400 books, 200 music compositions and 100 plays. In journalism two categories were opened to magazines, resulting in more than 60 entries.
Also winning was The Seattle Times Staff in breaking news reporting for its digital account of a landslide that killed 43 people along with follow-up reporting that explored whether it could have been prevented.
In explanatory reporting, Zachary R. Mider of Bloomberg News won for “a painstaking, clear and entertaining explanation” of how many U.S. corporations are able to dodge taxes, along with the difficulty lawmakers and regulators have in stopping them.
In books, drama and music, “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr (Scribner) won for “an imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II,” and the play “Between Riverside and Crazy,” by Stephen Adly Guirgis, was honored for “a nuanced, beautifully written” story of a retired police officer faced with eviction that uses dark comedy to confront questions of life and death.
The Prize juries are made up of journalists, photojournalists, scholars, authors, poets, composers, playwrights and critics — some former Pulitzer Prize winners. Their purpose is to select the three best works in each category.
Prizes in 2016 will observe the 100th dispensation of awards.
“To celebrate our centennial in 2016, we have launched the Pulitzer Prize Campfires Initiative,” Pride said. “We also plan a series of high-profile public programs for 2016 around the themes of civil rights and equality, war and peace, the presidency, and power and accountability.”
Here is the full list:
Journalism
PUBLIC SERVICE – The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC
BREAKING NEWS REPORTING – The Seattle Times Staff
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING – Two Prizes: – Eric Lipton of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal Staff
EXPLANATORY REPORTING – Zachary R. Mider of Bloomberg News
LOCAL REPORTING – Rob Kuznia, Rebecca Kimitch and Frank Suraci of the Daily Breeze, Torrance, CA
NATIONAL REPORTING – Carol D. Leonnig of The Washington Post
INTERNATIONAL REPORTING – The New York Times Staff
FEATURE WRITING – Diana Marcum of the Los Angeles Times
COMMENTARY – Lisa Falkenberg of the Houston Chronicle
CRITICISM – Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times
EDITORIAL WRITING – Kathleen Kingsbury of The Boston Globe
EDITORIAL CARTOONING – Adam Zyglis of The Buffalo News
BREAKING NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY – St. Louis Post-Disptach Photography Staff
FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY – Daniel Berehulak , freelance photographer, The New York Times
Books, Drama and Music
FICTION – “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr (Scribner)
DRAMA – “Between Riverside and Crazy” by Stephen Adly Guirgis
HISTORY – “Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People ” by Elizabeth A. Fenn (Hill and Wang)
BIOGRAPHY – “The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe” by David I. Kertzer (Random House)
POETRY – “Digest” by Gregory Pardlo (Four Way Books)
GENERAL NONFICTION – “The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History” by Elizabeth Kolbert (Henry Holt)
MUSIC – “Anthracite Fields” by Julia Wolfe (G. Schirmer, Inc.)
Watch video of the winner announcements below.